Tag Archives: Field Radio Kit Gallery

Field Radio Kits, Guest Posts, News, Portable, QRP

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

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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 Kits, Grab And Go, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA

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

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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!

Field Radio Kits, Field Reports, News, Portable, QRP, SSB

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

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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 Kits, News, Portable, QRO

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

4 Comments

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 Kits, News, QRP

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

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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 Kits, Grab And Go, Guest Posts, News, Portable, QRP

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

3 Comments

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 Kits, News, Portable, QRP

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

3 Comments

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.

Field Radio Kits, Guest Posts, News, Portable, QRP, SOTA

Field Radio Kit Gallery: M0KVI’s Mountain Topper MTR-3B SOTA Kit

3 Comments

Many thanks to Owen (M0KVI) 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. 

M0KVI’s Mountain Topper MTR-3B SOTA Kit

by Owen (M0KVI)

A little about me:

My name is Owen, I live in Sussex in England. I’m a keen hiker and experienced general outdoor type and have dreams of becoming a SOTA Mountain Goat. Unfortunately, I don’t live near any mountains.

There are a few local hills which I activate from time to time. I set out to learn CW around 1.5 years ago starting one December. I spent around one hour every day practicing. Around eight months later, I was activating summits at around 15wpm. I’m still not great at longer QSOs, so some way to go, but pushing on with trying to get head copy there.

My method:

Having a young family I need to be strategic about trips. My nearest mountainous region is Wales. As I drive for work, I’m not afraid of driving the distance. Many in this country rarely leave their county!

I converted my work vehicle into a micro-camper type affair. Think flat space to sleep rather than any camp comforts. A simple camp stove to cook on and that’s it.

I plan trips lasting 48hrs at a time; drive to the area on day one, activate 1 or 2 summits, sleep stealthily close to target summits by roadside or in car parks, then typically get up at around 4:00 am to hike in the dark to activate at sunrise. I typically activate 1 or 2 more summits before driving the 4-7 hours home. Logistically, it’s fairly intense and I’m not sure it’s the calmest method. I think is a fairly unique if not un-hinged method of getting my SOTA fix.

I use Winlink to check in with Family and keep them up to date with any changes to plans which are communicated before I leave.

Radio is an MTR-3B kindly offered for private sale from Colin, (M1BUU). I’ve had the rig for a year or so. Nothing ground-breaking here; all of the kit is largely mirroring what a lot of others are doing for years now.  I’m excellent at shortcutting by learning from others.

Having been licenced for a while, I already knew what an ultralight setup would look like. I could still slim this down by a few grams but really carrying water and food now is more of a burden. I’m not fully convinced the MTR-3B is the radio for all occasions as there are a number of connections, cables and fuss. (I think I have wanted the new Elecraft KH1 offering since before it was conceived).

As can be seen from one of my pics, I use a small micro sun-bathers tent for protecting gear in cloud/rain/wind. This allows me to use HAMRS to log even when its very cold.

List of contents:

  • Mountain Topper MTR-3B (early model lighter blue colour with x – screw not hex)
  • Homemade 3ah 18650 3s battery (BMS controlled with fused lead). Made from recovered cells.
  • Palm Mini key (with home made rugged braided cable).
  • Mini SWR from N6ARA
  • LowePro Viewpoint CS40 case

Antenna system pictured is my regular. I have tried other setups recently but this is the stalwart EFHW composed of a SOTABeams Wire winder 20m lightweight wire and a 64:1 matching unit.

The matching unit is a 64:1 obtained from Colin Summers (MM0OPX) following his youtube series on research into the optimum performing toroid material/core. He offered units for sale at cost. It is very small and light and I like to buy stuff off makers what can I say. Guilty of spending money rather than making.

I use a 3m feed line–never bother to ensure the ends of antenna are over 1m off ground. Do not use a counterpoise and only use a single guy rope on my fibreglass pole, (SOTAbeams Tactical Mini). This way I have minimum gear and maximum speed to set up. On my most recent trip, my antenna fell down twice and I didn’t notice but continued to make contacts. Bit of a train wreck.

Set up and pack down times in the AZ (Activation Zone) is typically 10-15 minutes depending on terrain and conditions. In a sunny field, I could pitch in 5 minutes.

73 Owen

M0KVI

Readers: Check out Owen’s social feeds on X: @M0KVI and Instagram: @M0KVI.

Field Radio Kits, Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, Portable, POTA, QRP

Field Radio Kit Gallery: N5FY’S Elecraft KX1 Minimal CW Kit

5 Comments

Many thanks to Joshua (N5FY) who shares the following article about his KX1 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. 

N5FY’S Elecraft KX1 Minimal CW Kit

by Joshua (N5FY)

I started operating CW this past August and am having a blast! One great thing, or maybe its a bit of a problem for the budget, is that when you can work CW, there is a whole new world of HF radios to collect…I mean operate!

Not to mention the ability to pack out a small portable kit that can be thrown in a bag at the last minute when headed out the door. I have a few such kits but lacked a throw line for each. So, I picked up some more Arborist Throw Line from Atwood Rope Manufacture so I could finish out the first kit.

I just snagged a used, inoperable, KXPD1 paddle to complete my KX1 radio. I had to rebuild the jack on the key but did so in quick order and decided to make it out to my local park for a POTA activation. My plan was to finish up the kit with the throw line and then test out the new complete kit. Suffice to say, all went well!

