Category Archives: Field Radio Kits

Field Radio Kit Gallery: KV4AN’s Icom IC-705 Field Kit

Many thanks to Steve (KV4AN) 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


KV4AN’s Icom IC-705 Field Kit

by Steve (KV4AN)

A requirements-driven portable communication capability, using a modular implementation concept, was the basis for my IC-705 Field Kit.  I’ve loved portable radio operating since shortly after getting my license back in 1975.  My first portable radio was the over-the-shoulder Kenwood TR-2200A 2m FM transceiver.  There is now a happy confluence of advanced electronics technology, customer-focused radio manufacturers, radio sport groups like POTA and SOTA, and hams who want to combine outdoor adventures with their ham radio hobby.   The result is the ability to create and operate highly capable portable ham radio field kits, such as the IC-705 Field Kit that I’m going to describe in this article.

The kit consists of up to three man-packable bags: a Radio Bag, an Antenna Bag, and a Computer Bag, as shown in figure (1).  The Radio and Antenna bags must be brought to every activation, but the computer bag can be left at home if I don’t plan to use digital modes.  I can also swap out Antenna Bags, depending on what kind of antenna you need for the specific activation location and park rules, like: ability to use a ground spike, size of activation area, presence of suitable trees, primary operating bands and expected propagation conditions, and so forth.

Figure 1.  IC-705 Field Kit loaded up and ready for a park activation (click image to enlarge).

Radio Bag

The Radio Bag contains everything necessary to operate the IC-705 in the field.  It can be carried in one hand, worn over-the-should, or worn as a fanny pack.  With the load-out listed below and shown in figure (2), it weighs around 15 lbs.

[Gear links list at end of article.]

A. Icom IC-705 Transceiver.  Chosen for its “all-band”, “all-mode” capability with base station features and performance.  It’s a superb, state-of-the art radio, and a joy to operate – but, it “feels” a little delicate with the large unprotected touch screen and protruding light plastic knobs.

B. IC-705 Front Panel Cover. This was chosen to protect the delicate front panel of the IC-705.  I didn’t want one of the cages, because they add bulk and weight to a reasonably small and light weight radio.  This cover fits perfectly, doesn’t mar the radio body, and provides great impact protection when the radio is not in use.

C. Icom AH-705 Antenna Tuner. This is a good antenna tuner and matches the IC-705 (in appearance and electronic functionality) very well.  It is large compared to the Elecraft T1, but it runs off two “AA” batteries, which I really like.  The tuner uses a BNC coaxial patch cable and a 1/8” stereo patch cable for connection to the IC-705.   I don’t need to use this tuner very often as my antenna typically has a low SWR on 40 – 10 meters.

D. Icom HM-243 Speaker-Microphone. The HM-243 comes with the IC-705.  I’ve never used the speaker part of it, but the microphone has good voice reproduction.  If needed, I planned to use the speaker in place of headphones.

E. N3ZN ZN-QRP Special Iambic Keyer Paddle.  I got this marvelous quality and wonderful feeling paddle in beautiful Blaze Orange – so I feel like I’m the radio operator from a downed aircraft trying to get rescued.  The paddle is a little heavy for portable use, but at least it doesn’t move around while sending.  It uses a 1/8” stereo plug patch cable for connection to the IC-705.

F. Tactical Range Bag. This bag was chosen because the IC-705 fit perfectly in the main compartment and there were additional compartments for all the small accessories.  It also came in Army Green color.

G. Icom MBF-705 Desk Stand. Stabilizes the radio when it is on a table or in the Radio Bag and positions it for easy viewing and operating.

Figure 2. Radio Bag and Contents (click image to enlarge).

H. Icom BP-272 Standard Battery Pack. 7.4v, 1880 mAh pack that came with the radio and attaches to the back of it.  I use this as the spare battery pack.

I. Icom BP-307 High-Capacity Battery Pack. 7.2V, 3150 mAh pack that attaches to the back of the IC-705.  So far, this battery pack has been sufficient for my POTA activations.

J. Tactical Drop Pouch.  This pouch fits in the bottom of the main compartment of the Radio Bag and can hold either a Bioenno 12V, 12Ah, LiFePO4 battery or the front panel cover (used as a spacer).  The IC-705 sits on top of the Tactical Drop Pouch when in the Radio Bag, which elevates it enough that the IC-705 can be easily operated.

