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Best way to ship a Tek 7904 mainframe?
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JOSE V. GAVILA (EB5AGV/EC5AAU)
Hello!
I have located a very nice Tektronix 7904 / 7B92 / 7A16A / 7A13 system but have the _small_ problem of shipping it from USA to Spain. It is already professionally packaged but quoted price is $295 (by FedEx). I wonder if there is any other way to send such an item to Spain, without incurring in so large expenses. Perhaps some of you have experiences sending items overseas? Thanks! JOSE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 73 EB5AGV / EC5AAU - JOSE V. GAVILA La Canyada - Valencia (SPAIN) EB5AGV Vintage Radio Site: European Boatanchors List: |
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jcastanton
Jose,
We used to ship items that size overseas (computer workstations and monitors) and found that Airborne offered good freight rates. From memory their rate for a shipment larger than yours from USA to Australia was about $100. Spain is closer than that. There is another way. United Airlines are offering round trip tickets from US cities to European cities for less than $300.00. Come and pick it up! When it costs the same to ship a person round trip as the freight for a scope, you are paying too much for freight. If you need more freight help, contact me at jstanton@.... Regards John Stanton --- In TekScopes@y..., "JOSE V. GAVILA (EB5AGV/EC5AAU)" <eb5agv@c...> wrote: Hello!system but have the _small_ problem of shipping it from USA to Spain. It isalready professionally packaged but quoted price is $295 (by FedEx). Iwonder if there is any other way to send such an item to Spain, withoutincurring in so large expenses. Perhaps some of you have experiences sendingitems overseas?-- 73 EB5AGV / EC5AAU - JOSE V. GAVILA |
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Jose,
The $295 is not too far off. I do know that UPS is usually a little cheaper than FedEx. I shipped a 7854 from here (Indiana, USA) to Portugal, once, and it cost $255, using UPS, by air. Someone else mentioned Airborne being significantly cheaper than that. I plan to check that out, the next time I ship overseas. I do know that for many items, the US Postal Service (USPS) is often way cheaper than UPS and FedEx (about 1/2?), when shipping overseas by air. But there are some size limits. It's possible to ship asomething like a 475 scope overseas/air via USPS. But I think that may be about the limit. You can check out the shipping prices, etc, at www.ups.com, www.fedex.com, and www.usps.com. The box size can make a large difference in the shipping cost, since they use the larger of weight and "dimensional weight". Obviously, they have to charge for space as well as weight, since there's limited space in an aircraft... (For the 7854, I used a box that was 36x18x18 inches. Using the method below, it arrive in perfect condition.) You mentioned that the scope was already professionally packed. I guess the quality of the packing job would depend on exactly who the professionals were. A heavy instrument, with fragile, protruding front-panel parts, is quite a challenge, when trying to insure that no damage can occur in transit. Foam-in-place MAY be the best way to go. But most individuals don't have access to that, anyway. When I ship large scopes (and I ask for this whenever I'm having one shipped to ME), I always very-securely tape large pieces of relatively thin, very rigid foam-board to the sides of the scope, so that they protrude farther to the front and rear than any of the scope's parts. If you imagine the box being dropped and landing on the front-panel end, it's easy to see how even a thick pad of bubble-wrap could break parts that protrude from the panel. The foam-board method is cheap, quick, and easy, which also helps when I'm requesting it of a seller. Of course, after applying the foam-board, I also wrap the entire scope in my usual 3+ inches of bubble wrap, and then fill any voids with foam peanuts. Good luck with that 7904! Tom Gootee --- In TekScopes@y..., "JOSE V. GAVILA (EB5AGV/EC5AAU)" <eb5agv@c...> wrote: Hello!system but have the _small_ problem of shipping it from USA to Spain. It isalready professionally packaged but quoted price is $295 (by FedEx). Iwonder if there is any other way to send such an item to Spain, withoutincurring in so large expenses. Perhaps some of you have experiences sendingitems overseas?-- 73 EB5AGV / EC5AAU - JOSE V. GAVILA |
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Hi,
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as far as i know the size limit of USPS shipping to Germany (Europe?) is as follows 2 x width + 2 x height + length < 108" where width and heigth are the smaller dimensions, length the largest. This means you can ship a big 19" rack, if the package doesn't add more than 2" on each side. This is possible using massive styrofoam sheets, not bubble wrap or chips (is too soft). A 7904 should fit, too. Also it should have GLAS written on it in thick letters! Cost of USPS economy parcel post (surface) for a heavy 19" device can be US $ 70, which is a lot cheaper than UPS and Fedex. You have to be patient though, since it takes 4 to 6 weeks to arrive. And some sellers don't like to go to a post office and deliver it there. Maybe you have to share the savings! Hope this helps. Regards Dieter Teuchert tomgootee wrote: Jose, |
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