I had a Pelican 1550 sitting in the corner not doing anything.  It is too small to fit a carbine upper (with 16" barrel and FH) into it diagonally, and too big to fit my meager assortment of pistols.  Hmmm, what to do?  


Well, the following photo display is what I did.  

Icom IC-718, Samlex SEC-1223 Power Supply, and LDG IT-100 automatic tuner.

The case cover was removed from the LDG IT-100, as well as the case cover of the Samlex SEC-1223.  Four small holes were drilled though the bottom of the case of the IT-100 tuner , between the side edges and the circuit board.  You can see the nuts.  Once these holes were drilled, the base was aligned on top of the Samlex power supply top cover, and drilled though that case cover.  The first hole was drilled, and a small 4-40 x 1/2" long screw was put in to hold it in place, and the other three holes drilled through.  The other three screws were put in, and a drop of blue Locktite ("service removable") put on each screw.  Yes, I made doubly sure that the screw heads would not interfere with or touch anything inside the power supply.




Then the LDG tuner's cover was reinstalled.




Next some old brackets I had in my junk drawer, I think for mounting a car stereo equalizer or something, were screwed to the sides of the Samlex power supply's cover.  The cover was replaced on the power supply, the brackets lined up to be flush with the mounting surface, cover remove, and screws tightened.  For this 6-32 socket head screws with lock nuts were used.  Again, I carefully checked to make sure there would be no interference with anything inside of the power supply.

Note, the old brackets looked a little beat up.  They were touched up with Krylon Semi Flat Black.  This is a near semigloss paint that looks far better than regular Flat Black.








Now the power supply and tuner are one unit, and easily mountable.

Next up, stage 2.

This is the aluminum base plate I have for mounting everything.  Some brackets made from rack mount ears are being screwed onto the base.  And note the Stanley hinges that will be screwed to the Pelican case.




Now mounting the IC-718 with 5 mm socket head screws.






Now everything lined up.  A few more holes will be drilled.  Not seen, but there are some hinges screwed to the bottom side of the rear edge.

All mounting screws have lock nuts on the bottom side.


Now the mounting plate is screwed in the case with 1/4"-20 flat head screws from the outside, and locknuts inside, via the hinges at the rear of the mounting plate.




So that it sits relatively level in the case when "folded down", there are some rubber bumpers like used on the bottom of cabinets.  The ones I got were 1 1/4" diameter with metal center inserts (that's important).  These are sold under the Peavy label by Parts Express for use with guitar amps.  They are bolted on with screws below the Pelican case handle hinges, and again, lock nuts on the inside.




Here it is with the front of the mounting plate lifted, putting the radio station in "operating position".  Yeah, not finished yet... the front edge is being propped up with a stub of 2x4, but I have a way to do that easily.  Just have to make a run to the hardware store in the morning.  

When the the station is folded down there should be about 2 1/2" of clearance on top... enough for 50' - 100' of coax and perhaps even a Carolina Windom like I made for our young ARFCOM friend.

I was just thinking "Pics or it didn't happen".  Nicely done!



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Looks good so far AFM.

Tag

Nice job! I have something similar for my 10m portable setup.

Nice.. I've got a 718, the same Samlex and an LDG Tuner. Looks like I need to get a Pelican 1550.

I am looking to convert my station to a case portable configuration, as I like to drag it along when I go out of town, but can't yet justify a 2nd rig.

This looks like a simple place to start. Thanks for posting.

ETA: 718 not 716 duh!

If you are going to buy a case, you might want to get a 1600 instead.  I already had a 1550, so I used it.

If I had used the 1600, which is 3" wider, I would not have had to turn the brackets for the 718 around backwards like I did, and it would have been much easier to just plunk down the receiver and mark the holes.  Also, as it is now, I would have to remove the power supply/tuner assembly before I could get to the left side screws of the 718.

Unless you have a 1550, buy the Pelican 1600.

http://www.pelicanonline-ralphs.com/1600-case.htm   $140 here.  About $20 more than the Pelican 1550 from the same source.

