[Rover] Storage of Gear Question

[Jason Dugas]

Austin,
 
The RubberMaid containers will work fine.  You won't need any "filters" either.  As for your question concerning static electricity, yes there are likely to be static fields associated with the containers, however, the fact that you are dealing with electronics "assemblies" means that you have almost nothing to worry about.
 
It is true that individual components like integrated circuit chips can be damaged or destroyed by electrostatic discharge (ESD).  However, when these IC's are placed on circuit boards they usually have capacitances (stray and discrete) that provide substantial protection from ESD.  Additionally, the chasses of your radios & transverters constitute a virtual Faraday shield around these sensitive components providing even more protection.  Of course the SO-239 or Type N receptacle provides a path into the assembly, but that is a rather limited path (we're really only talking about the center conductor if the shield is grounded to chassis).  If you wanted to be doubly sure of protection you could put a protective cap on the receptacle (as we do in the aerospace business) or simply just put some tape over it.
 
At work we always have to wear ESD wrist straps when assemblying printed circuit boards, etc (This is a good practice for EVERYONE not just aerospace).  Once the circuits are assembled and the lids are screwed down we can take the wrist straps off and handle the hardware pretty freely.  This is because of the protection provided via the forms I discussed above.
 
I'm not sure where you live, but down in Houston my biggest worry for storing electronics hardware is humidity.  In Nevada, its not much of a problem.  Use common sense and put the hardware in a dry location.  
 
So, again, the RubberMaid containers should work GREAT for your application.  Also, I even store discrete CMOS components in these at home, but I always put the components in ESD bags and tape them shut to protect the contents.
 
I hope this helps.

Jason
KB5URQ
 
 
 
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:50:26 -0700
From: "Austin" <austin at k4amk.us>
Subject: [Rover] Storage of Gear Question
To: vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu
Cc: rover at mailman.qth.net
Message-ID:
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Looking for suggestions on how to properly store all of this Rover gear
and am curious what others do.  Basically, I have TE Systems Amplifiers,
Heil Headsets, Radio's, a future Transverter, a bunch of LMR-400 cable,
etc. that I want to pack away until the next contest.
 
My thinking is to go out and get several RubberMaid Containers to put
everything in.  I know that Static Electricity is a bad thing for
electronics.  Is this a worry with the Rubbermaid Containers?  What can
I safely use as "filler" between the amplifiers and radios?
 
Basically, my goal is to be able to pull out these boxes, pop the tops,
and start assembling the Rover Station.  Obviously I also want to take
care of the equipment as best as reasonably possible as well.
 
Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
73,
 
Austin, K4AMK
www.k4amk.us