Inexpensive small shield enclosures from square tin cans
 

If you or your significant-other use some of the specialty tea
or coffee products for instant gourmet tea or coffee, do NOT
throw out the little cans it comes in...they can be recycled
into a variety of enclosures, shield cans, etc., if they are
made of tin-plated, light sheet steel.

Of three products tried for this are various Chai Tea boxes
available under "Safeway Select" brand at Von's food stores.
Those are 3 3/4" wide, 1 3/8" deep, and 3 1/2" high (about
3 3/16" high inside). Those and the other two below all have
a lip around the top, ideal for attaching cover plates or
whatnot to protect whatever is inside. The aperture at the
top is about 3 1/4" wide by 1 13/16" deep.

Through Ralphs food markets is the "Private Selection" brand
of flavored coffees and General Foods International Coffee
brand (General Foods also at Von's). Those are 4 1/8" wide,
2 5/16" deep, and 2 5/8" high (about 2 3/8" high inside).
The aperture at the top is 3 1/2" wide by 2 1/16" deep.

With the outside paint lithography stripped off, they all
take soldering very well for insuring all seams can be
made conductive (and for weather-proofing if used outdoors).
To check for tin-plated steel, use a "refrigerator magnet"
to see if it adheres or not. [got lots of magnets, too]
While not as strong as a cast aluminum box (as from Bud),
they are sturdy enough to hold quite a bit inside. The
price (nil) can't be beat! :-)

Inexpensive small shield enclosures from square tin cans
 

Inexpensive small shield enclosures from square tin cans
 

From: "Michael A. Terrell" on Wed, Feb 22 2006 6:45 am

wrote:

If you or your significant-other use some of the specialty tea
or coffee products for instant gourmet tea or coffee, do NOT
throw out the little cans it comes in...they can be recycled
into a variety of enclosures, shield cans, etc., if they are
made of tin-plated, light sheet steel.
...

Did you save any of those thin metal boxes AOL was mailing their
CDROMS in a couple years ago? They look to be just thick enough for
some small SMD designs.

Not the thin ones. About 8 years ago, the Bank of America chain
was handing out "Christmas boxes" of AOL material (including CD)
which were at least an inch and a half deep. Unfortunately, the
box lid folded over the edges of the main box part and that did
not make a good enough metal-to-metal contact along the edges.

The tin-plated steel tea and coffee boxes have plastic-paper
lids (throwaway) and the lip at the top will support a metal
or PCB cover that can be sheet-metal-screw secured in place.
Better raw material for a box to shield RF in my thinking.
Solderability is great anywhere on the surfaces, good for
making connections to the can "ground."




Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.

Me too. ["R-A all the way" :-) ]

Inexpensive small shield enclosures from square tin cans
 

Inexpensive small shield enclosures from square tin cans
 

From: "Michael A. Terrell" on Thurs, Feb 23 2006 5:59 am

wrote:
From: "Michael A. Terrell" on Wed, Feb 22 2006 6:45 am
wrote:

Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.

Me too. ["R-A all the way" :-) ]

Well, I was U-S, (Drafted, for those who don't know) but I tested out
of a three year electronics school while in basic training and was
awarded the MOS for a TV Broadcast engineer. I went straight from basic
training to working in CATV, CCTV, AML type Jerrold Microwave video
links and even a little RADAR work.

Departing from the subject, those wanting to know the real HF
military communications of '53 to '60 can download:

http://sujan.hallikainen.org/Broadca...s/My3Years.pdf

or

sujan.hallikainen.org/BroadcastHistory/uploads/AlphabetSoup.pdf

Personal history, about 10 MB each so they take some time over
dial-ups.

Harold Hallikainen has a great collection of broadcasting material
of older times (under the org part of the URLs above) plus some
very comprehensive sites in his Links list. Maybe you wish to
contribute something there?

Inexpensive small shield enclosures from square tin cans
 

wrote:

From: "Michael A. Terrell" on Thurs, Feb 23 2006 5:59 am

wrote:
From: "Michael A. Terrell" on Wed, Feb 22 2006 6:45 am
wrote:

Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.

Me too. ["R-A all the way" :-) ]

Well, I was U-S, (Drafted, for those who don't know) but I tested out
of a three year electronics school while in basic training and was
awarded the MOS for a TV Broadcast engineer. I went straight from basic
training to working in CATV, CCTV, AML type Jerrold Microwave video
links and even a little RADAR work.

Departing from the subject, those wanting to know the real HF
military communications of '53 to '60 can download:

http://sujan.hallikainen.org/Broadca...s/My3Years.pdf

or

sujan.hallikainen.org/BroadcastHistory/uploads/AlphabetSoup.pdf

Personal history, about 10 MB each so they take some time over
dial-ups.

Harold Hallikainen has a great collection of broadcasting material
of older times (under the org part of the URLs above) plus some
very comprehensive sites in his Links list. Maybe you wish to
contribute something there?



Thanks, Len, I'll check it out. I have some information that was
added to a website about AFRTS's history.

http://www.afrts.osd.mil/heritage/pa...archive_email1
--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida