Back in the 50's and 60's almost nothing was shipped by air --
certainly nothing as heavy as a Johnson Valiant or a Heath Apache.
But I have had a Valiant shipped to me, and it cost me nothing! My
friend constructed a wooden frame to hold the rig inside of a very
large cardboard box. There was no rush to get it shipped, so he was
able to wait until he found a suitable box. It took so long that the
the tubes, which were shipped right after I bought the rig, arrived
about a month before I got the transmitter itself.
We decided that FedEx was the best way to ship the thing. As it
turned out, they picked it up about four days before Christmas with
guaranteed two day delivery. Due to all the heavy shipping traffic
it arrived a day late. FedEx probably had to chose between my
Valiant and a dozen or so smaller packages. I was not the least bit
unhappy to get free shipping as a Christmas present from FedEx. We
honestly did not plan things that way, it was just how it worked out.
My friend's packing method worked -- the rig arrived in fine shape
despite all of the packages passing through FedEx at Christmas time.
Alan
WA2DZL
.
On Aug 16, 2006, at 3:01 PM, Don Merz wrote:
"People don't care about their work" is certainly a
factor. They are returning the feeling they are
getting from their employer--sometimes in spades.
But to be complete, uncaring workers are probably not
the main factor at work (pun) here.
The biggest factor is probably the sheer volume of
shipping that goes on today versus say, 1960. Most
shipping was business to business back then, in large
lots. Catalog sales to individuals were a tiny
fraction of what they are today. If you wanted a
radio, you went down to the ham radio dealer and
bought one off the shelf that you carried the last
mile yourself. Today, that last mile is part of the
shipping task for radios ordered from catalogs.
Additionally, the majority of the shipment's trip was
on steel rails instead of potholed asphalt--the stuff
probably didn't get jolted around as much. At the
handling facility, people--not automated conveyors and
lifts--handled the packages--shipping automation as we
know it today did not exist. It didn't have to because
labor was cheap and single-piece volume was low.
So maybe people don't care as much about their work
today. But I kind of doubt that their lack of care for
their work is the biggest factor in shipping damage.
73, Don Merz, N3RHT
--- W1EOF <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
As people have stated, it's a combination of both.
People cared more about
their work back then and probably took better care
in how they handled
stuff. There was less pressure to "just get the
stuff outta here" than now
I'm sure.
Secondly it does not matter whether so much whether
you use a particular
material or not, it's HOW the materials are put
together that matter.
Someone in a reply said it doesn't matter how it's
packed if it gets dropped
six feet. I think you are stating my second point
from a different angle. I
wouldn't send a Valiant out my door unless I felt
confident... yes,
confident that it could withstand a six foot drop.
Probably an eight foot
drop. That's not unusual and std packing procedure
for a business. It's not
hard to do but it takes a little work and more than
that it takes thought on
how it should be boxed. I've sent hundreds of items
around the world.
Fragile glass items. Heavy radios. I never had one
damaged in transit. ALl
of those packages were expected to withstand at
least a six foot drop.
As an example, here is what I would do with a
small-medium sized
transmitter:
1. Remove the tubes. They get individually wrapped
in bubble-wrap and
shipped separately. Any other loose pieces get sent
separately in another
box. If you want you can in some case wrap that
stuff up and put it inside
but if you want to be sure, pack it separate.
2. Depending on the tranmitter, it's value, etc I
might need to make a
wooden support for the transformers.
3. Wrap this up in both directions with bubble wrap.
The one with the bigger
bubbles, not the small-bubble kind. Tape it good.
There should be at least a
couple of inches of bubblewrap on every surface.
4. Using bubblewrap or high-density foam fit this
assembly into a box. Not a
bad idea to put it into a heavy garbage bag and tape
before it goes in the
box.
5. Tape this box up. Tape it up GOOD. If heavy use
strapping tape as I
describe below. Now this is where many people would
stop. It looks like it's
ready to go, right? Well many people would ship this
out but it's not ready.
6. Get ANOTHER, larger box. ALlow for 3-4 inches in
every direction. In
between the two boxes you need some cushion. I
pesonally like peanuts but if
you use them they must be packed DENSELY. You want
the inner box to be able
to move a bit, but not much. Pack the peanuts in
there tight. Tape this box
up tight. Then get your strapping tape and wrap two
double bands of that in
each direction, each band about 25% of the way in
from the edge of the box.
If the box is long then I'd add two more bands in
that direction. The
strapping tape will prevent the box from bursting
should it be dropped on a
corner for instance. It's very strong stuff.
You're done.
Now if the transmitter is really large, or extra
heavy (say > 80 or 100lbs)
then you need to go to the next level and crate it.
Basically you follow the
steps above and then put that assembly into a box
that is made of plywood
with reinforced corners, etc. Making a suitable
crate is somewhat of an
art... a story for another day.
If you follow those steps listed above you will be
able to drop that
transmitter 6-8 feet without any damage to the box
or the transmitter. It
will hit with a funny dull sounds and sort of bounce
(which is what you
want, thats' the energy being absorbed and deflected
not transferred to the
transmitter).
73,
Mark W1EOF
<SNIP>
Could someone explain to me how radios were
shipped back in the
50's so that
they arrived at the dealers with no apparent
damage. I wonder what the
original packing was back then?
<SNIP>
______________________________________________________________
AMRadio mailing list
Home:
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
Post: mailto:[email protected]
AMfone Website: http://www.amfone.net
AM List Admin: Brian Sherrod/w5ami, Paul
Courson/wa3vjb
______________________________________________________________
AMRadio mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
Post: mailto:[email protected]
AMfone Website: http://www.amfone.net
AM List Admin: Brian Sherrod/w5ami, Paul Courson/wa3vjb