K. Smiley Antenna Company TRI-Band.  This is a telescoping 1/4 wave 2m and 5/8 wave 440 antenna that attaches directly to the IC-705.  It performs well with the IC-705 and fits inside the tactical bag when collapsed.  Another advantage of the telescoping whip is it can be adjusted for best SWR.

L. USB Cable.  The USB C to Micro USB cable is used to connect the IC-705 to the portable station computer to control the radio and pass audio and data.  This cable is needed, even if you connect using WiFi for rig control and audio, to send GPS NMEA format position and time data from the IC-705 to the computer.  I was told by Icom Technical Support that the cable should not be longer than 3 feet and should have an RFI Choke at each end.  The combination of the short cable, USB C connector instead of USB A, and the RFI chokes seems to help the noise problem that that the IC-705 has when a USB cable is plugged into it.  The other solution is using the RS-BA1 software.

M. Emergency HF Antenna. This is a home-brew antenna with a 24 1/2 foot radiator and 12 1/2 foot counterpoise that attaches to the AH-705 Antenna Tuner with a BNC to binding post adapter.  It is rolled up on a line winder and there is some paracord to hold up the end of the radiator.  This is a back up antenna in case something happens to the regular antenna.

N. Assorted Coaxial Adapters: BNC to SO-239, SO-239 Barrel, BNC Elbow, and BNC to binding post.

O. Tactical Pen.  A nice heavy pen for outdoors use.   Used for logging.

P. All-Weather Notebook. Weather-proof notepad for outdoor use.  Used for logging.

Q. Leatherman squirt E4: A Swiss Army-like miniature tool set with a wire stripper and screw drivers.  It is used to perform minor repairs in the field.  This tool has been discontinued by the manufacturer.

R. Gerber Recon Task Flashlight.   A rugged miniature flashlight that runs on 1 “AA battery and has different color lens.

Antenna Bag

An Antenna Bag goes on every activation.  The primary bag contains the components of the Chameleon Antenna Tactical Delta Loop (TDL) antenna.  The TDL is a versatile antenna that can be configured as a small Inverted Delta Loop or a 17 foot ground mounted vertical.  I usually use the 17 foot ground mounted vertical configuration because it takes less than five minutes to deploy, performs well, doesn’t attract much attention, and does not require a tuner for 40 through 10 meters.

The Antenna Bag itself is the Sunrise Tactical Gear, Tactical Tripod Bag Gen 2 (32 inch length).  It is exceptionally durable and holds all the components of the TDL antenna.  It can be worn across the back for easy carrying.  The Antenna Bag and all components weigh around 11 lbs. Continue reading Field Radio Kit Gallery: KV4AN’s Icom IC-705 Field Kit

Field Radio Kit Gallery: KD0FNR’s Rockmite 20 and Tuna Topper

Many thanks to Hamilton (KD0FNR) 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.


Rockmite 20 and Tuna Topper Pack QRP Punch

by Hamilton (KD0FNR)

Our ham radio field kit—in my mind—revolves around simplicity. I’ll walk you through a lot of details, because we have a blast with the field kit and I love talking about it. At the end of the day, it’s a kit radio and amplifier housed in a couple of cans with lengths of wire we bought at a hardware store for an antenna, a cell phone power brick, and a keyer glued together out of video game switches and an old battery case. We’ve thrown the kit into cloth shopping bags and backpacks with equal measures of success. We once patched an antenna connection using washi tape.

OK, I said ‘our’ and ‘we’, but who are we? I’m the dad of three kids—one of whom recently passed her Technician radio exam, KO6BTY—who are 12, 11, and 8 years old. Right now, they’re rarely on the radio—of course, that’s about to change—they help with most aspects of our radio outings.

Which brings up the question, what do our radio outings look like? Our outings are pretty equally divided between, camping and day trips. Our entire family has enjoyed camping—and done a lot of it—since long before I got back into ham radio. Each of the kids went on their first camping trip when they were a few weeks old.  Our camping trips range from local, public transit enabled outings—we take the bus to Pantol Campground, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco where there are two POTAs readily available: Mt. Tamalpais State Park and  Muir Woods. We also take multi-day/week trips: I grew up in New Mexico, so the kids and I frequently find ourselves back there activating or attempting to activate sites like Villa Nueva State Park, Organ Mountains National Monument, and Cibola National Forest, among others. These are the outings that have led to large-ish battery selections you’ll see below.

Our day trips are quick runs along various local bus, train, and ferry lines with a hike tacked on the end. Within the peninsula that encloses San Francisco, we have several POTA locations and two easily reachable SOTA locations. We pretty frequently bus to a spot, and then spend a few hours hanging out in a nice park getting some radio time.

Having said all of that, you might have guessed that our kit would be optimized for easy travel. You’d be right. Now, finally, let’s talk about the kit!

Radio Details:

All of our equipment is home-built. It’s evolved over the last year-and-a-half into he tidy kit you see above. Finally having a ‘typical’ kit picture is actually what inspired this article.

Equipment List:

[Please note: All Amazon links are affiliate and support QRPer.com.]

  • Rockmite 20
  • Tuna Topper
  • One 20 ounce can Dole Pineapple Slices (emptied—see support crew; and cleaned)
  • Two RJ-45 breakout boards
  • One spool butcher’s twine (two if you’re feeling bougie)
  • One Imuto power brick that supplies 15 V when funneled through:
  • One Adafruit USB Type C Power Delivery Dummy Breakout – I2C or Fixed – HUSB238
  • Two banana jack sockets (plus a few more for spares)
  • Forty feet 12 gauge insulated/stranded wire
  • Twenty-five feet (or so) RJ-45 Ethernet cable (scavenged from the parts bin at our local maker space)
  • One antenna launcher (scavenged from available fallen tree limbs onsite)
  • One donut Bag from your favorite donut store
  • One roll of washi tape

The Rockmite is a rock-locked radio with two available frequencies that are 500 Hz apart from each other. That makes our antenna design really simple; we’ve got a dipole that’s trimmed to be resonant at 14057.5 kHz. Project TouCans puts out a QRP maximum 5 Watts. Our field kit has evolved to that 5 Watts though. We started out with the Flying Rockmite at 250 mW, then we made a power bump to 750 mW, and then with the addition of a Tuna Topper amplifier and a lot of experimenting we finally achieved a QRP maximum 5 Watts output power.

The QRPp Rockmites–having so little power combined with lots of somewhat confusing reading about antenna matchers and coaxial cable and baluns–led to the original Flying Rockmite. “Do you know what makes you not have to discuss feed lines?” I reasoned, “Not having a feedline.” And so, the RockMite was inserted into the dipole. I brought the keyer controls down to me and sent the power up along an Ethernet cable. Continue reading Field Radio Kit Gallery: KD0FNR’s Rockmite 20 and Tuna Topper

Field Radio Kit Gallery: VA2NW’s Icom IC-705 Field Kit

Many thanks to Tom (VA2NW) 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


VA2NW’s Icom IC-705 Field Kit

by Tom (VA2NW)

I got my start in field radio with Summits on the Air (SOTA) a little over 12 years ago. With SOTA, size and weight are the main considerations when building out a field kit; you have to haul everything up a mountain after all.

These days, my focus has shifted to Parks on the Air (POTA). With POTA, activations I don’t need to include any hiking at all. With that in mind, I decided to build a field kit that focused on high quality gear to maximize performance and enjoyment while minimizing my impact on nature (i.e. no wires in trees, no spikes in the ground, etc).

The ideal use case for this kit is a rural POTA park or a low difficulty SOTA summit that involves zero to twenty minutes of hiking or walking for a medium length activation of one to three hours with a maximum setup and teardown time of ten minutes. This article showcases the various items in the field kit and provides some context on the decisions that were made about what I’ve included.

Radio

After buying and trying many QRP radios, I decided that I wanted an all band all mode QRP radio with a waterfall display, SWR sweep, tuning knob (Sorry KD1JV), CW filters, optional battery pack which can be removed or replaced easily in the field, full 5W output, reasonable power consumption, plenty of options for accessories, a large community, well written manuals, availability for purchase without a long backorder, and easy configuration with touch screen and/or intuitive menus.

The Icom IC-705 fit the bill.

Several of the Xiegu brand radios come close to meeting these requirements and are much more budget-friendly. However, I have encountered some issues with my Xiegu X6100 becoming too hot to touch in the first half hour of a normal CW activation, and that was concerning enough to me to take it out of contention for being my main portable transceiver.