Here's cheaper, no foam (you don't need it)  http://www.all-pelican-cases-4-less.com/detail_pelican_1600.html   $112.26 plus shipping.

Under the mounting plate there is enough room for a big zip lock bag with operator's manuals and other things... perhaps a license copy, laminated list of emergency nets and frequencies, etc.

Screwing an antenna tuner to a power supply is cheatin'.....and I'm tellin' Mom!!!  

Looks like it'll do da trick. Well done.

Noted on the 1600 vs the 1550. Thanks for catching me before I ordered.

You're welcome!

I'll show what I thought up to make the front edge stay propped up.  KISS.  Have to run to the hardware store.

––––

Another thought... what about grounding?  Ground to what?  Well, it is better to just let it all float and make sure whatever antenna is used is balanced (dipole) or has a counterpoise.  And I've used the 718 and tuner just that way, with batteries, and it works fine.  

OK, done, almost.

Needed a way to make the hinged mounting plate stay up, so I bought some knobs at the hardware store.  These have 10-24 thread.  Also, some locknuts and some little "Mending Plate" pieces from the Stanley hardware stuff.  I snugged up the first nut underneath so that the knob would rotate in the plate, but not bind, nor be too loose.  Then the "Mending Plate", which I had sawed off about 1/4" from one end, and bent the end a bit.  Then another locknut and some Locktite on all.








Wiring in the back.




I made up this short power cable with the 6-pin Molex on one end, blade type automotive fuses (you can always borrow a fuse from a car) and Anderson PowerPole on the other.  This leads to a little 4-way Anderson PowerPole block from www.powerwerx.com, and then over to the power supply.  That gives two available sockets for other accessories.  The fuses face up for easy access.  I'll have a small Ziplock freezer bag in the bottom, under the mounting plate, with fuses and a few other odds and ends, such as double SO-239 adapters to join two sections of coax.

90* PL-259 / SO-239 adapters were used to prevent stress on the coax on regular connectors.  The jumper supplied with the LDG IT-100 tuner was the perfect length and lays neatly on the mounting plate out of the way.




And there is room for the mic in front of the power supply.  I'll get a piece of bubble wrap to wrap it up.  My wife found some black quilted material (with good padding between the layers) and will sew a little bag with velcro closure to store the mic.  Do I have a cool wife or what???  




Well, once I add some baggies with manuals and such, it will be ready to go.

BTW, I checked with my multimeter, 0 ohms from chassis of the 718 to the mounting plate, and to each other piece of gear.  No need to run separate ground leads even if I was going to.

One last thing to do... drill a hole in the front edge of the mounting plate, just to the left of where the mic plugs into the 718, and put an eye bolt there.  That will give me a handy place to hook my finger in and lift the mounting plate up to operating position.

Done!

Cool as hell

Ok, most of what you said is like Greek to me, but I can recognize ingenuity and craftmanship when I see it. Well done, and I am in awe of your abilities good Sir.

Thank you!

At first I had all that stuff in cutouts in the foam that came with the case.  I was just going to take it where I wanted it, take out of the case, plug it all together.  Then I went to a club meeting to do a thing about PSK31.  I pulled the transceiver forward and propped it up on the front edge of the foam because I didn't have room on the table for all the stuff.

Then I thought, why take it out of the case at all?  One thing led to another...

A suggestion I was given was to turn the case upside down... remove all the foam.  Let the lid be the bottom, and mount the gear in what was the lid, now the bottom of the case.  But it was a little hard to see that way.  I still wanted it all angled up a bit, which led to the hinged mounting plate idea.

To be honest, I was going to try to come up with some way to use big Ty-wraps or other straps to attach the radio and power supply to the mounting plate.  That would have been rather tacky, and not really secure.  Or not as secure as I wanted.  

Then I saw a guy building a server cabinet for a ship.  He was drilling holes in some sliding rack mount trays and the gear he was mounting (power supplies), screwing the stuff down.  Dang!  (smack forehead)  Of course.  Just screw it all down.  KISS.

So that's what I did.

In my go kit, the power supply is the only thing screwed down. All of the other equipment is held down with 2 inch wide velcro. I bought a roll of each side. I have used my go kit for several portable deployments and never has anything come loose.



