With any hobby, it’s easy for things to get out of hand. Equipment can get scattered around the house, chargers lost in the car while cables languish in the shed… but it doesn’t have to be this way. With a go-bag or go-box, everything required is kept together in a ready-to-go condition. Heading out for a day of filming? Grab the go-bag and you’re all set. [oliverkrystal] wanted to apply this to a ham radio setup, and built this ham shack-in-a-box.
Wanting to use proven components and keep things rugged and usable, the build starts with a 6U-sized plastic rack mount case. This saves weight over plywood versions and is nice and tough. A combination of off-the-shelf rack mount parts and 3D printed pieces are brought together to make it all happen. [oliverkrystal]’s printed cable organisers are a particular treat, and something we think could help a lot of builds out there.
It all comes together as an impressive self-contained unit with two radios, an antenna tuner, in-built illumination and other useful features. No longer does one have to scramble around preparing gear for the weekend’s hamventures – grab the box and you’re ready to go!
Perhaps you don’t have a lot of ham gear, though? Try this setup to get going for less than $100.
I look at that case, and I think: Esky.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esky
assorted models at: https://www.bunnings.com.au/our-range/brands/e/esky
interesting, i immediately thought of skb, and how their blow molded cases and racks always have handle failures, so i never trust them. though most ham guys are much more gentle on their equipment than, than most musicians are.
He put a lot of work into it. Not putting it down, since it’s well built.
Only 1 problem: B-U-L-K ….. you ain’t puttin’ it into a “go-bag” ! (try “bugging out” – on foot with that package…Mod II rev 2.0 better have wheels on the case!).
You’re right, I’m not bugging out with this. I don’t have a ham shack or a place to keep my gear constantly hooked. So by building this, I’m down to plugging into a wall and setting up an antenna.
I quickly realized this was less of a go box and more of a shack in a box. I’m good with that.
Thanks for the compliment.
You’re right, this isn’t going anywhere fast. When I started with the CAD layouts I realized that. I don’t have anywhere to leave a ham shack set up, so this makes getting on air a matter of plugging into an outlet and connecting to an antenna. Because of that, I’m alright with it being a ham shack-in-a-box.
Do Eskys come in exactly 19 inch wide though?
If Ikea made LACK eskies they would.
I’m not sure the 19″ form factor is relevant – there’s no actual equipment in his rack which takes advantage of the form factor.
Good point!
There’s lots of examples on youtube using extra large ammo cases down to standard.