AmateurRadio.com

Backpacking Your Radio

Mike AD5A — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:37:00 +0000

There are always questions about what is the best way to pack a radio to insure that it is protected and gets to and from the remote location in the same condition that it left home. I suppose the function for the answer to that question would be:

R = # of Radios
C = # of Containers
H = # of Hams

R x C x H = the number of ways to pack a portable radio.

Translation = a lot of ways to pack a radio

So here is my solution for carrying an ATS4B and an MTR to the top of the mountain, complete with power supply, ear phones and key.

Pelican 1020 and 1040 Case

I put a thin layer of spongy material on top to keep the radios from moving around in the box. So there you go, my main rig and a back-up.

QRP

Larry W2LJ — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:35:00 +0000

is a microcosm of Amateur Radio in general. There are niches within the niche. QRP means different things to different people. In my estimation, (and I’m sure I’m way off base and nowhere near complete) the major categories are:

Competitors. Just like their QRO brethren, these guys exist solely for the contests and/or DX. You see their calls in the contest score tallies of CQ, QST and even QQ. Otherwise, with a few exceptions, you never seem to work these guys for a ragchew, or ever hear from them on the QRP e-mail reflectors. Some have the big towers with the yagis and they spend every last ounce of effort and money squeezing the very last iota of capability out of their equipment and themselves. These folks are very hard core.

Organizers. Folks like Paul NA5N, Rem K6BBQ, Rich KI6SN, Marshall N1FN, Jerry N9AW, Dale WC7S, among others. These guys come up with neat and fun concepts for events that we all have fun in ….. like the ARS Spartan Sprints, the Run For the Bacon, the NAQCC Sprints, QRP To The Field, the QRP Fox Hunts, Freeze Your Butt Off, Flight Of the Bumblebees, Sweat Your Butt Off, the Zombie Shuffle, etc, etc, etc. And of course, QRP-ARCI who organizes so many fun events like the Spring and Fall QSO Parties, the Hoot Owl Sprint, and so many more.

Builders and Tinkerers. These are the true homebrewers. Designers like Steve KD1JV, Mike AA1TJ or Jason NT7S, Rev Dobbs G3RJV, Doug W1FB (SK), Hans G0UPL, who seemingly can come up with great and ingenious designs (effortlessly) while brushing their teeth in the morning; and then share with the rest of us. Some guys are like Dave AA7EE or Tony W2GUM (SK). These guys build, and while they may not necessarily build their own designs all the time, their construction projects are things of beauty. Then there are guys like Dale WC7S and Don W3FPR who seem to eternally cruise the e-mail reflectors, always on the lookout to answer the questions of befuddled troubleshooters (like me!), or to perhaps assist someone with the building or finishing of their kits.

Entrepreneurs. On a commercial level, we are so lucky to have guys like Eric WA6HHQ, Wayne N6KR, Doug KI6DS, Diz W8DIZ, Rex W1REX and Dave K1SWL, Bill N8ET (who recently had a stroke, but was at Dayton this year, from what I understand) and others who have come up with companies that keep us in a never ending supply of QRP goodies.

Antenna experts. These people spend their time designing, homebrewing, or just tinkering with …..antennas. There is probably a little bit of this category in each of us – but these guys …… well, this is their “thing”. Several call signs that I can think off the top of my head that fit into this category – Steve AA5TB, Bud W3FF, Dale W4OP, Bill WA8MEA, L.B. Cebik W4RNL (SK), Alex PY1AHD, among others.

Experimenters. These guys think out of the box, and come up with new ideas for new things, or perhaps lead the way making use of new technologies, modes, etc. or perhaps they write software for QRPers. They’re a lot like the builders and designers in one sense, yet different in another. In this group I would put people like George N2APB, Joe N2CX, Joe K1JT, Julian G4ILO and so many others.