When I put 2 strips of 2"velcro on the bottom of an IC-7000 and stuck it to the shelf....It really takes some effort to get it loose....a lot of effort.



 

Dadgummit!!!  I KNEW I was forgetting something!!!

I just added two Radiogram pads, putting them in the big zip lock bag under the radio, in with the manuals, spare fuses, and other tidbits.  Also added a plain notepad.

Very, very, very sweet setup.  

How did you screw those hinges into the Pelican case? Did the screws go through the case?  I am just wondering if everything is still weathersealed.

Yes, the holes go through the case.  The bolts are stainless, 1/4" flatheads.  I drilled countersinks with a 7/16" bit.  You have to be careful doing this, as the bit wants to grab the plastic and pull on through.  I used a stop collar on the bit to prevent it from going through, and to drill only the 45" chamfer.  I applied some E6000 sealant to the hole and around the screw head.  On the inside are lock nuts.  No locktite needed.  

After the sealant dried, I just scraped off the ooze with my fingernail.  So it is sealed.

If doing over, I'd move the hinge line up another inch or so, and also move all the gear more toward the front edge of the aluminum mounting plate so that the plate could be lifted a little more.  That's so you can reach under, get to the manuals, fuses, etc a little better.

I will add a few female-female SO-239 barrel connectors, other fittings, odds and ends to the kit.

Two of these rubber feet are screwed to the inside of the case to prevent the front edge of the mounting plate from going too far down.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=248-8784



I used machine screws and locknuts for these, too.  You can't see the screw heads in the photos.  They are below the hinges of the handle.

Gratuitous bump for Field Day.

Nice work AFM .

It gave me a idea for my 450.

Nicely done, definitely gives me some ideas to work with.

Used this rig for Field Day.  Worked great.  The most time consuming thing was putting up the two multidipole Field Day antennas... one for me, one for the other operator.  That took all of 20 minutes.  These antennas work 75, 40, 20, 17, 15, 10, and 6 meters with a little help from a tuner.  Will work part of 75, all of 40 and 20 meters with no tuner.

http://www.hamuniverse.com/ae5jufielddayantenna.html

Cranked up the generator, opened the Pelican case, plugged in the power supply to the 120 vac coming from the generator, attached the coax, powered up the radio and we were on the air.

very cool... thought I would see pictures of this antenna in the background... somewhere...  

Yes, your antenna has me intrigued..... I think I need a bag of the 4' fiberglass poles.

Add an SG-230 antenna match at the antenna and that rascal will work all HF bands. That's basically an AS-2259 with the coils used to shorten the radiators. Great antennas!!

J R's surplus near Ft. Polk has the poles and frequently the pelican or Hardigg equivelant. Let me know if you need poles. ill get them. I am there pretty frequently
Neez

The fiberglass masts are easily found on eBay in the Electronics > ham radio section.

www.ebay.com  > Electronics > Radios: CB, Ham, & Shortwave > Ham Radio >

Then up in the eBay search, put     "Mast"    (without the quotes)

And you will find these poles.

These fiberglass mast sections are actually 48" overall, and 6" of overlap when plugged together, so each mast sections gains 44" of height.

There are also aluminum mast sections available that are the same dimensions, and will interchange with the fiberglass sections.

With the fiberglass, you cannot assemble them on the ground and lift up Iwo Jima style.  The tenons will crack.  You must assemble them vertically, putting two together, raising them vertically, sticking another underneath, etc.

eBay sellers "nc4ry", "k4tmc", and "hoosier-man" are good guys, I've bought from them myself.

You will also see the "Composite Guy Rings" which could be used to make the top piece of the antenna here:

http://www.hamuniverse.com/ae5jufielddayantenna.html

Though the piece cut from the plastic kitchen cutting board would be much longer lasting.

