Date
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Shipping Scopes
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Adam Beasley
Is there a good service to use to ship scopes? The only boxes I have available are from Amazon and they are not very sturdy so I wouldn't trust shipping something heavy and expensive in them.
Thanks, Adam
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Depending on how many boxes you need check out Uline. They have double wall boxes of all sizes. Staples have some boxes that are better than the Amazon boxes.
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73, Bill, WA2DVUCape May, NJ
On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, 10:26:12 AM EDT, Adam Beasley <abeasley@outlook.com> wrote:
Is there a good service to use to ship scopes? The only boxes I have available are from Amazon and they are not very sturdy so I wouldn't trust shipping something heavy and expensive in them. Thanks, Adam
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Eric
Ups , FedEx. At least in the US. Use heavy card board and at minimum 2
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inches of loose padding all round for shock. I have gotten them double boxes before and a 576 even in a wooden crate the trick is limiting movement in the box I double boxed a high end computer it made it safely to California from the east side. But it was not cheap to ship. I have also been successful crating things and shipping them freight. Plywood and padding is wonder for protecting the device.
On Wed, Sep 23, 2020, 10:26 AM Adam Beasley <abeasley@outlook.com> wrote:
Is there a good service to use to ship scopes? The only boxes I have
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greenboxmaven
Fedex and UPS pack things fairly well, I have not had any damage. It can be pricey, but is usually less then traveling to pick something up. Some people offering equipment demand that you pick it up from them. I have accounts with both Fedex and UPS, that allows me to take care of everything from my end and convince reluctant sellers to take items to the stores. I ask everyone who demands pickup only to reconsider and be willing to take the item to a shipper who will take care of the packing and shipping.
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Bruce Gentry, KA2IVY
On 9/23/20 10:31 AM, Eric wrote:
Ups , FedEx. At least in the US. Use heavy card board and at minimum 2
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Here's a page on a fabulous, late 570 I sold into Japan in 2000:
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https://www.pearl-hifi.com/07_Facility_Tour/Tek_570_005580/Tek_570_005580.html and here's a page detailing the crate I made to get there in one piece: https://www.pearl-hifi.com/07_Facility_Tour/Tek_570_005580/Crating/index.html And, just for fun, a page of pix of the internals: https://www.pearl-hifi.com/07_Facility_Tour/Tek_570_005580/Internal_Views/index.html Bill @ PEARL, Inc.
Fedex and UPS pack things fairly well, I have not had any damage.
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Roy Morgan <k1lky68@...>
Do look into shipping by bus.
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-bus station to bus station -sending and receiving parties go to the bus stations - not very expensive -May not be very fast -packages are handled by people not massive factories of heartless conveyer belts. I sent two MITE teletypes in one box successfully. (Maybe 65 pounds) Find heavy duty cartons or "dish packs" from U-Haul, cut down to size if needed. Roy Morgan K1LKY Western Mass
On Sep 23, 2020, at 10:31 AM, Eric <ericsp@gmail.com> wrote:
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Dave Seiter
My favorite source of boxes for shipping large/heavy items are bike shops. Of course, they need to be resized, but with foam planking and double boxes I never had any damage shipping scopes.
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-Dave
On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, 10:12:49 AM PDT, Roy Morgan <k1lky68@gmail.com> wrote:
Do look into shipping by bus. -bus station to bus station -sending and receiving parties go to the bus stations - not very expensive -May not be very fast -packages are handled by people not massive factories of heartless conveyer belts. I sent two MITE teletypes in one box successfully. (Maybe 65 pounds) Find heavy duty cartons or "dish packs" from U-Haul, cut down to size if needed. Roy Morgan K1LKY Western Mass On Sep 23, 2020, at 10:31 AM, Eric <ericsp@gmail.com> wrote:
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stevenhorii
If I can, I pack items myself and take them to UPS or FedEx for shipping.
