Nice project!

I’m not even into HAM radio, but that box is VERY impressive, especially for a first attempt. I admire your skill.

Obsessive compulsive over-kill LOL, but great work. Good looking build, the best of DIY I have seen on you tube that did not cost $300 just for the case. My parts list: 1. Mounting plate/cover: $8 whiteboard-blackboard 2'x4' from Home Depot. You choose which side to use, the white or black side. Very sturdy, cuts and drills clean with tape and patience. The white actually looks very clean and lets you see things easier in the dark. It is a whiteboard so easy to remove smudges/dirt. 2. Storage box: plastic rectangle planter, small. Has edges to attach it to the mounting cover. Many sizes and colors available. 3. Support for mounting cover: 4 1/2" bolts using nylon locking nuts with washers adjusted to needed height for cover. Used acorn nuts to secure the cover. No sharp edges from wing nuts. 4. Laser replacement: spade and step bits. The switch mounting plates cover any imperfections. 5. Box: Apache 3800. Small is good but functionality over form.. Not as water/dust proof but the Apache cases are much less costly. The 2800 to 4800 cases will allow for larger battery, more storage, and more devices such as solar charge controller if desired. I have storage for goose neck light which has 3-levels of white light brightness and also one level of red light, two charging cables, USB Led lights, cigarette adapter for powering/charging devices that use that time of plug, such as my 300w Giandel power inverter I know you and others know about size of cases, just thought I would mention them.

Nice build and inspiration to do something like this in DYI. Really big thank you mister. Especially for the PRO and CONS at the end. Very practical to have it directly from you before starting our own. Stay Safe! Cheers from Montréal!

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Benoit. I appreciate your comment.

Well thought out! Very good problem solving and design. 👍

Well done! Definitely very professional looking.

I have been looking at building one myself for a while now. I can't think you enough. Probably one of the best most informative videos I have seen for this. Good Job!

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Billy, I'm glad my video was helpful.

Well done! Nice clean build

That is a great little box! Thanks for sharing!

Fantastic work! Very impressive!

Hats off to you sir. You are a man after my own heart... a true perfectionist! I suffer from the same illness. Yes its a cross to bear but I always enjoy the challenges it presents.

@tysonl1908

Жыл бұрын

agreed

Very nice build.

Wow super project and very well thought out!

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you Doug

UK Ham licensed for last 23 years and a few weeks ago I bought a Baofeng, cracking radios, Mike G7 POG

I’m extremely impressed with this.

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jason!

Nice box! Great build

@GreatLakesPrepping

9 ай бұрын

Thanks!

Beautiful build! Thanks for sharing the process!

I'm new to Ham, but big on mobility an this would be awesome to add to my rig. Thanks for the details!

Nice work!! That's a very clean install.

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@wfwtheradioguy3414

4 жыл бұрын

@@GreatLakesPrepping I'm getting ready to build a "go box" for a Xiegu G90. I have a 3D printer so I can print my own parts. Your video has been very helpful. Thanks for sharing. 73

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

@@wfwtheradioguy3414 That's awesome. If I wish I had that capability at home. I would get one, but for the life of me I can't figure out CAD design.

Nice build!

I really like the design and the honest walkthrough of how you made the decisions and what you would do differently in the next version. I have the same radio and a Miady LiFePo4 battery, so I am really excited to think about a build of my own from the solid work you have done here. I really liked the speaker with fan grill which gives it a nice look and lets you hear the radio with noise outside. If you wanted some more airflow through the box, you might be able to mount a fan on the side of the storage bin and put a few skinny slots on it to suck in some fresh air and use your existing holes on the panel for exhaust. You probably need a smaller battery to fit the fan inside the box so it doesn't reduce the space in the bin. Thanks for sharing the parts list and CAD files. Well done!

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Gregory, I'm glad you found it all helpful.

Very nice my friend. Hat's off to you.

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Jack

Love the design and your approach to building it. Thanks for the walk through and job well done!

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Bobby!

Nice job! Lotta good ideas here.

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Steve

One of the nicest boxes I've seen, Great Job !! Powder coating would be a durable finish option for your aluminum. It is also expensive to do for a small piece but if you have time to wait for the powder coating company to do yours at the same time as someone else's larger job (of the same/color and finish) it may only cost you $20. I will definitely refer back to your video and links as I hope to do a similar build soon. I am contemplating doing two cases the same size, one case for the radio and/or repeater and a second case for a larger battery with charger and power jacks. Again, congratulations on a job well done and very informative video !

