EHAM.net Article
www.eham.net/articles/28564

Jim Griffith, WA7NDD
July 2, 2012

The Old Man Go Box

This may give you thought for a different way to construct a go box.

I call it the “The Old Man Go Box” because it came from dealing with my health issues, and was designed for easy deployment, for either Field Day or Emergency’s. Easy deployment had nothing to do with being fast it had to do with my immobility and stamina at the end of the day to pack up, lift the equipment, and go home. For those who take their mobility for granted, you are lucky, but at some time, heath issues become a real barrier. In my case, it was earlier then later.

Emergency Preparedness Fairs have become popular in southeastern Idaho. Rigby, Idaho in Jefferson County, birthplace of television, is located twenty-miles north of Idaho Falls and ninety-miles south of Yellowstone National Park. Between those locations any number of disasters can occur. There are several dams, earth quake prone Yellowstone Park, not for getting on-going talk of how the park could blow up and kill us all in a couple of minutes. I was heavily involved when the Teton Dam broke in 1976. There were scarcely enough hams with two-meter rigs to go around in those days, and we were needed. There are several two-meter and RACES nets in eastern Idaho all busy with emergency preparedness while the majority of hams are new Technicians Class operators.

I was thirty-three during the Teton Dam flood and six-eight now. Recently Jefferson County held an Emergency Preparedness Fair putting all their emergency equipment out for display, and asked the ham radio community, and RACES members to provide a display, along with many venders selling their preparedness items. Two-meter mobiles and handheld radios were brought for display.

I opted to set up an HF station using my Yaesu FT-817. Everything I needed fit into my fancy aluminum briefcase. Of course, the 35-amp hour battery and camera tripod used to mount the MP-1 Supper antenna did not come in the briefcase. I set up the FT-817, Z-817 antenna tuner, Signalink USB interface, HP110 notebook computer, DSP speaker, and a camel back straight key by Vizkey, on a TV tray to show how small an area the HF station would take. I found that people were intrigued by digital modes, but they wanted to hear me talk to someone far away and hear a voice come back.

The FT-817 is truly an amazing radio. I found the MP-1 Super Antenna fit my physical needs. Slide the coil to Peak the receiver noise, I let the ground radials lay were they were, and hit the tuner button. I worked several states on 20 meters SSB with 5 watts while boxed in by rescue trucks, fire engines, and a building behind me. The folks enjoyed hearing a voice from far away, something they could understand. The Technicians Class hams, exposed only to a profusion of two-meter rigs, saw more of what ham radio could offer.

The picture shows and abundance of wires and connections on my TV tray. The longer I set there and looked at it I did not like the look, even if it did all fit in a briefcase.

At the end of five and half hours of sitting under an umbrella, I could barely function, and after disconnecting all the wires and packing the briefcase just right so all would fit, I needed help loading my car with the gear and my electric three-wheel scooter. I was worn out from the heat and my own condition.

I decided I wanted something better, easy to pack up, small, very few external parts, could support an internal battery, external battery, and a small solar panel, but how to build it, what materials to use, here is what I came up with. It packs up fast, carries well, right color, and you only need to carry a tripod or table clamp to mount the antenna if you want to use only the internal battery: Enter the Old Man Go Box.

I sat an drew several ideas at night on paper while the TV babbled away, and finally came up with the idea of mounting all my equipment in a metal frame, wired and ready to use. I first went to Sportsman’s Warehouse and selected an ammunition storage case with a tray and a storage area in the lid, and orange in color, fitting for an emergency. The case is by MTM Case-Gard: www.mtmcase-gard.com.

Next stop was Home Depot were I bought five three-foot lengths of 3/4” 1/16” thick aluminum angle iron, a role of Velcro strap, a role of 1/2” felt with adhesive backing, rubber feet, 1/8” pop rivets, and orange safety paint.

I made this frame to fit my radio equipment and box, with simple hand tools: Hacksaw, vice grips to clamp the aluminum ends together while I drilled holes to make the holes match. A file to de-burr, pop rivet gun, hand drill and drill bits, and a tool you may not have, a nibbler, to nibble out square holes to mount the power pole connectors, and connections to the side of the FT-817. Square holes can be made in this thin aluminum with a hacksaw and braking out the piece between the cuts and a small file to clean it up.

This is an idea article, because your equipment may be different in size, and my box may not appeal to you, the idea of a fully wired aluminum frame is useful and can be made to your own specifications. I made the wiring simple using a six-lug screw terminal strip mounted with thick double-sided foam tape for the main connection point. I tried steering diodes, but did not like the voltage drop, so I installed two small switches for external and internal battery, and one for the solar charger. The pictures tell the rest of the story.

The Old Man Go Box is transportable. External accessories are a battery, 10-watt solar panel, and camera tripod to mount the HF antenna. The internal battery will operate the FT-817 seven to ten hours. The lid storage contains antennas for HF and VHF bands, and other accessories like the K8RA Jr. Paddle, pens and pencils.

The radio can be operated in the box if weather is a problem. The space where the microphone sits can hold the coax, my HP110 notebook computer, and Signalink interface.

The frame sits on rubber feet. There are three power pole inputs in the front: External Battery, Solar Panel, DC Charger. A switch connects the external battery, or is the off switch when external battery is selected and not connected. The other switch disconnects the solar charger because the internal battery turns on an LED on the solar charger. The switch prevents internal battery discharge when not in use. A PL 259 for the HF antenna, VHF or UHF antennas can connect to the BNC on the front of the 817. The front panel is made of two pieces of aluminum angle iron butted up to each other. The slots for the power poles were made in the lower section then riveted on, and then final holes added. After painting, I removed two rivets on the bottom rail, the two white rivets on the right, and installed the power poles and riveted it back.

The battery and speaker are mounted in their own trays at the rear. The solar charger is mounted with Velcro to allow for removal of the battery. All the equipment are held in by Velcro strap. The radio and tuner are sitting on adhesive felt strips stuck to the rails. The 817 provides voltage, power, and SWR readings. The frame is built entirely out of 3/4” x 1/16”aluminum angle iron.

NOTE:
The case is by MTM Case-Gard: www.mtmcase-gard.com.