And look at this item... we have these, too.  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160451654904

(Aside, for the above antenna, if no base used, it could be set up just holding it vertical, securing the four wires spread out tied to the stakes.  In that case, use 6 mast sections instead of 5 to get the same height as 5 with the tripod base)

If you were doing this at home for a more permanent setup, find the metal poles.  The fiberglass will not hold up for the long term as the sun's UV will damage them.  For a few days for Field Day, camping trips, emergency work, the fiberglass is fine.

As far as affecting the dipole... how many have antennas hung on metal pushup poles or other metal masts?  The only disadvantage of the aluminum poles for a portable antenna is the weight.

If hanging a "roll up" ladder line Slim Jim or J-pole (2 meters) you would want to have the fiberglass mast.  I used the fiberglass poles, 4 sections, on a PA speaker tripod with a N9TAX ladder line Slim Jim downtown for a street event... no guys, but no wind.  No place to tie them even if used.  But it was quick and easy, worked well, hitting the repeater in town, as well as one 20 miles away.  We were linked to half a dozen other repeaters across the state.  That was neat!

Ok, lets talk about the fiberglass masts and strength.

You say they can't be hoisted into position from horizontal. Are they that weak they break under their own weight, even at 5-6 high? This would be highly disappointing. I had lots of visions of this over the weekend... Fiberglass mast.. American Flag.....Gadsen or BFL below .... and then a roll up dual bander hidden inside. Please don't wreck my dream!

No, not the fiberglass tube itself, but the tenon-socket can crack.

Just assemble vertically, as you put it up, and you're good to go.

If you want to lift it assembled from the horizontal, get the aluminum poles.

To assemble it vertical you have to be higher than the mast.

WAIT!!! can you just lift the mast up and put sections underneath? I may have been overthinking this!

That's exactly how I do it.

I put the guy ring on the first mast section and stretch out the four guy/antenna wires.

Stretching the wires out straight, I walk back 6' toward the mast and stake the end rope.

Then I start my vertical assembly, placing the first mast section on the tripod, setting up the next section beside it.  Lift, stab on the new mast section standing, then lift both and place on the tripod.

Set up another mast section, wash, rinse, repeat.

Having one person lift, and another person picking up and stabbing the other mast sections speeds up the process.

With the ends of the dipole legs - guy wires loosely staked, even if it gets away from you it can't fall all the way over, just lean a tad.

Once you have it up as high as you want... I suggest 5 sections with a tripod, or 6 sections if resting on the ground, about 22' high in the middle, then you go back and take up the slack at the stakes.

Even if it leans a little, is not perfectly vertical, it won't fall over.

Oh, and don't forget to attach the coax first.  

You really need 100' of coax (RG-8X is perfect).  

I suggest bright day-glo orange parachute cord for the end ropes.  Visible and helps keep people from tripping.  Wrapping with some dead body tape (yellow caution tape) is also recommended.

Ive never experienced that with the fibberglass. I do prefer the aluminum though...

Neez and 73's

K5EOD

A_Free_Man,  

This is the third thread of yours that I've printed to a pdf file today!  Since I'm stuck on dial-up that took some time.


Vulcan94

Craftsmanship is incredible.(I expected no less)

What interests me is that it appears you still need 110 volts AC to run the rig.

I think that if I were to put together such a rig I would most likely use a couple of wheelchair type batteries as a power supply and a solar panel or some type hand generator as a charger.

IMHO for a go kit the thing you are most likely not have in a SHTF situation is house current.

Anyone gone the wheelchair batteries and solar panal route?

Picc, under the lift up mounting plate is a coiled up 10 ga red/black zip cable with Anderson Powerpoles.  If 110-120 VAC is not available, I unplug the Anderson Powerpole from the power supply to the radio, and plug in one end of the extension cable.  The other end goes to my gel cell batteries, which are kept on charge 24/7 with a Battery Tender.

Also, there is a 10ga pigtail wired in under the dash of my vehicle, not usually visible, but up near the emergency brake pedal.  I can plug in there.  

But wait!  There's MORE!!!

I have a cable made up with Powerpoles and two big battery clamps.  There is the possibilty of someone hooking it up backwards, but I won't do that.  Always hook the black to the frame, and then you won't have a problem.

So, there are a number of ways to power the radio.