Key

For the key, I chose the CW Morse double lever paddles with steel base. The base does add weight to the kit, but this key fits my operating style perfectly. I key with my left hand and write with my right hand, so having a solid base that keeps the key from moving when in use helps me avoid having to hold the key with my non-keying hand. The paddles are good quality and won’t break the bank. I really like the feel of the hard stop when the paddles hit the contacts.

The paddles are easy to use with or without gloves which is a huge plus where I operate in Canada.

Antenna and feedline

Throughout the years, I’ve experimented with many different types of antennas from simple wire antennas to magnetic loops to yagis to verticals and more. I’ve gone on many group outings and have gotten to see a lot of options. I live in Canada, and I wanted something I can use all year round. As I realized in the field last November with my JPC-12 ground spike vertical, you can’t drive a ground spike into the ground when the ground is frozen. I’m a big fan of wire antennas; however, I’ve never found a support system that I liked. Tree branches can break easily, especially in the winter, damaging the trees. Additionally, not all locations have suitable trees.

Telescoping poles are an alternative but need some sort of support, usually with something in the ground. Magnetic loops don’t require anything in trees or in the ground, but dealing with the narrow bandwidth and constant re-tuning makes searching and pouncing quite a chore. An antenna that can cover the most activte POTA bands, 20m and 40m, is also important to me. My last requirement for an antenna is one that doesn’t require an external tuner; manual tuners require some fiddling and auto-tuners generally require some sort of power supply and coax jumper. In both cases, external tuners generally have some amount of insertion loss.

Those requirements led me to focus in on a tripod mounted vertical antenna. There are several options in this space including the SuperAntenna, Slidewinder, Wolf River Coils, JPC-12 with tripod, REZ Ranger 80, and others. I ultimately picked the REZ Ranger 80. The key features that led me to choosing the REZ Ranger 80 were the quality, the bands supported, the online reviews, and the availability to ship to Canada without backorder nor complicated ordering process. It’s built like a tank, can go all the way down to 80m, has glowing online reviews, was in-stock, and I could take care of the customs and import fees at time of purchase with DX Engineering. Continue reading Field Radio Kit Gallery: VA2NW’s Icom IC-705 Field Kit

Field Radio Kit Gallery: KO4WDE’s Dual Purpose Xiegu G90 Field Kit

Many thanks to Doug (KO4WDE) 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


KO4WDE’s Dual Purpose G90 Field Kit

by Doug (KO4WDE)

I have always been an outdoorsman, and for all of my professional life I have been a teacher.   It wasn’t until 2021 that I became a ham. I started out with my tech, and earned my general a few days later.  I built a modest shack around an IC7300 and a Par Endfedz 80-10M EFHW. When these three facets of my life combined something sparked in me and I immediately did two things, took my radio with me outdoors, and I took it to school. Long story short, we now have a school radio club. (KQ4CWT), and I am a POTA junkie.

The Need:

To go portable, I would take my 7300 with me, powered by a Bioenno 20Ah battery, packed neatly into a hard case, with the battery and Wolf River Coil SB1000 stuffed in the front pockets of a massive brown deployment style bag.  My “go kit” was more like a “Hire a mover kit” and weighed a ton.  This worked well, but I really wanted something different.  I needed a portable field radio kit that would be small enough for me to use when hiking and camping, but also serve as a valid and friendly introductory platform for middle and high school students exploring ham radio.

I needed a radio that would provide some of the luxury of the IC7300, including the panadapter waterfall for seeing signals, as well as SSB, and digital mode capability.  The kids, like me, really like FT8.

The Solution:

I settled on the Xiegu G90 radio.  It was much smaller and lighter in weight, had less power consumption, and had many of the features that I thought would still hook kids’ interests, as well as serve me well in the field.  An internal and capable tuner is much appreciated as well. I love the G90, and my students love the G90.

The Build:

To build this kit, I started out with the basic components: the radio, the battery, and the antenna.  To power the radio I use a Bioenno 9ah battery.  It is a bit bigger than what I need but this comes in handy for FT8 activations and the demanding duty cycle penalty that entails, and gives me some slack for device charging. The Wolf River Coil antenna was replaced by an antenna that my club built as a project.   It is a 3D printed chassis and winder for the antennas components and wire designed by (IU10PK) and listed online as “tactical end fed antenna winder” on thingiverse. In addition to these basic components I added an FT8 kit consisting of a DigiRig Mobile, needed cabling and a Evolve III notebook pc.

After reading all of the gallery builds here, I decided to choose a medium sized sling bag to fit the rest of the loadout. Again, I was looking for something to pull double duty for POTA and student work.  My huge original “Hire a mover kit” taught me that I had a tendency to carry way too much. I wasn’t aiming for “Spartan Simple” but I wanted to cut as much as I could. I made a list of my radio critical components, and my support components and shopped accordingly.  I intentionally chose a bag slightly smaller than what I thought I would need to force myself to trim the fat.  I settled on the “Large Rover” sling pack by Red Rock Outdoors.  I chose gray because it would look more at home in my classroom than FDE or OD green, but the color has really grown on me.

The Bag: Red Rock Outdoors Large Rover

(Meme dog talisman adds 5db to all antennas- a wonderful handmade gift from a student!)

The main compartment:

 The main compartment of the bag carries the G90 (with the semi-attached and very bulky fan unit), battery and a Tactical Tailor shemagh I use as a table cloth or ground cover for my bum.  I use the rolled shemagh as a protective layer between the battery and radio.  The battery sits inside the main compartment nicely as well.  Inside the main compartment, there are two sleeves, the rear is unused but the front sleeve houses my coax cable.  The zippered “flap pouch in the top of the main compartment stores my hand mic.  I use little 3D printed protective covers for the mic connectors.

(Little 3D printed protectors for connectors)

The other compartment(s):

The front of the bag has a medium sized pouch with several elastic loops and sleeves.  I use this pouch for my EFHW antenna and my “K4SWL” style bare bones 25M arborist throwline.  There is a small zippered sleeve on the outside that carries an additional 100 feet of 3mm Paracord divided into two sections.

(The front compartment is quite roomy)

At the top of the bag, there is a small zippered pouch that houses my Digirig Mobile and assorted cabling for the G90.  It also carries my charger for the Bioenno battery, and a tiny Anderson Powerpole to USB-C PD charging adapter made by Tufteln that I use to top off the Evolve III’s battery.

The rear of the bag has a very nice sleeve for a device.  The evolve III is a perfect fit.

The Wrap-up:

Although I am new to ham radio and field operations I feel like this little budget kit works exceptionally well for its dual intended purpose.  It’s capable for use in the classroom (or school grounds) as a teaching tool, but also small enough to not murder me on the trail.

The Kit Components:

            Red Rock Outdoors “Large Rover” sling bag

  1. G90 radio with “H2” stand (note: this is an affiliate link that also offers a discount to QRPer.com readers)
  2. 9Ah Bioenno LiFePO4 battery and 2 amp charger
  3. 150A Power meter (Powerwerx clone)
  4. DIY 40-10m EFHW antenna (Link to 3d file)
  5. 25’ Rg8x coax
  6. 25 meters of Marlow Excel 2mm line and a 10oz weight.
  7. Digirig Mobile and cabling
  8. Tufteln Anderson to USB-C adapter
  9. Two 50’ foot lengths of 3mm paracord on scaled down 3d printed antenna winders
  10. Evolve III notebook
  11. 3D printed ethernet cable protectors for mic jacks
  12. Tactical Tailor Shemagh (Discontinued)

Note: Amazon links above are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you. Thank you!

Best protective cases and field kit ideas for the Icom IC-705?

Many thanks to Geoff (VK6HD) who writes with the following question:

Hi Thomas

Love your site, the HRWB podcast and your enthusiasm.

I recently won an IC-705 in a raffle – woohoo – which is a quantum leap from my first txcvr which was an Atlas 210x which first saw the light of day in the early 70s.

Anyway, as I come to grips with the complexities of the 705, I wondered if anyone had any ideas on a field radio kit based on it. I know it is an expensive radio, and one many people may not be keen on dragging through the outback, but who knows?

Keep up the great work

73

Geoff (VK6HD)

Thanks for your question, Geoff. And congratulations on winning the IC-705! WOO HOO indeed!

I thought I might post your question here on QRPer so folks might comment with IC-705 kit ideas. Oddly enough, at time of publishing this post, I have no examples in our Field Radio Kit Gallery!

I can fix this now, though, because I recall a few ‘705 field kits from our archives:

I’m sure there are more IC-705-based field kits in the archives--feel free to jog my memory, readers.

Out of all of the radios I own, the IC-705 is the only one that is primarily stored and transported in a larger watertight case–a Pelican 1400 to be exact, you can read about that here.

