[R-390] R390 Shipping boxes

[Glenn Scott via R-390]

Hi Group,


I use surplus Thermodyne Shock Stop  boxes I find on ebay for usually under $75. These come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Many already have high density foam inserts inside, though, you may need to trim some to fit an R 390 series receiver. Don't buy too large of a box or you will get into over-sized shipping container rates and the price goes up quickly.  I can ship a box with a receiver via FedEx for about $65 to many locations in the lower 48 US states. I think I paid $75 recently to ship a 390 to Oregon from SC.
Depending on the sale, I often include the Shock Stop box in the sale so my client can return the receiver for future work/alignments. Other times, I ship a return label and have FedEx pick the box up and bring it back. 


There are other companies that make these type of boxes but I use Thermodyne because of my experiences with these has been very favorable. These boxes new are very expensive, I believe they are in the $500 range for a size that will handle a 390 receiver.


These are VERY strong boxes that the military and commercial vendors use to ship delicate equipment around the world with. They are very high-impact, hard plastic and will not shatter unless they are extremely abused. Zero damage so far after using these boxes for at least 10 years.


I have shipped receivers all over the world and never had ANY damage. As we all should know, if the receiver/item is securely snug in place and can't move with 2 inches or more of good dampening material on all sides and the outer box is of good quality, the item should travel without damage.


One Note..I tell anyone thinking about shipping a receiver to me is DON'T USE SHIPPING PEANUTS with a receiver that weighs close to 100 pounds. It only takes a little movement and these pellets pulverize allowing the receiver to move around freely and get damaged. That and the powder gets into everything. It takes a long time to clean up and I charge for every minute of my time. I had one guy who used peanuts a few years ago after I told him not to do so. His receiver front panel was poking through the box and bent with a broken meter glass and shipping peanuts all over my porch. Initially I was upset with the shipper and I am sure they contributed to the problem but ultimately the guy who put the receiver in the box and poured peanuts all over it was responsible. 


With Shock Stop boxes having inserts in place, I use a jig saw and a undercut saw to cut the panels to fit a receiver. The undercut saws are the ones at the big box stores that will allow you to trim under a door or trim for carpet. Seems like I paid about $80 for a nice one. Cutting foam does not dull the blade very much. Between the two tools I can do the trim work in less than 20 minutes.


The other option is to get an empty Shock Stop box and make a cut out frame with plywood the same size as the receiver. Then take the Shock Stop box and plywood receiver frame to one if the places that have the 2 part expendable foam and have them make a glove fit set of inserts to go around your plywood mold. I installed several cross members inside the box to keep it rigid while the foam was settling.


I posted about these boxes a few years back and several people on the list bought up some of these for their own use.


A combination lock is provided on my boxes with a combo# that my client receives. This is probably not necessary but this protects my client and myself. 


I hope some of this may help someone.


73,
Glenn WA4AOS
www.dsmlabs.com