N5FY Beautiful Morning View with the KX1

The KX1, now out of production, has been a pleasure to operate CW with. This unit has the internal ATU option, 6xAA battery pack, and I updated the internals to add 80 and 30m. So this rig will run 20/30/40/80m.

There are 2 message memories, built in keyer, and even includes RF, AF, and bandwidth knobs for quick adjustment while operating. I’m no experienced CW operator, but this rig is hard to beat in my opinion. Then again, my KH1 hasn’t show up yet!

N5FY KX1 Complete Compact Kit

The antenna of choice here is my Tufteln 2 Wire No Transformer with a 41ft radiator and 17ft counterpoise. The internal ATU makes working 20, 30, and 40m simple and with no coax needed. I would use a much longer wire if I needed to work 80m. This antenna packs away very nice and not needing the Coax is a space saver. I have one version or another of my QRP antennas in each of my radio kits! 

N5FY KX1 Complete Compact Kit Packed

Packing a kit with no room to spare is almost like playing Tetris. I have a good bit of gear from Go Ruck, its all fantastic. For this kit, the 3L would leave a bit more space for some additional gear. If you are looking for some pockets as well, I like the GR2 Field Pocket. For this KX1 though, with the cover installed, I happed to forgo the bit of extra protection for the lightweight small size.

N5FY KX1 Complete Compact Kit Closed Up with Pencil for Size Reference

Next Kit to finish up is the KX2 and TX-500. Both just lack the throw line.

Joshua N5FY, 72

Field Radio Kits, News, Portable, QRP

Field Radio Kit Gallery: K8ZT’s Elecraft KX3 Rapid Deployment Kit

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Many thanks to Anthony (K8ZT) 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. 

K8ZT Elecraft KX3 Rapid Deployment, Expedition Go-Box

I have been active in portable Field Operations, portable contest operations and POTA for many years. I also like always to have the option of both multiple modes (CW, SSB & DIGI) and multiple bands for my portable operations. I am not a SOTA operator, and although weight is still an issue, this is definitely not a minimalist setup. My preferred method for go-boxes is the rapid deployment model. In this model, almost all interconnections of elements in the kit are already made, and the opening of the case and attachment of the antenna get me on the air in seconds. This model is not designed for airplane baggage handling or other rough transportation but works well in a backpack or carry-on.

Here is a photo (above) of operating FD from Delaware

The design I have used can work with other radios with similar footprints, including Elecraft KX2, Icom 705, Xeigu 5105 or 6100, etc. You could also substitute other similar tackle or tool boxes. I like working with plastic cases because they are lightweight and easily modified. I have put together a slideshow on my go-box with instructions and suggestions at tiny.cc/rapidkx3.

I used the Plano 135402 4-BY™ 3500 Stowaway® Rack System tacklebox.

A very similar box is the Harbor Freight- STOREHOUSE Toolbox Organizer with 4 Drawers.

Securing the KX3 to the box was easily accomplished by substituting two longer nylon thumbscrews for the two shorter manufacturer-supplied ones. These screws extend through the case and screw into KX3. Nylon was chosen to allow easy customized lengths. The BNC antenna extends out of the case.

In addition to using the tackle box for my go-box, I also got the four insertable clear plastic containers. With the radio installed, I still have room for one container in its original position.

I can load a lot of extra supplies in these containers. You can even set up each of the four for different types of operations.

The top of the tackle box is storage space for my LiFEPO4 battery and other items. The contents can change depending on the planned operation. Here, you can see the Mic for phone operations and a DigiRig Mobile External Sound Card Interface for FT8. If doing a contest-type operation, I usually use a headset with a mic, and you can see the push-to-talk foot switch in the box ( a source of cheap light foot switches is eBay Tattooing foot switches).

I have also run cabling from the radio’s connections (Mic, Key, Headphone & Serial port) into the top area to make connections easier. To facilitate multiple connections, each uses a 3.5 mm plug 90° (connection to radio) and a splitter with two 3.5mm sockets to connect accessories. I used a label maker to label each connector’s socket ends.

Note the quick reference diagram of the KX3 mounted in the lid of the go-box. This is something I do with all of the go-boxes I build. I use tiny bungee cords on larger go boxes to securely store manuals in lid space.

I like computer logging, especially for more extended contests or Field Day operations. I use the computer to interface with the radio for this operation. This also provides me with a computer to do digital modes. I have found laptops that work with 12-volt DC to extend the usable time when AC is unavailable. I have also found PC Power Banks with 20 V DC output that can run most laptops for 24+ hours in conjunction with the laptop’s internal battery. One accessory I find essential is a simple USB storage drive with the following:

  • Installation file for any computer programs I will be using (Logging software, WSJT-X, JT-Alert, etc.)
  • Elecraft KX3 Control Utility (to program macros, make setting changes, etc.)
  • Rig computer software Drivers for all of my radios
  • Firmware for all of my radios (just in case)
  • PDFs of all user manuals for any equipment I am using. Although paper manuals do not require a computer, they are heavy, easily damaged and especially not computer-searchable for the exact item I need to diagnose my issue.

The other thing the USB drive can facilitate is the emergency use of a loaner computer, which would have none of the software I would need installed.

I use a variety of antennas with my kit, but my default is a random-length Endfed connected directly to KX3’s antenna jack with a BNC splitter. My support is a 7-meter fiberglass collapsible fishing pole. Here is a table with alternative random antenna lengths to try- link#1 and  link #2

For additional information on this and other portable operations packing ideas, see my Portable Operations presentation slideshow tiny.cc/portop and video https://youtu.be/It3wlq7RoUo.

Equipment: