Portable Shack: The Next Generation

My first design for a portable radio shack has died on the drawing board.

After a bit of thinking, I decided that a single box to contain all my radio gear would simply be too big. Starting with a 30kg battery and adding a few radios would have resulted in a box that was just too much to haul around in a practical manner.

Instead, inspired by the design of the case for the Spilsbury SBX-11 that was given to me by a friend, (similar to the one pictured on this page,) I decided to build a case for each radio, and one more for the battery. In addition to making it easier to pack everything, since it's easier to move several small boxes than one huge one, it also provides more flexibility. For example, if I'm going on a short road trip, I can take the 2m mobile and plug it into the car's power outlet instead of lugging around a bunch of extra stuff (battery, HF radio, antennas, etc,) that I won't need.

Well, I just finished the first of these cases. It's designed to hold my Yaesu FT-2900R 2m mobile radio. The box is constructed of 3/8 plywood, rabbetted and joined with glue at the seams. Inside the case are several ripped-down pieces of lumber which act as spacers, so the radio is held snugly in the case while allowing room for air circulation. There's a space behind the radio so the antenna cable has room to turn around and exit via the front opening without getting damaged.

The microphone hanger is attached to the lid of the case, so that the mic can be stowed inside the lid when not in use. The case is waterproofed, so it can be left out in the rain without risking damage to the radio. (The only thing left to accomplish this goal is to add a gasket to the lid seam.)

I've made the wiring connections as modular as the case design. The power cable is short, fused, and terminated with an Anderson SBS connector. It will be connected to a longer cable which will supply power from a battery, or a car's power outlet; using the Anderson connectors means I can build different cables for each power supply application, and interchange them between my radios. I'm also going to get a small extension for the antenna line so that I can connect an external antenna from the front, instead of having to remove the radio from the box each time I set it up and take it down.

With this setup, I can set up a station nearly anywhere, in only a couple minutes. It's even suitable for dropping into a vehicle to provide mobile service, as long as I don't have a front passenger. And while it's not as portable as my handheld, it also has fifteen times the output power, so I can see it being taken to a lot more places now that it has a nice-looking overcoat.