Many thanks to Tim (W8TMI), who shares 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.
W8TMI’s Elecraft KH1 Field Kit
by Time (W8TMI)
My Elecraft KH1 field kit is split into two parts: the bag provided with the Edgewood package and a separate bag for added functionality. The Elecraft bag is set up to venture out by itself without anything else required for an activation. The additional bag provides a longer random wire antenna and the ability to get it up into a tree, which increases its gain over the stock whip antenna.
[Note: Most Amazon links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.]
- Elecraft KH1 Edgewood package
- DIY 13’ 26awg counterpoise (attached to DIY 3 prong counterpoise adapter)
- Elecraft AXE extender
- DIY 20’ 26awg 30m/40m counterpoise extender connected by 2mm banana bullet adapters
- K6ARK wire winder for 20’ counterpoise
- 2.1mm x 5.5 mm barrel adapter to Anderson Powerpole connector for charging
- Tufteln 45° whip adapter
- Tufteln 90° whip adapter
- (as well as the VFO, volume knob, and power switch protector)
- 3.5mm cable for paddle
- N0SA M7 iambic key paddle
- Zebra Mini 0.5mm mechanical pencil
- BNC Binding post adapter
- 41’ random wire radiation element
- 17’ counterpoise under
- K6ARK wire winder printed 20% longer (X2)
- 50’ of 2mm Marlow throw line
- 3 heavy zink nuts attached to throw line
- S-clip to attach random wire to throw line
- Additional 13’ and 20’ counterpoise for KH1 whip
- Cigarette lighter adapter to charge KH1 via vehicle
- Rite in the Rain mechanical pencil
- Rite in the Rain notebook
- MasterForce tool bag
Additional Photos
2mm bullet adapters for counterpoise wires
Primary KH1 bag
Storage setup
Antenna bag
I have zero portable operations experience (other than UHF/VHF HTs), so I say this just as a “funny” observation…. Seems like all you folks in the POTA world really like those Rite in the Rain notebooks, but I don’t see any of you doing activations in the rain 🙂 That should make a good video, complete with lightning and a little thunder.
73 – Love the “gear” posts, just like I love the other articles here. I’ve bought a (tr)uSDX, but I have no antenna, no microphone, no key, no CW skills, etc., so I’m just a “guy who’s gonna do it someday…”
Ha! Yeah, I’m guilty of this, although I do actually operate in the rain from time to time [link to report].
In truth, I use Rite in the Rain most of the time because in the past, I’ve gotten my log books wet not while operating in the rain, but later when hiking or camping in damp conditions. I’ve also spilled stuff on my logbook before and one of my daughters even dropped a raspberry in my bag once while picnicking and it got smashed in my logbook of all places. I couldn’t read some of the callsigns on that page, but I did have a backup photo of the page.
For many of us, though, we just like Rite in the Rian pads. They’re super durable and reliable–not prone to tear or buckle if damp. They’re a bit pricey, but for some of us, they’re worth it. 🙂
Again, we know you’re just joking, but I mention this only because I love these pads for more than just writing in the rain. 🙂
I switched to Rite in the Rain after a SOTA I did in Marquette Michigan this past fall consisted of a rain/snow mix. My log book was tearing as I wrote. Thankfully I was able to get the activation, but once I came home I went to the store and picked up the waterproof notebook. I’ve activated pedestrian mobile with the KH1 in the snow and the logging tray has paper that got wet from melting snow. Now I need to figure out how to get waterproof paper in the logging tray.
I used to use regular spiral bound notebooks for logging but found that, after a while, they became less paper-like and more like tissue, even though they were never rained on. The effects of humidity are cumulative.
Rite in the Rain is humidity resistant and the paper maintains its texture.