Many thanks to Jonathan (KM4CFT), for sharing the following article about his portable field radio kit, which will be featured on our Field Kit Gallery page. If you would like to share your field kit with the QRPer community, read this post.
CFT1 Field Kit
by Jonathan (KM4CFT)
I thought I would supply my own field kit I recently put together for my CFT1.
This will also be the official announcement of my newest product, which is a CW Key leg strap. The leg strap is something I originally got my dad to fabricate for me out of some scrap metal a while back, and now that I have the version 2 iambic paddles, I thought it would be nice to mass-produce them. They are compatible with any magnetically mounted paddle.
This is my CFT1 Go Bag. It contains everything I need to activate my CFT1 except for a mast or throwline.
The kit consists of the following:
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- CFT1 QRP CW Transceiver
- Tufteln Magnetic Cover
- KM4CFT EFHW
- 25 feet RG-316
- KM4CFT Paddle Leg Strap
- KM4CFT Iambic Paddle (Blue)
- Power Cable (Comes with CFT1)
- CableMatters Aux Cable
- Rite in the Rain Notepad
- Pencil
- Bioenno 3AH Battery
- Eberlestock Waist Pack (XL)
72,
-Jonathan KM4CFT
Great kit – the CFT1 is an awesome rig. What do you use for speaker/headphones/earbuds?
Hi Alan,
I use some AmazonBasics earbuds for headphones in the field.
For more casual activations I will either use my AudioTechnica ATH-M50BT headphones or the Anker SoundCore Mini that Thomas often uses.
The CFT1 is a fantastic radio. I built the kit version and found it elegant and a blast to build. Its operating features are perfect in the field and right at home in my shack, where it sits beside my KX2.
The CFT1 QRP radio is great!
Thank you for sharing your field kit. That is great that it can fit into a waist pack, great for portable use! I see that you include 25 feet of RG316 feedline. I am also a fan of RG316 feedline for portable operation with an EFHW but I find that 6 feet works well for me. Likewise I usually carry a 350maHr RC LiPo battery that is plenty for multiple (CW) activations. This reduces weight and bulk for my SOTA portable operations. Just an observation, I expect for other portable operations the longer feedline and larger battery is more appropriate. TU es 73