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Rick! A separate case for the power sure would have given me more wiggle room to work with.

Thanks For sharing. Hope it serves its purpose. Cheers

Nice work! I completely sympathize with your desire for perfection, however unattainable.

From a retired IT instructor you did a great job. A plus I will be using this design in a project. KF0MOE 73

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 ай бұрын

Thanks Tom!

Very clever ! Well done sir.

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Buddy!

Looks great! Also you might look at a some self adhesive carbon fiber or some other material to put on the plate. It would look nice and hide your scratches that you are worried about that I don't think anyone else notices.

Good job ! Well though out .

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Ron

Great Job. Looks very cool. 73 from Düsseldorf

Very good video. While I won't be making a go box, I like the video.

Man! Nicest one I've ever seen and I watched a lot of those same videos. Must be nice to have friends that can do that artwork for you. Finally, should you build a second one, take a look at the QYT KT-WP12... Very compact and all of the controls, display and speaker are in the microphone. Take the battery down to 7 amp and you could build it all in a much smaller box. Great job!

Thorough review.. thanks!

Thanks I’m going to try this

I am working on planning out a UHF/VHF go box with battery. But first on my list is a portable box for my Icom 7300 and 2300 (soon to be replaced with a 4100) without having to sell my soul. On a side note, I have an Anytone 778 and it has taken a beating and still going strong. It had gear dropped on it and it actually broke the plastic face surround in 3 places and dented the case. Glued the face back together and it still works like new.....even though it looks like hell.

that was a lot of fun!!

I think you did a pretty outstanding job on it, I'd buy it, depending on cost. I don't have the patience to do that good a presentation.

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Rick. It was definitely a little over-the-top. Sometimes I don't realize how deep I've gone into a project until I look back later!

Great job man!

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks William!

Well done 🤙

@GreatLakesPrepping

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Gary

great job

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Doug

Nice job with your radio go box. Thanks for sharing it.

Yes its very nice. Thanks

This is one of the nicest boxes I've seen and I will surely use it as my spring point to build my own. Just a few suggestions. If your plastic top plate was sagging you could have glued on the bottom of it a set of stiffeners running both directions. Need to find out what the best glue is for that type of plastic. You could make it out of the same plastic as the top plate, maybe 1/2 an inch deep. As for the battery I think the bane of your existence was that metal shelf you got somewhere else. Toss that out. Just put the battery right on the bottom of your Box. Cut up some foam pool noodle and strap it to the corners with zip ties. As for fasteners through the outside of the box there's no shame in that and it can stay relatively water tight by putting a dab of silicone caulk in the hole and under the head of the bolt or screw. But you won't need that at all if you do away with the battery shelf. See if you can get a LiFePO4 battery rather than Lead Acid. It will hold a steady 12v charge till drained completely and can be recharged hundreds if not thousands of times. A lead battery will only maintain 12 V till it's 50% depleted. Plus it's 3 times as heavy!

This looks awesome! Great work.

Very well done! I laughed out loud hard when you complained about that blue light and sunglasses!

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Ha, thanks Camz. Sometimes I get a little fixated on small things!

Good job. It seems all us hams have a go box.

very nice and i like it..

I think you did a fantastic job! The first iteration is seldom perfect! Don’t worry about the scratches they give it character! Again fantastic job!

Outstanding job. Stay safe and stay healthy. AD8DU

Yep, it will fail eventually from squishing those wires down. I did the same thing using a standard battery box. I made a go box out of it for camping and I had the wires from the outlets squished ever so slightly to get the top on and they eventually shorted out and melted one by one. The problem are the outlets themselves. They aren't very sturdy and the prongs will eventually bend to the point of becoming damaged or in such a way that the wires detached. Luckily, I smelled the wires melting for each failure and was able to avoid a fire.

Very nice build despite the issues you mentioned!!! I need to do something for my ICOM 7200 - I’ve been mulling over this for some time. When I out shopping anywhere they have those boxes you mention, I always look to see if there is anything for my radio. Haven’t found anything suitable yet. Also don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a storage/carrying box for the radio.

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you Karis. Yea it's kind of crazy how expensive some of the storage/case solutions are.

I like the plain aluminum better than the black paint. cleaner and added contrast.

. Excellent build & dedication I'm at the hand held phase so really do appreciate your project Looking good ...

New sub here. Well described and good job!

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Brent!