Double-wall boxes are available at Home Depot and Lowes. They are usually in the “moving supplies” aisle. If you are shipping a scope with plug-ins, remove the plug-ins and pack them in a separate box. It may be more expensive, but my understanding is that Tek always recommended shipping scopes with the plug-ins removed. Besides less stress on the backplane connectors, packing the plug-ins separately means you can pack them to better protect the knobs. I probably overdo packing and it costs more both for the packing materials and higher shipping weight but if you want an item to get to its destination in good shape, pack well. UPS used to say to pack for a four-foot drop onto concrete (a sign in the UPS store I used to use when I was in Los Angeles and bought a lot of surplus electronic equipment). Nothing I packed and sent home was ever damaged in shipping. I bubble wrap the scope with at least a double layer over the front and back. I buy the inexpensive white styrofoam insulation at the home improvement stores. I have found that using a serrated knife works well (I bought an inexpensive bread knife for this) to cut the foam to fit the box. I will usually put an extra couple of layers of bubble under the bottom of the scope. I always attach a label with the address of the recipient on it to the wrapped scope or other item. If there are voids between the wrapped scope and the foam lining, I fill that with more bubble. I hate using styrofoam peanuts to fill voids, but there’s a trick I use so the recipient does not spend a mess of time getting the peanuts out of the equipment or off the floor. I put the styro peanuts into plastic bags (I use recyclable grocery bags for this) and tie the bags off so the peanuts stay in them. Sometimes, I put an empty bag in the voids if they are irregular in shape and then pack the peanuts into them and tie them off. Loose peanuts also “migrate” in the box and putting them in bags prevents this. A couple of other tricks. Stretch wrap - I use that to hold the bubble around the scope rather than taping it. It allows the bubble to be re-used rather than thrown out. I have also used painter’s tape (“blue tape”) for this as it is easily removable so also allows the bubble to be reused. I tape the box shut with packing tape including the edges of the flaps (keeps them from getting caught on the various sorting machines). I put the label on the “top” side as that tends to stay right side up. Another trick - write on the BOTTOM of the box - “This side DOWN”. The reason? If you write “This side UP” on the top and the box is inverted, the shipper will not see that. If it is bottom up, then the message that it is inverted is clear. For really heavy items (not heavy enough for freight) I staple the carton. Years ago, I bought a carton stapler and a box of staples. I still am using that first box of staples, but I still have it - only about a quarter used. On Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 10:43 greenboxmaven via groups.io <ka2ivy= verizon.net@groups.io> wrote: Fedex and UPS pack things fairly well, I have not had any damage. It
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n4buq
Used carpet padding (the kind made from individual bits of dense foam) is very protective, soft enough to form around the packed contents, and FREE. It is a bit heavy, though, but that's somewhat of a secondary concern.
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Thanks, Barry - N4BUQ
----- Original Message -----
From: "stevenhorii" <sonodocsch@gmail.com>
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ken chalfant
Greetings,
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I learned the hard way about shipping scopes. Allow me a few recommendations. Over pack! If you are unwilling to toss your boxed scope, or anything else you are preparing to ship, down a flight of stairs it isn’t packed good enough. Depending on the item, the heavier it is, or the more expensive and/or fragile the more packing it deserves. When I ship a portable scope I ensure I have no less than two inches of foam on all sides - more is better. I always use painters tape and tape a good piece of cardboard over the screen and have extra packing on the front of the scope, or any instrument for that matter. The manual and any accessories should be wrapped in plastic wrap or in a zip-lock baggie and separated from the instrument by a little packing so that as it may shift during transit it doesn’t scuff the instrument. It really is better to separate accessories and manuals from the instrument by additional packing material. It is also good to add an extra layer of cardboard inside the bottom and top of the box to strengthen the bottom and provide extra support on the top just in case it ends up on the bottom of a stack of boxes. Fragile stickers and “This Side Up” stickers may help - but if your package encounters someone having a bad day and who is mad at where they work it may also temp them to rough it up. Over the years it has seemed to me that many people under pack. Never assume that your package will receive the careful handling it deserves. Even if every person along its way behaves properly, bad and rough things can still happen. Also, check out the weight specifications for cardboard boxes. There are heavier types of cardboard. Cardboard is specified as “Test”, such as 200 pound Test. Finally, and this is just my preference, I have a wetted fiber tape dispenser that I use to seal boxes for shipping. I like it much better than the wide clear shipping “scotch tape”, but it is an extra expense to by the machine. I hope my comments are of some value. Regards, Ken
On 23Sep, 2020, at 8:30 AM, Bill Riches via groups.io <bill.riches=verizon.net@groups.io> wrote:
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Dave Seiter
My favorite is polyethylene foam planking, but there are different densities and finding a reliable source of used material can be difficult.