When I want to tuck the IC-705 in a backpack, for a little POTA/SOTA action,  I protect it in a $18 Ape Case Camera insert (affliliate link). It’s not perfect, but fits it well. I know some others have used Maxpedition padded water bottle pouches as well. Perhaps someone can comment with size, etc?

Greg discovers the joy of QRP in his first QRP SSB POTA activation

Many thanks to Greg (KJ6ER) who shares a post he originally published on Facebook regarding his first ever QRP SSB POTA activation. This post is just as much a break down of his field kit, so we’re also including it in our Field Radio Kit Gallery.


My First POTA QRP SSB Activation

by Greg (KJ6ER)

Wooo hooo! After 700 QRO SSB POTA activations in California over the past 2 years, I decided to try my first 10-watt QRP SSB activation from K-3473 in San Jose. To my pleasant surprise, it was very successful: 121 SSB QSOs in 4 bands (10, 12, 15 and 17M) across 5 countries including DX to Japan, Alaska and Argentina. I worked 34 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces. I operated a total of 4 hours, averaging a QRP QSO every 2 minutes. Lesson learned: Inspired by my QRP mentor Kevin Behn, QRP is not only as fun as QRO (when the bands are working) but it is simpler and faster to deploy. And I can wear the entire station on my back!

My QRP shack-in-a-pack is the ICOM IC-705 (in an ICOM backpack) with a 7M Spiderbeam fiberglass telescoping pole and my homebrew resonant halfwave monoband antennas. Quite frankly, a significant contributor to my success was the monoband resonant halfwave antenna: low angle of radiation and more gain than a typical quarterwave with radials. I modeled this after my homebrew POTA Dominator resonant halfwave antenna. If you’re interested in more detailed information about this antenna and components in my backpack, take a look at each photo with descriptions (below).

Starting on 10M, I was planning to work my way down the HF bands to 20M where I assumed would get me the most QSOs and help me officially activate.

Well … I never made it to 20M: by band, 24 QSOs on 10M, 13 QSOs on 12M, 32 QSOs on 15M and 52 QSOs on 17M = 121 QSOs! I will plan to do a 20 and 40M QRP activation soon, as well as 2M and 70cm since the IC-705 supports those bands, too.

Many thanks to all the hunters who helped me complete my first QRP activation! While I certainly did not experience any massive pile-ups like my typical QRO activations, the slower pace QRP activation made it very relaxing. I strongly recommend it! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions, I’d be happy to help  72 KJ6ER, San Jose

Field Kit Details

My complete QRP shack-in-a-pack!

The ICOM IC-705 running 10 watts off a 3Ah Bioenno battery. Just to the right of the pack in the field is my 7M Spiderbeam fiberglass telescoping pole supporting monoband resonant halfwave wire antennas for 10M, 12M and 15M. I also use the pole to operate on 17M and 20M as a sloper or inverted-V, and 40M as an inverted-V. I love how fast I can get operating with just a backpack and telescoping pole!

My first QRP SSB 10-watt activation resulted in 121 QSOs on 10-17M including DX to Japan, Alaska and Argentina.

I thought I would need 20M to activate but the uppers bands worked so well, I never got there. I completed my activation in 4 hours and averaged about 1 QRP QSO every 2 minutes. While I was not getting my usual 5-9 QRO signal reports, I was heard clearly on the low noise upper bands with my QRP SSB signal.

The 7M Spiderbeam fiberglass telescoping pole supports my monoband halfwave vertical wire antennas for 10M, 12M and 15M, as well as 17M and 20M when used as a sloper or inverted-V. I also use it as a center mast for my 40M inverted-V. Continue reading Greg discovers the joy of QRP in his first QRP SSB POTA activation

Field Radio Kit Gallery: KF6EFG’s Not so QRP box(es)

Many thanks to John (KF6EFG) 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.


Hello Thomas,

Thanks for posting so much interesting content on your website, and helping to host the Ham Radio Workbench! I have gotten a number of ideas for my ‘Fat Boy’ kit from you guys.

I am sending a couple of images of my not-so-lightweight field boxes.

I have been under time constraints while at work, so I developed a series of boxes that can be used in the field while on lunch break.

The core is a black watertight box and a 21ft mast. I can make do with my truck battery in a pinch, and did until I purchased an external battery.

