Postage

After many years sending and receiving machines I can tell you this. Using postage of couriers is very risky as the boxes are handled with little care and are often dropped from waist height or thrown out of a vehicle. On all beta machines the exposed connectors at the back and the plastic fronts of the machines are the most fragile parts and are the primary areas needing protection. Also make sure the edges have padding. Do not leave adaptors connected to the machine. Make sure to add plenty of padding to allow the machine the best chance of arriving without damage. I have on a number of occasions had to send replacement plastic front panels to a customer as I had some spares. As the machines generally weigh around 10kg, you are trying to spread any force evenly over a large surface area and allowing the energy of any mishandling to be dissipated by compression of the packing material. Hence “Double Boxing” helps greatly.

Packing the Unit for Transport

Double box heavier units, like VCR's, and receivers. Having covered the unit with a layer of cardboard all around to make a close fitting “box”, use newspaper Two Sheets at a time to crumple into balls. Crumple the paper firmly, and lay down a base on the bottom of the larger box, completely covering the bottom of the box, to at least 4 inches in depth. Then center the cardboard covered unit in the newspapers to ensure it does not touch any side of the larger box. Crumple more newspaper until the box is overstuffed and you have to force the lid shut.