So, some of you may remember the Ham-Walker I posted a while back. I've had a few inquiries about it and thought I would do a quick thread on the various stages it has gone through and how it sits now.

Basically what started it all, I bought a cheap chinese battery pack off Amazon and decided it would be cool to attach that to my walker (I suffer from very severe MS... yup, I'm a worthless cripple). Figured since the walker is always with me (when at home, I have a second unmodified one at work) it would be handy for keeping Iphone on charger as well as mounting an Ipad on the cross bar to have on hand at all times.

The goal was to keep the walker as functional as possible but add the battery pack and a few other items. I use the under seat basket A LOT for carrying things around the house and needed to maintain that at all cost.

Discovered that if the basket was mounted all the way against one edge the battery pack would fit alongside it without protruding. And, as fate would have it, the battery was the perfect shape to fit between the sidebars.



Sorry about the dust and dog hair in that pic. My dog sheds like CRAZY!

While not being what I would deem a "nice" battery pack, it did far exceed my expectations. I decided to plug in a Yaesu FTM-7250 and see if it could handle that. It did without flinching.

At that point I set about mounting the radio under the folding seat and attaching a (rather pricey and hokey) Super Antenna I had bought trying to use up some Amazon credit/ gift cards a while prior.

This would become the first iteration of my Ham-Walker.



Well, it went very well and was super handy to have attached. 2m is still VERY active in my area and all Law Enforcement and Emergency Srvcs. still use it as well. So not only was I able to hop on the local repeaters and such, I also had a scanner on and with me 24-7.

The battery pack would last an easy 24-30hrs under typical use of the items I had attached. Radio, BT speaker, phone, and Ipad). But admittedly I didn't use all the devices constantly. Just there and ready if I needed/ wanted any of them. Heavy transmit use of the radio would knock it down faster (obviously) but even under heavy use of all devices, 8-10 hrs was typical. I have gotten into the habit of charging it when I leave the house or go to bed, and never even pay attention to charge at this point... it's just always on. Keep in mind I use this everyday and certainly don't try to conserve battery life.
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Next up I decided it was time to upgrade the radio a bit. The seat it was mounted under was getting rather tattered and chewed up. So I figured while I was making a suitable replacement I would rethink how I was doing everything. I don't use the seat as a ""seat" more as a work surface for laptop and what have you. So a larger wood seat would improve function a lot.

Up next I settled on my FTM-400DR as the new radio. The detached face would let me mount the radio body under the basket out of the way as well as the face up on the cross-bar with the tablet to be much more user friendly. I also swapped out the Ipad for a cheap Samsung tablet to use as a display for an RTL-SDR (which along with a second antenna) I mounted as well.



I relocated the antenna to a new location after a rather gnarly fall in which it damn near went through my upper arm (sure didn't look sharp...lol).

This would be Ham-Walker Ver. 2





I liked this setup a lot with one unforeseen problem. The 400DR is a power hungry little beast.

I was used to the 3.5w draw of the 7250 (at idle, rcv only) and the 400DR was pulling anywhere from 7-10w (depending) under the same circumstances. Couple that with the fact the 400DR is never truly "off" unless power is removed and it was taking a serious toll on battery pack life. Add to that the SDR which I had mounted and the fact the Samsung tablet draws more than the Ipad and I was really taxing the battery.

This wasn't a deal breaker, just had to be a little more mindful of battery usage. If I was transmitting a lot with the 400, particularly so.
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And then came Ver. 3

After much deliberation (and a hefty bonus at work), I broke down and picked up an Icom IC-705. I had recently passed my General and figured having the option of HF would be nice.

Much to my surprise the 705 has the lowest power consumption of any of the radios I have had mounted. Coming in at an anemic 2w (when clip on battery is fully charged). If charging it's battery it still only pulls 4w. Amazing!