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-Dave
On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, 11:06:03 AM PDT, n4buq <n4buq@knology.net> wrote:
Used carpet padding (the kind made from individual bits of dense foam) is very protective, soft enough to form around the packed contents, and FREE. It is a bit heavy, though, but that's somewhat of a secondary concern. Thanks, Barry - N4BUQ ----- Original Message ----- From: "stevenhorii" <sonodocsch@gmail.com>
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Dave Seiter
When double boxing, I always assume that the outer box will be sacrificial. The inner box should be well fitted to prevent movement and should be good enough to almost ship the scope by itself. The outer box absorbs all the impacts, so I tend to use softer materials, and leave voids at the box corners (not edges).
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A few weeks ago, I dropped off a box at Fedex and asked if they could slap on some "fragile" stickers. I was told they could, but it would only help during the initial load onto a truck, and final delivery. Everything else "would be handled by robots that can't read". -Dave
On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, 11:06:12 AM PDT, ken chalfant <kpchalfant@msn.com> wrote:
Greetings, I learned the hard way about shipping scopes. Allow me a few recommendations. Over pack! If you are unwilling to toss your boxed scope, or anything else you are preparing to ship, down a flight of stairs it isn’t packed good enough. Depending on the item, the heavier it is, or the more expensive and/or fragile the more packing it deserves. When I ship a portable scope I ensure I have no less than two inches of foam on all sides - more is better. I always use painters tape and tape a good piece of cardboard over the screen and have extra packing on the front of the scope, or any instrument for that matter. The manual and any accessories should be wrapped in plastic wrap or in a zip-lock baggie and separated from the instrument by a little packing so that as it may shift during transit it doesn’t scuff the instrument. It really is better to separate accessories and manuals from the instrument by additional packing material. It is also good to add an extra layer of cardboard inside the bottom and top of the box to strengthen the bottom and provide extra support on the top just in case it ends up on the bottom of a stack of boxes. Fragile stickers and “This Side Up” stickers may help - but if your package encounters someone having a bad day and who is mad at where they work it may also temp them to rough it up. Over the years it has seemed to me that many people under pack. Never assume that your package will receive the careful handling it deserves. Even if every person along its way behaves properly, bad and rough things can still happen. Also, check out the weight specifications for cardboard boxes. There are heavier types of cardboard. Cardboard is specified as “Test”, such as 200 pound Test. Finally, and this is just my preference, I have a wetted fiber tape dispenser that I use to seal boxes for shipping. I like it much better than the wide clear shipping “scotch tape”, but it is an extra expense to by the machine. I hope my comments are of some value. Regards, Ken On 23Sep, 2020, at 8:30 AM, Bill Riches via groups.io <bill.riches=verizon.net@groups.io> wrote:
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greenboxmaven
I am well aware that things do go wrong. However, if Fedex or UPS pack the item, they have some incentive to do it well. I take my chances, traveling across the country to pick something up is out of the question. I have had excellent results with Pack & Send in the UK, they very successfully packed and sent two very heavy receivers and a few smaller but still hefty Eddystone receivers to me with no damage whatsoever.
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Bruce Gentry, KA2IVY
On 9/23/20 12:47 PM, Bill Perkins wrote:
Here's a page on a fabulous, late 570 I sold into Japan in 2000:
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Good advice. Having shipped and received literally hundreds of tube scopes, there is always a few things overlooked. One that is ALWAYS overlooked is the crt. The crt in these old scopes is supported in only two places, that is the front panel and the rear socket. The front support is very rigid. The back support however is usually a white plastic ring that may be used to rotate the tube. Sadly this plastic is the kind that eventually hardens. It does not take much force to break it. Even time can cause it to fail. Now when the packed scope gets dropped by the carrier, and it WILL get dropped, the crt is unsupported and will usually break in half at the neck. All carriers use conveyor belts, and a package this size sometimes falls off the conveyor to the concrete floor. I have even seen the UPS driver, when picking up a box clearly marked fragile in 10 places actually THROW the box into his truck. CRTs are getting very hard to find, so if yours gets broken the whole scope may be junk.
