[ARDF] Ammo cans

[Kuon & Dale Hunt]

Ken wrote:
>     In my slow acquisition of stuff necessary to put on an ARDF meet,
>I've found a local source of 50cal ammo cans, which seem like they will
>probably work, although it might be a tight fit...

   The standard "50 cal" ammo box is 6" wide, and the "30 cal" boxes
   are 3" wide, though they are used for a lot of other munitions
   so this may not correspond to the markings on a specific box.

   The 6" boxes have plenty of room - Joe mounts all the electronics
   on the (removable) lid.   The 3" boxes look to be much more of a
   challange, but I've been using them for several years and there
   is enough room inside - with a bit of planning.

   You probably could mount a compact transmitter to the inside of
   the lid, but my favorite method is to cut a sheet of thin
   plywood that fits one side of the box and mount everything on
   this.  A couple wood spacers against the far wall keep it in
   place, and smaller ones can be used to constrain the battery
   (with a wedge of foam against the far wall to keep it from
   shifting that direction.)  With the Hamtronics transmitter kits
   I mounted them inside a U-shaped metal chassis that is a snug
   fit inside one end of the box.  Most of my boxes were set up
   with 7Ah gel cells and there was still room, though now I've
   mostly switched to the 2Ah cells for less weight.

   The narrower width of the 3" boxes means they are not as stable
   sitting on the ground (depending on the weight of the battery!)
   but this isn't a problem.  On the other hand it makes it easier
   to carry two or more of them in each hand when you are setting
   out the transmitters, or to squeeze 4 of them in a backpack.

   In the end it really depends on what you can find locally - either
   will work.


    - Dale    WB6BYU



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