I did have to recut the seat to fit around the larger 705 (from the original seat I built for the 400), but that was pretty easy. Biggest downside to redoing seat was having to order a new Arfham decal. Also had to build a mount to attach it to the cross-bar, but again, went pretty smooth.





Figured since I was trimming down power consumption I would go ahead and lose the SDR, and went back to the Ipad.

Another cool 705 advantage, the built in bluetooth. I had purchased a BT PTT mic for use w/ Zello, but never used it, as carrying around an extra device was a pain. Paired right up to 705 and now it is one less cord I have dangling about.



Oh and in case you were wondering about the molle pouch on the front... I am an arfcommer after all!



Carries sidearm, mag, flashlight and all the modular parts to make the antenna do whatever I want (as well as other assorted junk).

Hope you enjoyed my endeavor and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Cool!  

That's awesome!  Maybe I missed it but where is the HF antenna?

Does the weight make it less useful as a walker?  Honestly I'm still absorbing it that's a LOT of tech on a thing I've never even thought about as a mobility platform.  

Its bad ass for sure.  Props on you for making room for a weapon too.

Does the MS effect hand strength or dexterity?

Not pictured (well, kinda, parts are in the bag) - It's more or less a slider/ screwdriver style mobile antenna that honestly doesn't work very well. Upgrade in that dept is in the works, but have to keep it mobile after all.



The weight actually helps! If I had it my way it would be heavier. I have no sense of balance and often have to rely on it to keep me upright. Thankfully I am pretty skinny, but the more "boat anchor" the better.

And yes to the hand strength/ dexterity question. But I've been dealing with this for 13 years now, so my brain has developed "work-arounds".

That is REALLY neat!

Not bad (for a worthless cripple)! (Those are OPs words, not mine)
Amazing to me how some people can work around situations that would be debilitating for others, because they really want to get something done- in your case be active as a ham and preserve your right to self defense.
You really epitomize what hams should be - problem solvers.
Thanks for sharing - cannot wait to see what you come up with for a better HF antenna!

Way cool!!!!!
The 705 is a fun radio and designed to be manpack portable.
Good setup.

that is awesome!

Dude that thing is bad ass! Walker or not,  you're still absolutely one of the coolest Mofos I know. But then I knew ya when you still had a 1911.

Looks good.  Got more screens than last time I saw it.  Cue the Knight Rider gif.

Awesome!

Redefining "mobile" operating

Nicely done!

This is pure awesomeness!  

I like that battery pack alot.  Would be perfect for any mobile setup.  I think I want one of those!

Absolute badass setup!

Very impressive use of space, and I imagine the added weight give some stability to the unit.  Good work here OP.

That is great and OP is an excellent person.

I'm not going to lie: that's pretty cool.  Two questions:

1. Is that a pen/pencil holder on the left underside of the work surface?
2. Is the keyboard stuck to the top of the work surface with VELCRO ?

Very nice! You should submit it to QST.

Incidentally, my wife (General class) also has MS and uses a walker.

Wow! Thanks for all the compliments guys!



It is the stylus for my Ipad (Apple Pencil). And yeah, it is just an adhesive sleeve for it.

No velcro. There are two flat metal disks on the surface which correspoond to two rare earth magnets I epoxied on to underside of keyboard (kinda sloppy job, but it works). Holds in upright or flat position great, or I can just pull it off and tuck it aside.

Enshrined. Top Of List. Badass Overcomer

Very nice! How about a QSO on HF?

BTW, I like the idea about submitting it to QST magazine!

Very cool! I want that setup and don't even need a walker (yet).

Wow, totally humbled and honored! Cool!



@Gyprat

Man, your Zello channel and all the regulars have been a huge influence on me, hell... you are the reason I took my General.

Thanks for letting me be a part of that, you have no idea how grateful I am!

I think it would be cool to get a contact with you walker mobile.  

Depending on your location you might be in range of a daytime 40m contact.

Nice job there, OP.

Very cool!