Since I took these images, I have moved the RG-174 and choke to the black box, making black box a complete kit, sans power.

I am playing with a small netbook and will become FT-capable soon!

Black Box:

Orange box:

  • 50ft RG-8x coax cable
  • Bioenno Li4po battery, charger in box.
  • Tufteln Choke adapter
  • Tufteln EFRW antenna cut for 20m.
  • 25 ft RG-174
  • Amazon small packing cube with assorted adapters, small bungee cords, and tools.

Not shown:

  • 21ft fiberglass pole, in a PVC pipe case. Case doubles as a base and short guy point for the mast.
Please don’t mind my messy truck bed!

Green box:

  • Tripods
  • Wolf River Coils WRC-1000
  • Extra 21ft fiberglass pole.
  • Construction twine for disposable guying.
  • 2 extendable whip antennas

Also pictured above:

  • Adjustable antenna clamp
  • Homemade trailer reciever antenna stand off

The Amazon medium packing cube contains:

  • Various adapters
  • Various power pole wires and other ends (clamps, cigarette lighter, ring)

Tool kit:

  • Multi tool
  • Tape
  • Connectors (one screw on UHF, ring, butt)
  • 4 Radial wires , 17 ft.

This box resides in the truck bed for use when I want to use a vertical antenna.

I usually end up on my lunch break at the local RC flying club. I work at a multi use airfield, and the club has graciously allowed me to use their field when no flying activity is present.

73,

John McGrath

Field Radio Kit Gallery: Bob’s MTR-3B Bug-Out Go-Kit

Many thanks to Bob (K4RLC) 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


MTR-3B Bug-Out Go-Kit

by Bob (K4RLC)

I wanted to build a lightweight Bug Out Go Kit around the incredible Mountain Topper MTR-3B LCD model.

Bass Pro Shop sold a tackle box that seemed perfectly for this. I took a Bear Grylls Scout Knife and cut/customized the partitions as needed. The Elecraft AX 1 antenna and tripod mount, and a flexible tripod fit perfectly.

Counterpoise consists of three 13 ft BNTECHNO 22 AWG silicon wires, attached with a Mueller 55 alligator clip to the tripod mount.

The CW Morse Outdoor Pocket Paddle (and cable) fit into another section. For audio, use either generic ear buds or the rechargeable cell phone speaker with PChero volume adjustment cable.

For power, rechargeable Li-Ion 9 volt batteries use a USB connection, so no separate charger is needed. I keep this in the car.

It’s a great set up for POTA and lightweight enough to throw into a backpack for the steepest SOTA climb. The MTR-3B, the size of a deck of playing cards and not weighing much more, is an awesome QRP rig that’s still a keeper, if you can find one.

Equipment List:

Field Radio Kit Gallery: WN1C’s Elecraft KX3 Camera Bag Activation Kit 

Many thanks to Thomas (WN1C) 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


KX3 and Speaker Wire Camera Bag Activation Kit 

by Thomas (WN1C)

For the QRPer’s Field Radio Kit Gallery, this is my KX3 and speaker wire in a camera bag activation kit.

This kit is the continuation of the equipment I used for my Maine ATNO expedition and other activities on that return to my parents almost a year ago. Primarily, it’s a change in bags and an improvement of the audio connection options for more sustained activations. Writing up this kit for the gallery also will probably be an incentive for further change. With how loosely packed it is, there’s space for options! You can see this kit in action on my recent trail activation.

The bag packed and ready for an expedition, even if just a little ways away.

The outside is the discontinued Peak Design Everyday Messenger 15″ v1. I picked this up lightly used on my local craigslist with an eye for expanding the kit contents capabilities. In that endeavor, it has been successful, but concentrating on this configuration to start:

Open the top to reveal the gear packed between dividers!

There’s a certain pattern (that I might not keep following in future re-packings), but the arrangement internally is:

  • Outer pouches: coax, radials, headlamp as necessary
  • Lid flap padded pouch: infrequently used adapters and short cables
  • Left division: antenna(s), throw line and weight, headset, coax, banana cables
  • Mid-left division: logging pouch with paddles and notebook
  • Mid-right division: KX3 with cover and heatsink
  • Right division: power cables, hand microphone, lithium-ion battery banks, LiFePO4 battery pack
  • Flopping around on top: TH-350 HT
  • Front zipper pouch: additional notebooks, earbud headphones, pen, coax, ARRL VE badge

Of course, not all of this gets used at the same time. Different LiFePO4 options with Anderson Powerpole connectors can be substituted. For quick and lighter operating (or when wearing more hats), the headset can be left behind. Anyway, to the details!

