My friend Tim Kreth (AD4CJ) sent me a couple of cell phone videos that he shot last weekend during the ARRL Sweepstakes contest.
Tim was only using 1/10th of a watt and he made a number of contacts. Here are a couple of them…
Category Archives: Portable Ops
Communications using a radio taken into the great outdoors.
Portable with the OHR 100A – 1st Contact
In this video, I show you one of my favorite places to work portable on Sunday mornings. (It’s a business park a couple of miles from my house and nobody’s working there on Sunday mornings.)
I made a few contacts (one shown in the video) before I rode my bike home to watch football.
I finish the video by making an argument for the Elecraft KX1 vs. the OHR 100A. To me, an internal keyer is a necessity in a CW-only QRP radio. That option pushes the OHR 100A up to $220. For $80 more, the Elecraft KX1 is a more capable, modern radio with a digital display – and it has upgrade options that aren’t available for the OHR 100A… like two additional bands (4 bands, total) and an internal antenna tuner.
2,000 Miles with 1/2 Watt – In Voice Mode!
Check this out. I worked a station today in Oregon with only 1/2 watt – on 20 meters in SSB mode.
Bad News: I forgot to push the Record button on my camera so I have no video!
Good News: I recorded the audio… so it DID happen and I can prove it…
Deploy-Anywhere Vertical… in Windy Conditions
My friend Andrew (AK4FA) asked me whether the vertical antenna I blogged about yesterday could be blown over in the wind.
Yes, it can! But here’s how to handle it…
Deploy-Anywhere Vertical Antenna
This is my go-to vertical antenna that I can deploy anywhere with no support structure needed. (No trees or mast required)
Use it to work 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, and 10m… and probably 6m (although I’m not a 6m guy).
Where to get the items I show in the video…
The radiating element is an MFJ-1979 stainless steel whip.
MFJ-1979 Whip
The small tripod is a Super Antenna TM1 Low Profile Tripod Portable Antenna Mount that you can find here:
TM1 Low Profile Tripod (click and scroll down)
The High Sierra “Jaws Clamp” can be found here:
High Sierra Jaws Clamp
Portable Digital QRP Demo
I take advantage of the CQ Worldwide DX Contest – RTTY Mode, to show my portable digital QRP station.
In this video, with only 5 watts, I work Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Colorado, Morocco, and Croatia.
Yes, QRP does work!
QRP bike ride…
One of my favorite things to do in ham radio is to take a QRP rig with me on a bike ride. I’ve got several places where I go on my bicycle and set up a station.
This evening, I rode to one of my favorite spots and worked K2H (VA) and N4LB (TX) before packing it back up and heading home.
I used my Elecraft KX3 with a Sotabeams 20m/40m linked dipole antenna.
My bike with a portable camp chair and my radio gear stuffed into a pannier.
Here’s what it looked like after setup. The antenna was hoisted up into a tree and tied off to the handlebars of my bike. The KX3 has a Begali Adventure attached… what a fun combo!