Put back an old big blue switch. All you need is to put some resistor in to lower the voltage to a blue led. Use potenciometer for testing.

Looks cool

Great video. If I might suggest. Take the panel to a firearms place that does cerakoting. Might be a lot cheaper. Or you could LineX coat it and it would be super tough. I like your process and it's very easy to follow. Thanks!

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Joe. If I make another one of these, I'm definitely going to look into cerakoting.

Ty

bed-liner paint its tough and it looks good.

Couple things....first, great job. Second, as an over analyzer with very real OCD, I can relate to the wiring comments about fixating on such things. Ive lived my whole like that. Just as you, I do in fact recognize that the effort, or cost, or even time is not likely worth some small issue that I just cant seem to ignore, so I usually end up making the correction anyway, Third....that small power switch is only rated for 15 amps, so you might consider looking into a “master” switch that can more than carry the potential load of the radio, amp meter, and whatever might be connected to the usb or powerpoles. Just my .02, and its only worth half of that 😁

@tysonl1908

Жыл бұрын

I definitely felt it was comforting in a sense, I was diagnosed young, but honestly, as someone with OCD, I'm a smidge proud to say that this is the type of results it can yield. That extreme persistence to accomplish despite having already achieved something is what creates even greater. Knowing better can be done is what fosters such a degree of excellence. The stress, dread, and immense weight to carry pays off occasionally and helps make it all worth it.

I'm building a box for my boat. Will contain marine radio, fish finder and breaker switch panel for boats electrical system. Everything plugs in therefor can be removed for winter.

Really nice job! One of the best I've seen. 73 George - W8DTN

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you, I appreciate it!

VERY NICE TKS

Great video!! I actually saw a photo of my go-box!! It is great to see how everyone sets up their own boxes, that is where we get ideas! 73 - Juddie - WD8WV

Just the info I needed! I’m running the same radio in my car but will eventually turn it it into a go-box style rig. Thanks for the info! KE8VKU

Impressive!! Wish you sold this

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I considered that idea when I started building it, but it ended up being more expensive than what I figure anyone would want to pay for one! I'd probably have to charge $1500 to make it worthwhile, and that seems pretty steep for a radio in a box.

Impressive

Outstanding work my friend. I have 30 years in the aluminum extrusion business. Here’s another alternative to a real good finish that way cheaper than anodize. You may already have thought of it. I would consider farming out painting the aluminum faceplate using POWDER COAT PAINT. Lots of companies can work it into their lines inexpensively you. I’ve been retired for 20 years now so I don’t know who to recommend. Sorry.

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Wesley. I think if I do something like this again, I will try to find a powder coat place. I do like that idea.

Really nice..i had built something out of coper pipe frame and still dont like thinking of mounting everything in a bigger box..thinking of a dewalt case and i think i will wont look good as yours im sure dont have the resorses as you had ve1 bhm

I really like your video and design. I am interested in the files that you used to design the faceplate. It is funny as soon as I aw the faceplate I told my wife, I can use our Glowforge to cut it. We both laughed when you mentioned in your video you had your friend with the Glowforge cut it for you.

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Greg! Yea the glowforge did a great job cutting the acrylic. Was just a tad bit too flexible for my liking, but it did a great job anyhow. Check out the video description for a link where you can download the faceplate design and see everything else I used for this build.

That's great

Wish make one theses fit all all my cb radios mobile rigs.

Might want to consider a BNC connector for the antenna

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Is there an advantage?

excellent video well-done 73s KB7PPW

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@10:15 Dork Speaker - haha Very Nice Job! Maybe you can glue the original lid foam back in... that would keep you antenna, microphone and power cord from shifting and scratching your paint.

boa noite muito bom seu projeto adorei sou do brasil e quero uma kit desse ai ficou top

Might be a good idea to see if you can fit a handheld radio in the box aswell to give to someone if you split up, or just as a backup

@GreatLakesPrepping

2 жыл бұрын

Good idea, but there's no way it would fit the way this thing is set up.

If you were tight on space, why not make a custom pack from 18650s? They have much better energy density than a SLAB. You could also do something like purchase batteries for power tools so you can have multiples that can be swapped easily for charging. 2Ah, 4Ah, 6Ah, 9Ah, and 12Ah can all be found easily in 12V packs.

You could always have attached some aluminium reinforcement bars to the acrylic.