Full contents spread out much wider than I usually have space for! Featuring the wooden floor I rarely operate over because apartment living.

So, what is all of this?

Bags

  • Peak Design Everyday Messenger 15″ v1 (discontinued, acquired second hand) with an additional bright red divider stolen from one of my Crumpler camera bags
  • Case Logic accessories pouch from who knows where (underneath the notebook)
  • One of WesSpur’s low cost throw line bags (don’t get it, it’s smelly plastic and falls apart, as shown in the picture)

Radios

  • Star of the show: Elecraft KX3 in the “KX3 Pack” configuration (KX3, KXAT3, KXBC3, MH3) with Side KX KX3 Combo panels and cover, plus an aftermarket heatsink
  • TYT TH-350 tri-band HT (144-222-430 MHz) with bundled SRH-17 tri-band whip

Getting RF Out

  • 2x 28′ (ish) speaker wire on BNC-F to binding posts/banana connector, in use for a while, though now beefed up with a bit of heat shrink and crimped spade lugs
  • 4x 17′ speaker wire shorted together on dual banana plug (radials)
  • 6′ RG-58 BNC-M to BNC-M with a random split ferrite on it from who knows where
  • 2x Pomona banana test leads for occasions of connecting more things together
  • 60′ Marlow Excel Throw Line 2mm (a K4SWL recommendation)
  • WesSpur 10 oz Throw Weight
  • Assorted S-Clip Plastic Carabiners for the speaker wire, throw line, and whatever else needs clipping together
  • CablesOnline 25′ RG-316 with BNC for spare feedline
  • 2 foot BNC RG-316 jumper
  • Adapters: BNC F-F coupler, BNC-M to dual Banana-F/Binding Post, Dual Banana-M to BNC-F, BNC tee, BNC to center Banana-F/Binding Post; all provide options of hacking some options together

Getting Signals In and Out

  • Koss SB-45 Communication Headset (cheaper relative of the popular Yamaha headset; it shows, mostly in the cable quality)
  • Bamatech Bamakey TP-III Rot (an excellent set of dual paddles that can also serve PTT duty) stored in an Altoids Peppermint tin
  • Cable Matters Retractable 3.5mm Audio Cable
  • Hosa YMM-261 Stereo Breakout to allow use of the SB-45 electret mic with another switch wired to a 3.5mm plug for PTT on the KX3 mic port rather than just VOX
  • Custom microswitch to 3.5mm PTT (not very good at its job) using this snap switch
  • Elecraft MH3 hand mic from the kit configuration
  • Old Apple earbuds, headphones only (TRS)

Power

  • Bioenno BLF-12045W 12V / 4.5Ah LiFePO4 pack (can be substituted with the 3Ah pack I also have)
  • Anderson PowerPole to barrel plug for KX3 power
  • Old (sometimes RF noisy) USB Type-A power banks, one with a built-in flashlight (souped up with a much nicer white LED)
  • Misc USB cables, A to Micro-B and C for charging from batteries

Documentation

Field Radio Kit Gallery: IW2EPE Pairs the (tr)uSDX with QRPguys Antennas

Many thanks to Luca (IW2EPE) 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.


My (tr)uSDX Field Radio Kit

by Luca (IW2EPE)

My POTA kit is assembled around the (tr)uSDX radio. I am a hunter and I have only been a fox this last summer but with poor results. However, I would like to try again with this kit because I think it can do it.


The weight of the kit is approximately 1kg.

The kit consists of:

  • Radio (tr)uSDX cw ssb capable of working on 20/17/15/12/10 m. I only use the 20m with 3w of power.
  • EFHW mini tuner antenna by QRPguys. This is a nice simple and efficient product.
  • QRPguys dummy load.
    3-cell 2200 maH lipo battery, type used in model aircraft.
  • 5v power bank to test the connection in wspr.
  • Sony headphones.
  • Homemade condenser microphone.
  • Homemade RF choke.
  • Smarthpone with some apps like FT8CN and wspr.
  • About 15m of 4mm nylon rope.

Lastly I also added the home-made DS1 antenna from QRPguys. This is my version and is not an original kit.