I have also received scopes in their original Tektronix shipping box, unopened. There is no way this box could survive shipping conditions today. It always has to be packed inside another box. I know of no easy answer to this. I have sometimes removed the crt and packed it separately in a proper Tektronix crt box. This is good but increases the cost. I have also received scopes with some packing material around the crt inside the mu-metal shield. As I recall this had limited success. Oh and btw no carrier will insure glass. Any time you ship it is a crap shoot. All you can do is try to make sure your package can be dropped 6 feet onto concrete and you are ok. Maybe. Good luck. I
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Richard R. Pope
Hello all,
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And this is why I offer a premium delivery service. Expensive but the equipment is handled by just me. It will not be dropped, spindled, nor mutilated and it is kept in a climate controlled environment. I will pick up anywhere in the lower 48 and deliver to anywhere else in the lower 48. Please contact off list for details? GOD Bless Bless and Thanks, rich!
On 9/23/2020 4:38 PM, John Williams wrote:
Good advice. Having shipped and received literally hundreds of tube scopes, there is always a few things overlooked. One that is ALWAYS overlooked is the crt. The crt in these old scopes is supported in only two places, that is the front panel and the rear socket. The front support is very rigid. The back support however is usually a white plastic ring that may be used to rotate the tube. Sadly this plastic is the kind that eventually hardens. It does not take much force to break it. Even time can cause it to fail. Now when the packed scope gets dropped by the carrier, and it WILL get dropped, the crt is unsupported and will usually break in half at the neck. All carriers use conveyor belts, and a package this size sometimes falls off the conveyor to the concrete floor. I have even seen the UPS driver, when picking up a box clearly marked fragile in 10 places actually THROW the box into his truck. CRTs are getting very hard to find, so if yours gets broken the whole scope may be junk.
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I have large pelican style boxes that I ship my R-389, R-390, R-390A and R-391 in with foam inserts. They cost me $290 each but I’ll sell for 175 each. I have 2 extra keeping 4 for shipping radios. I don’t remember how much they cost empty but when I ship a radio I include a UPS label for the return. I also charge a deposit refundable, in case someone wants to keep the box. The deposit is $175 refundable of course but I forget the empty shipping charge. I think it it is $87
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If anyone wants one let me know. They also fit many of the o scopes I never tried the 545 size ones. America does not need to see the tax returns of a billionaire who became a public servant. America needs to see the tax returns of public servants who became millionaires while being public servants " Jaeson Lubell”
On Sep 23, 2020, at 09:43, greenboxmaven via groups.io <ka2ivy=verizon.net@groups.io> wrote:
Fedex and UPS pack things fairly well, I have not had any damage. It can be pricey, but is usually less then traveling to pick something up. Some people offering equipment demand that you pick it up from them. I have accounts with both Fedex and UPS, that allows me to take care of everything from my end and convince reluctant sellers to take items to the stores. I ask everyone who demands pickup only to reconsider and be willing to take the item to a shipper who will take care of the packing and shipping. Bruce Gentry, KA2IVY On 9/23/20 10:31 AM, Eric wrote: Ups , FedEx. At least in the US. Use heavy card board and at minimum 2 inches of loose padding all round for shock. I have gotten them double boxes before and a 576 even in a wooden crate the trick is limiting movement in the box I double boxed a high end computer it made it safely to California from the east side. But it was not cheap to ship. I have also been successful crating things and shipping them freight. Plywood and padding is wonder for protecting the device. On Wed, Sep 23, 2020, 10:26 AM Adam Beasley <abeasley@outlook.com> wrote: Is there a good service to use to ship scopes? The only boxes I have available are from Amazon and they are not very sturdy so I wouldn't trust shipping something heavy and expensive in them. Thanks, Adam
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Dave Seiter
It's like Uber for scopes! If I ever find a 570 and can't retrieve it myself, I'll keep you in mind!
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-Dave
On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, 03:32:29 PM PDT, Richard R. Pope <mechanic_2@charter.net> wrote:
Hello all, And this is why I offer a premium delivery service. Expensive but the equipment is handled by just me. It will not be dropped, spindled, nor mutilated and it is kept in a climate controlled environment. I will pick up anywhere in the lower 48 and deliver to anywhere else in the lower 48. Please contact off list for details? GOD Bless Bless and Thanks, rich! On 9/23/2020 4:38 PM, John Williams wrote: Good advice. Having shipped and received literally hundreds of tube scopes, there is always a few things overlooked. One that is ALWAYS overlooked is the crt. The crt in these old scopes is supported in only two places, that is the front panel and the rear socket. The front support is very rigid. The back support however is usually a white plastic ring that may be used to rotate the tube. Sadly this plastic is the kind that eventually hardens. It does not take much force to break it. Even time can cause it to fail. Now when the packed scope gets dropped by the carrier, and it WILL get dropped, the crt is unsupported and will usually break in half at the neck. All carriers use conveyor belts, and a package this size sometimes falls off the conveyor to the concrete floor. I have even seen the UPS driver, when picking up a box clearly marked fragile in 10 places actually THROW the box into his truck. CRTs are getting very hard to find, so if yours gets broken the whole scope may be junk.