Cerakote, DuraCoat, and KG Gunkote are all a lot more ding resistant than spray paint. Or, since your buddy already has the file, you could laser cut a thin sheet of plastic, maybe 0.028" Kydex, and glue it like a veneer on your aluminum face plate.

@chrissewell1608

3 жыл бұрын

I might go with a nice marble veneer, just for elegance!

Nicks+scratches=battle wear

Very cool - thanks for sharing. Looks AMAZING - make any contacts yet ? Battery idea for you, I've been watching Miady LiFePo4 on Amazon, great price point at $30 for a 6 AH one and it is lighter and smaller than your sealed lead acid in the box today. They had a 12 AH one for like $45 but it has disappeared. Any way - great job on that one box. 73 PAp

A lot of those mics are speaker mics - so you wouldn't need that speaker in there. Those little 25w units made for ATV's are sealed so the fan might be of marginal use anyway - and you still need an air intake for that - so idk. These little boxes always have some compromises and trade-offs, so it is what it is! Ideally you'd want an antenna you could toss up in a tree, or you still won't get really any more range than using an HT with a good antenna. Really nice job though - clean install, and if you use the low power that thing will go forEVER on a charge. Not really much reason to use more than 5w anyway unless you pair it with an antenna in a tree, then you want to overcome transmisson losses in the cable.

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback, Perry. Yea, my mic does have a speaker in it but it's not much good unless I hold it up to my ear like a phone. I like to just listen while doing work or whatever, and the little speaker I installed does the trick. I do have a wire antenna that I've tried (by hanging it from a tree) and I'm not convinced it did any better than the telescoping antenna. But, I also use the big antenna on my roof with this and that obviously works much better.

Amazing build! An idea to maybe get you some more space with the lid. If you designed the next face recessed into the box about 5/8” with a lip around the edge to attach to the box and changed to the 7Ah like you were thinking about. do you think that would help with the lid/space issue? Again, amazing build and gave me some inspiration for my own!

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

That's a cool idea. I've thought about something similar, but I'm sure it would require the whole face to be 3D printed (rather than just laser-cut out of a flat material).

Looks like a great build. I built one myself but it seems I am getting quite an RF "buzz" in the background when I transmit. Any way to get around that?

@GreatLakesPrepping

5 ай бұрын

I'm not quite sure, as I haven't had that problem. Is there any loose connections, or any power/battery wires touching the antenna wire that could cause some sort of interference?

Very nice! I like keeping the integrity of the box and not drilling 15 holes through the sides like other designs. Has anyone found a storage solution like this for wires? Or even the technical name for it? I can't find one and don't have the ability to make my own....yet.

This is awesome!! Thanks for sharing.

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Elijah

Nice build. Did you test the range with that antenna?

I wouldn't change a thing in your box, you did a really nice job, you just have to sit back and not over think it! It looks great!

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Ed, I appreciate it. It's definitely a challenge of mine to not overthink things!

@edbouman5013

3 жыл бұрын

@@GreatLakesPrepping You're more than welcome!

Good info thanks!!

Way cool

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

WOW, that is one of the cleanest builds I've ever seen! Fantastic job! de KJ7FAY

@GreatLakesPrepping

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you Isaac!

This is SWEET , Your rig is very organized and very good, but how do you keep your radio from getting hot, being it's all in closed,

Man, thanks for the inspiration! I have the same radio and I'm currently brainstorming on ideas for a go box. Looks like yours turned out great! Now that you've had it for a while, is there anything you would do different ?

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks! If I did it over again, I would use a smaller battery. Stuff is a bit too crammed in for my liking.

Talk to youre local gunsmith and see if anyone local does the baked on dura coating. Even if not you can buy it in a spray can and bake it yourself and is considerably harder than paint

Working on my license, with that same hand held radio. Now this 19 virus has hit. But, I have time to study

You mentioned the clearance for the mic in the case does the mic fit in the cup for the charger? that may be an option and then have the mesh on the lid like you intended or even mount the charger to the lid and maybe velcro loops for cable management while stored.

@GreatLakesPrepping

Жыл бұрын

I really did want to do something like that, but it turned out that the lid was too "shallow". If the lid had an extra inch or even 1/2 inch of height, I think it all would have worked out.

really nice but dunno how long the rig will last w/o fan --proper ventilation they do get hot

@GreatLakesPrepping

3 жыл бұрын

I've thought of that a little. So far it hasn't seemed to be a problem... though I usually listen much more than I transmit. If it seems necessary at any point, I may swap out that speaker for the original fan.