BA Storage - Some Questions????

[Jeff Anderson]

Michael Crestohl wrote:

> My family and I recently moved into a house here in the Upper Valley
region
> of Vermont/New Hampshire.  We have a nice two-car garage which has new
> electric doors that lock and a cement floor, basement ( with cement floor)
> and an attic.  All three places are unheated.

-- snip

> So basically I'm asking about the best place to store vacuum tube-based
> electronic equipment and paper manuals in an 85 year-old house with an
> attic, basement and two-car garage in Central Vermont.

Given your choices, I would probably choose the basement.
I would avoid the attic because of the wide temperature variations through
the seasons.
An unheated basement would probably have the most constant temperature of
any of these areas.  If you do choose the basement, I would be sure to
provide airflow between the gear and the cement floor to prevent
condensation (and avoid any possible flooding).  I don't know of a good way
to measure the humidiy level.  De-humidifiers can be purchased, but I
believe they are rather expensive.  If you have a small enclosed room within
the basement, maybe an electric heater with a thermostat would be enough to
chase the dampness away.

I store my boatanchor radios in a small room at the back of an unheated
garage (don't have a basement or an attic).  I live in Utah where, like
Vermont, there are wide variations in temperature through the year, but the
humidity is fairly low.  I have an electric baseboard heater and thermostat
that keeps the room temperature above 45 degrees during the winter, but
temps can approach 100 during the summer.  The radios don't seem to mind the
surroundings, but the frequency accuracy of my test equipment is
questionable across the varying temperatures.

With regards to your printed documentation... I think paper likes the same
environment as people.  Neither cold and damp, nor hot and dry.

I hope this helps in some way, and I hope your new house is in a good radio
location.

73,
Jeff Anderson  KD7PAW

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