[Amps] Shipping Security

[W0UN -- John Brosnahan]

>  Inside, there are four layers
>of dense styrofoam blue board

NO STYROFOAM, PLEASE!

Styrofoam or blue board is NOT a very good choice for
packing.  While it will help mitigate a puncture it does
not have the resiliency to absorb a shock and bounce
back.  ie, It is not springy.  And even if it does "give"
it will not return to shape to absorb the next drop.

Too much styrofoam will not "give" enough to spread the
needed deceleration of the packaged item over time/distance.
ie, Reduce the G-force of a shock.

You need something that will "give" a significant part of an
inch or so when the packaged item is subjected to the force
of a big drop.

So you can use larger sheets of a softer foam or smaller
pieces of a stiffer foam, as long as it has enough "give"
to it so that the item being shipped can decelerate over
some small distance and not just transfer the hardness
of the floor directly to the equipment.

The foam can't be so soft that the item bangs into the
side of the box when dropped, nor can it be so dense
or firm that it does not "give" at all during the drop.

I used to design and build sounder receivers. These receivers
were about the size of an Alpha 87A, although they only
weighed about twenty pounds each.  And they were very
ruggedly built with partitions made from 1/4 aluminum bar
stock, etc.  I had shipped this type of receiver all over the world
in my own packaging many times with NEVER a problem.

But the "professional" company in Taiwan that packaged
them for return to me for some upgrades and enhancements
packed them in separate wooden crates using two inch
styrofoam around each one.  When they arrived the crates
looked beautiful, not a mark on them.  But the insides of the
receivers had suffered a LOT of damage because the
styrofoam would not absorb the energy. It was just way too
hard.

If you own a recent Alpha (last 10 years at least) you will
see the type of packaging and foam that will work well.  It
is just strips around the equipment.  But the foam density and
resiliency is chosen to absorb the energy of being dropped.

--John  W0UN