Inexpensive PAM-5002® Carrier

You paid all that money to buy this nice board to use in the lab.

But will it survive a term in your pack?

An easy, inexpensive answer is the following:

First, remember that a PAM-5002 ® is roughly 3 inches by 3 inches (80 mm x 80 mm) and 1 inch (25.4 mm) high.

What you will need to obtain (beg, borrow, or buy) is:

• bubble plastic, 6 to 8 inches (150-200 mm) on a side (anti static or not)
• a plastic box approximately 5 inches square (130 mm) and 2 inches deep (50 mm)

At the grocery store, containers by Ziploc ®, Gladware ® and others come in packages of 4 or 5. If you cooperate with your classmates, you could chip in to share a package and save money.

Once you have the parts, simply wrap the PAM ® board in the bubble wrap and put it in the box. This will also protect the PAM ® from the pouring rain or spilled coffee, so long as you remember to put the lid on.

There may be even space for a floppy disk or CD-ROM of applications in the box too.

While this won’t save the board from falls out of multiple story buildings or megatons of textbooks being dropped upon it, it should shield the PAM-5002 from much of what happens on the way to and from the lab.

Does it really work? Yes!!

I have been carrying a PAM-5002 around in my pack this way for 6 months and the PAM still works great and looks like new.

©Copyright 2006-2010 Circuitsville Engineering,
revised 03 January 2010