Ammo can radio

Nice, I did the same thing but put some speakers in it. Definitely a handy thing to have around.
 
Right now i have a portable 25w dual usb solar pannel ..... I'm a beginner so if you know something i don't or know that this won't work or be big eanough please fill me in.

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I was going to put a speaker in but the radio already has one on it so the i cut the weight.
 
Nicely done[thumbsup]. The ammo can is a nice idea. Rugged, waterproof and even EMP proof if the lid is on when the EMP happens.

Ammo cans are not EMP proof as the EMP can travel right through the huge gap between the cover and the container (rubber gasket).
 
Opinions vary on what is EMP proof. I've read lots that say the EMP from a nuke in orbit has most of its energy in fairly long wavelengths and most things just sitting on the table that don't have cables attached to act as antennas will be fine. I think there would have to be a lot of energy at very short wavelengths to get past the side lips and into the box.

Then there's the top secret EMP weapons we read about. Rumors say they have more energy in the higher frequencies and will take out a lot more stuff.
 
Has this been tested?

Probably not. EMP is something people freak out about but don't really grasp. I read somewhere that all you had to do was lay a sheet of tin foil over the top of an ammo can and so long as it made contact all the way around it would be EMP proof. What a joke. Everyone knows all you need to do is keep everything in a metal trash can and you will win the EMP war.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYWhTMmv6bs

This guy has a couple videos about EMP protection for electronics. This particular video uses a metal trash can as an example and he demonstrates some of the challenges and how to overcome them. I think the Ammo can idea would present with similar challenges. Taping the seams and the lid with the metallic tape might improve it protection, but you sacrifice the accessibility of the can.
 
Just got my Technician License and would like to build one with a Yaesu ft2200. What do you plan to use for a mobile antenna? I am building a Jpole now.Would that work?
 
Congratulations on getting your ticket Scrooge!

Jpoles work great. Are you making a copper pipe one or a roll-up with twin lead? I always have a roll-up handy. Even if you just hang it at shoulder height it will do several S-units better than a rubber ducky antenna.

One thing to remember with the ammo can rigs is cooling. If you are going to be key-down for long periods and the radio can't breathe it could get warm. Then again, if you are running off batteries inside the box you probably aren't running 50W anyway.
 
Copper pipe, and thanks for the cooling tip. There's so much info on youtube This 69yo brain gets confused. Got an ammobox at Walmart yesterday for $12.83. raydc13's unit seems to be just the ticket for my needs. TY
 
Didn't realize there had been traffic on this thread and forgot about it. Thanks to everyone who said they liked it.
 
Ammo cans are not EMP proof as the EMP can travel right through the huge gap between the cover and the container (rubber gasket).

Confused here. Ignoring the rubber gasket, the locking hasp and the hinge are metal to metal contact between the bottom and top of the can. Unless the can needs to be grounded it seems to be completely surrounded with metal.
 
Nice work!

I put an NMO mount in the lid of mine that I built into a fat .50 can. The lid acts as the ground plane for both UHF and VHF and can be placed in a higher location when operating. The 1/4 wave whips fit inside the can.

I used an alarm system charging board and a small transformer to keep two 7 1/2 amp hour gel cells charged
and can clip a solar panel directly to the batteries if needed.

I also use the fat .50 cans to house two TA-312 field phones between two sheds on the property. Mounted vertically with the lid opening upwards, they shed rain even if left unlatched.

I use a 40mm can as a tool box mounted to the fender of my tractor, it will hold a lot of stuff including wrenches, sockets, pins and clips, spare gloves and 20ft of 5/16 galvanized chain. I made a Maglite holder from a piece of 2" pvc pipe, capped one end and cut the top off an Ibuprofen bottle and with two wraps of tape on the pipe it fit like a glove over the top. Really sucks to be stuck out in the middle of a field at night without a flashlight.
 
Waveguide beyond cutoff........that would be the pertinent calculation. You can also find gaskets that are both water and EMP resistant.
 
I have a theory that the protection circuits on the pads of IC's have gotten a lot better since the old days of semiconductors, it would take a lot more of an EMP pulse to fry them than people used to use in their estimates. could be wrong ... I just remember in the 70's, if you didn't take static precautions, you'd fry almost any CMOS chip you touched.
 
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