The Go-Box Chronicles (The Incident Command)

 

“All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” -Benjamin Franklin

   Recently I was over by a friend of our families house and the apartment up the street had a kitchen fire.  I was milling around  the scene taking pictures  of the firetrucks and the scene when I noticed the back of the battalion chiefs SUV had a mobile incident command center.  The center was small enough to fit into the back of the SUV and contained a small desk, a base type radio along with other stationary items needed to provide a safe command station to the responding fire companies. Unfortunately I was unable to get close to get pictures as it was a very busy scene.

A box similar to Akron's (Image from the internet for reference) 

To say I was intrigued would be an understatement, not only did it have the radios but also storage areas, and a marker board  with a integrated desk. The idea for one when I go trackside, or when I do a public service events came to mind, however I just couldn't find something that  I liked and that would work with my new go box so I decided to set out on my own and build it myself. 

I had a general idea of what I wanted but there were several features that I felt could be incorporated into my design and some items that could be eliminated. One of the things that was not needed was all of that storage,  so I narrowed it down to a single deep divided drawer and a tuck under shelf for my clip boards and other paper work.  This allowed me to make the one half of the unit to fit my Go-Box in which from my previous blog allows it to be modular to be taken from the shack to the car quickly and efficiently. So lets take a tour of my Ham Command Center. 

A perfect fit  

   

     The dimensions are 15" Deep by 48" Wide by 15" high at the radio bay and is a custom fit for my go box. From left to right there is a nook to store my headphones and any other small cases between the wheel well and tailgate area. Next is the Go-Box bay, it is open in the back to allow venting and power cable routing along with a battery tray to make the whole setup independent of the vehicles power system. Next is the desk and drawer that keeps small items such as charts, papers, forms, spare antennas, HT's, and other miscellaneous items needed at bay. Finally on the top of the drawer is the small desk for writing, it is angled about 5 degrees and has a strip across the bottom to keep items from sliding off. 

    I feel I accomplished what I wanted, and once I get a chance later this coming year to  fully test my setup and see how it operates I will either be tweaking things or will be going full ham (Pun intended). This concludes part 2 of my Go-Box chronicles and hopefully I have inspired you to build something for your vehicle. Until Next time my friends, take care, be blessed and remember God is still in control. ~73 

    

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