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Richard R. Pope
Dave,
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It is greatly appreciated. I love to drive and the extra money is very helpful since I am living on Social Security Disability. GOD Bless and Thanks, rich!
On 9/23/2020 8:47 PM, Dave Seiter wrote:
It's like Uber for scopes! If I ever find a 570 and can't retrieve it myself, I'll keep you in mind!
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Thomas Garson
I purchase cardboard boxes from a local supplier that specializes in paper products and shipping supplies. There is usually one or more such companies in any moderately metropolitan area. For reference, here in all of south western Oregon, regional population is a well under 200,000. Often these companies also carry janitorial supplies and deliver.
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The cardboard boxes I use by choice are designated for heavy items. For some items shipped overseas, I use double wall. I completely line them with 1.5 to 2" polystyrene foam (because it's softer than the rigid sheets) cut from 4x8 sheets of residential insulation (from Home Depot). Faces, with any type of display and/or knobs get spacers to minimize the possibility of their damage from that side of the package getting mashed. After protecting the face, I literally roll the unit up in three layers (sometimes more if necessary) of 24" bubble wrap, which I purchase in a roll that's about 4 to 5 feet in diameter from the same place I get boxes. I use lots of Duck brand clear packing tape in the wrapping process in order to turn the bubble wrapped item into a modern plastic mummy. I use enough bubble wrap to make sure the mummy fits snugly into the foam lined box. I do charge for this. I don't make a profit on packing, but I want my time (at dock labor rates, not bench rates) and expenses covered. This is made clear up front. I have successfully shipped expensive collector grade professional and home audio equipment, some with vacuum tubes, to SE Asia, Australia, Europe and the UK as well as around the US and Canada. I have also shipped to S. America, which I no longer do because the buyers I have encountered are a PITA and the customs personnel in many countries there are completely untrustworthy. If the equipment I am shipping has vacuum tubes, I will either remove them and individually wrap each and place them inside a small box that is included within the main box, or I will custom build a unit enclosing inner cardboard box and line it with shaped soft foam that holds all tubes snugly in their sockets. I recently did that for a pair of 5 (five!) channel 56 year old recording mixers that have a street value of about $5000.00 each. I did add 1/4" plywood sheet to the inside of the cardboard walls for that package. One shipment packed thusly, in 20+ years of doing shipping, had contents so damaged as to render it junk. The fork lift tine hole in the side of the box that a flashlight could clearly show penetration of more than half way trough the steel chassis packed inside was evidence enough for the insurance adjuster to authorize a full value claim. Some times it doesn't matter how well you pack something. If the baggage handler pushes your box out of the bay door of a 747 without having a conveyor or stairs in place, it probably wont matter how well you packed it. Thomas Garson Aural Technology, Ashland, OR By my calculation, the dynamic range of the universe is roughly 679dB, which is approximately 225 bits, collected at a rate 1.714287514x10^23 sps.
On 9/23/20 11:12 AM, Dave Seiter wrote:
My favorite is polyethylene foam planking,..........
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Thomas Garson
Don't bet on the shipper doing a good packing job. I watched a UPS Store employee do a pack job on a an antique porcelain vase: Packed it in a poly bag. OK, that's good. He then placed it in the center of a box that was big enough to hold about 6 of them, fill the box to the brim with foam peanuts and tape it shut. He did not even compress the peanuts. It's also very difficult to get to watch them pack YOUR item.
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In some areas, there are independent packing specialists who will pack your shipment, taking full responsibility for safe and intact delivery. However, they charge quite a bit, so much that it often isn't worth doing. Perhaps over the "pond" Pack & Send provides such service. Thomas Garson Aural Technology, Ashland, OR By my calculation, the dynamic range of the universe is roughly 679dB, which is approximately 225 bits, collected at a rate 1.714287514x10^23 sps.
On 9/23/20 12:23 PM, greenboxmaven via groups.io wrote:
I am well aware that things do go wrong. However, if Fedex or UPS pack the item, they have some incentive to do it well.
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