Here is what I use for POTA activations to keep the key stable.
A clip board, carpet tape on the back to hold a carpet pad in place.
The Begali I put two slots in the clip board on either side of the traveler where then I could use a tie wrap to pull it secure to the board.
On the CW Morse I just used two screws with locking nuts to secure it to the board.
Your right hand holds the pencil while sending and your wrist weighs down on the clip board and I printed some POTA logs on excel to fit to the left of the key.
I hope this helps some of your readers with key movements. I now have my left hand to drink my coffee.
Steve W4JM
Clever and simple! I love it, Steve. Thanks for sharing!
(As is Vince’s usual, this article has a bunch of links – click on as many as you wish for the full experience)
Before I go too far into this topic, I wish to first offer hearty congratulations to Thomas Witherspoon for having one thousand posts on QRPer.com! Woo-Hoo!
Do you pack a Radio Field First Aid kit?
On my recent trip to VE3-land I had a few opportunities to practice set-up with my gear–away from the safe place that is my truck–to ensure I’d brought everything for my trip to Hamvention and activations along the way. I did forget an audio cable, however a visit to a local dollar store solved that problem inexpensively.
So, unless you pack two of everything -because two is one and one is none– you should expect that something’s going to fail or break along the way. What you never know is when or how that’s going to happen. I wouldn’t be writing this story if it had not happened to me before.
This time it was on a Sunday outing to VE-1512, the McLaughlin Bay Reserve Wildlife Area in Oshawa Ontario and far away from the comforts of my shop at home. Tucked away not far off of the 401 Highway, this nature reserve is a calm and peaceful oasis just minutes from urban life. I saw kayakers, hikers and trail runners during my visit.
Setting up my Comet HFJ-350M, I added the jumper cable to set the antenna for 20m and then I started to push the antenna down into the ground onto the stake. And that’s when my hand slipped and I broke the jumper cable connector, busted off in the hole.
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