Outdoorsmen. Steve WG0AT, Guy N7UN, Jim W1PID, Martin VA3SIE, Bud W3FF, Ed WA3WSJ, Rem K6BBQ, Dennis K1YPP and all the SOTA folks. These are the folks who exist for taking their equipment outdoors and seeing how far they push themselves and their equipment. These are the guys we sit around and ask for “just one more story”. These are the guys we love to watch on YouTube or read of their exploits on their blogs.

Teachers. These folks are great examples for all the rest of us, they are particularly concerned with passing on the hobby and its tradition to the future generations. All the folks listed above are teachers, but the guys that (in my mind) especially fit this category are the guys who like to “spread the word”. Those who come especially to mind are John K3WWP and Dan KB6NU and Rich W2VU, Joe K0NEB, Cam N6GA, among others.

The rest of us – The “Ham and Eggers”, if you will, or if you read the comic strips in the newspapers, perhaps the “Pluggers”. We’re the day-to-day guys on the bands, the ones who do it all, the guys who do the rag chewing, the guys who work some DX when we get the opportunity, the guys who complain and moan on the e-mail reflectors, the guys who hunt the Foxes, the guys who buy, build and sell all that QRP stuff out there. The rank and file, the great huddled masses who go about their lives, probably unrecognized for the most part, but for without whom, there would be no QRP. Hopefully, because of efforts of the people named in the above categories (and there are so many more that I haven’t included due to advanced Senior-itis) there’s a bit of each of those categories in all of us. Perhaps you find yourself fitting into multiple categories.

A note to my readers – the names and calls mentioned above are mainly North American QRPers. This is because these are the names and calls that I am most familiar with. Personally, I know my knowledge is sadly lacking and that there is a treasure trove of QRPers out there, throughout the whole world who deserve to be added to the list of names I mentioned above. I wish I knew more about them. If you have some names that stand out in your minds, please add them to the comments section. Or even better, I’d love to hear about them and their accomplishments, and perhaps even run future blog posts about them (I sense a new series developing here ….. “Profiles in QRP”) – Polish QRPers, Russian QRPers, Thai QRPers, Italian QRPers, Aussie QRPers, Brazilian QRPers, QRPers from around the world. Send me an e-mail!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

6 meter

Paul PC4T — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:39:00 +0000

Today on 6 meter I worked EA9UG from Ceuta and Melilla (North Africa) with CW. Also worked: LY2IJ, EA5CLH and EA7AH (the last one with RTTY) My WSPR results on 6 meter today.

6m season

Alex G7KSE — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:16:55 +0000

Guess what? Its sunny and there’s Es to be had about. After several months of not really touching the radio at home because of the various commitments I made to a certain cycle sportive I took a week off work and decided to catch up on the family and my hobby. After a nice long weekend away [...]

Amateur Radio Kit Roundup (radiokitguide.com) Update

Neil W2NDG — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:14:29 +0000

Some post-Dayton additions have been made to the RadioKitGuide. Rather than continue to paste the entire thing here I will link to it and list the changes only. Changes in Hendricks (2 new kits!), YouKits (1 new kit!), TenTec (New QRP rig coming soon), Four States QRP (1 kit retired, 1 coming soon), CR Kits (1 new [...]

Dayton 2013 Recap

Ethan K8GU — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:50:32 +0000

Some good planning on Sarah’s part yielded a bridal shower for her sister scheduled on the same weekend as the Hamvention. Huge win. Speaking of huge wins, there was no sewer back up this year. Like the last time I attended in 2011, I’m pleased to see more younger (than me) hams in attendance. A [...]

More on Project Diana

Larry W2LJ — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:33:00 +0000

I found this interesting:And this is from the InfoAge Webpage concerning the project:"In late 1945, in the lull that followed the Japanese surrender, a number of scientists at Fort Monmouth's Camp Evans began working on a way to pierce the earth...

WSPR today on 20 m

Paul PC4T — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:10:00 +0000

Good results this evening on 20 meter WSPR. 5 watts into an end fed wire.

Field Trip

Mike AD5A — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:47:00 +0000

I've been slowly getting back into backpacking shape. Not only physically, (I recently had my annual physical and lasted 16 minutes on the treadmill test(faster and steeper every 3minutes), not bad for an old man), but also getting my equipment, both radio and packs, etc.., updated. So it was time for a real test to see what works and what doesn't as well as what I forgot to include.

So a few days ago, my son AB5EB, invited me on a backpacking trip with he and my two grandsons, Reid, KF5GYE and Boogie, KF5GYD, ages, 10 and 12 respectively. Well, of course I could go. Our destination was Lost Maples State Park in the Texas Hill Country. What a beautiful spot. We would hike 4 miles to one of the high points in the park, ~2,300 ft. elev., making a 550 vertical climb and camp for the night. The last 330 feet of the climb come in the last quarter mile of the hike, so it's pretty pedestrian until that point.

From the backpacking perspective, I planned pretty well. A lightweight MSR Nook tent served me well, however, my old 20 degree sleeping bag and Thermarest pad need updating, lighter versions exist. My titanium alcohol cook stove and titanium cook pot worked great. One omission, I didn't bring any thing to sit on, so I need to get a Thermarest chair set-up that allows me to make a seat out of my sleeping pad, sitting on the ground gets old. I used to have one, but I have no idea where it is. One lesson that I haved learned when carrying everything you need on your back is to dual purpose your gear as much as you can. An example, for eating, I carry a plastic spoon and a coffee cup. If I don't eat the backpacking meal from the bag, I use the coffee cup to eat from and I have very little clean up. While I didn't bring a trekking pole on this trip, I could easily use one to mount the 13' pole on, after I figure out the adaptor issue. A trekking pole also works well as a base for the Buddi-stick vertical.

I would also say the radio set up worked as well. My main goal was to test the new 13' telescoping pole that I bought from SOTA Beams. I like this pole because it is much easier to pack in a backpack and it fits easily into a suitcase. Of course it's only 13'. I set it up on the $10 tripod that I use with my AlexLoop, that gives it another 4 feet or so. Both the telescoping pole and small tripod slide easily into the slot behind the sidepockets on most backpacks.

Telescoping Pole and Tripod

w/LNR Trail Friendly 10/20/40

I used two antenna configurations, the 40 -6 End Fed antenna from the Emergency Amateur Radio Club (EARC) in Hawaii, using the 31' wire they provide with the kit and the LNR 40/20/10 Trail Friendly Antenna. The results were hard to compare as I used each during different parts of the day and only on 20 meters. I did tune the EARC antenna on 15 meters, but the band was basically dead to me. I used the Elecraft T-1 tuner and the ATS-4B so matches were easy to find. I would say that the LNR had louder signals as you would expect from a resonant antenna. The trade off of course is that that EARC can be tuned on most any band. I managed to work both coasts with both antenna's so they both work. I will probably stick with the LNR for a short term SOTA activation, but the EARC might be good if I wanted to try the higher bands for a little DX.

BTW, from a backpacking perspective, when carrying tent, sleeping bag, food and water, etc..., I deemed the AlexLoop to be too big to pack, at least for long hikes. I would have had to go to a bigger back pack to accommodate it. Day hikes, of course, are a different story. Now, if I had a goat or pack mule, that would create some opportunities to carry more as well.

Operating Position (No Chair)

I also employed my rigged up operating desk. I used a backpacking style cutting board and a couple of bulldog clips. I printed the log pages from a template found on-line and have some waterproof ink jet paper on order.

Operating Desk

It was a fun trip. Backpacking, enjoying the outdoors with my son and grandsons and playing radio. It doesn't get much better than that.

Interesting day

Larry W2LJ — Mon, 20 May 2013 02:28:00 +0000

It rained ALL day, for the most part. Not really heavy, but a good soaking Spring rain. Just what I need to get the grass growing again after I mowed it Friday night!I started the day with a nice rag chew with Joe W2KJ. I always g...