Posted: 9/13/2008 7:57:46 AM EDT
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Just passed my Tech and General this morning. Looking for a portable HF rig... I travel for extended periods away from home, so I need something that will fit in airline checked luggage, and can be operated in a hotel room... I don't see any HF HT's, and having a seperate transceiver, power supply, auto tuner and antennas seems like it wouldn't leave any room for luggage I will actually need. Am I missing anything? or am I just SOL? Any ideas? Thanks RB |
lots of people do this.
it's not quite that easy, but you can get close.
i would get a QRP (low power radio, typically 5-10W) and use a small, well regulated and well filtered 12Vdc wall wart (3A output or so, roughly the size of a clenched fist). for the antenna, you need to decide to operate only on certain bands, meaning you don't need a tuner -- or you get a tuner and use a long wire dipole or end fed halfwave. either of those can be quickly rolled up/rolled out.
Icom 703+ (has integral autotuner) Yeasu FT817 (has support for 2m/70cm) that would be where i'd start. the "why QRP?" folks are going to show up now, but to run power (100W) you are going to need either a much bigger power supply or a much bigger battery. see also the post titled "QRP operation (low power/portable)" about halfway down on page 2 of the Ham Radio 101 thread: www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=22&t=604477&page=2 pics of an Icom 703+ "minimum portable" setup here, including a 12AH battery and a field expedient dipole antenna: losdos.dyndns.org:8080/public/ham/icom-703plus/pics/ also see www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=22&t=593963 to round things out, this is about the most compact you are going to get an all-mode 100W station -- including a power supply and autotuner... www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=22&t=614541 ar-jedi |
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In agreement with the jedi. A power supply would take up way too much luggage space for a 100w rig. I 2nd the 817 or 703 suggestion. Edit: It might be prudent to get a full power rig and only run at qrp levels though? Maybe look at 857, 706, 7000. Take into account the current consumptions of each, I think the 857 will come out on tops there, If you leave the dsp off, turn off the backlight and run headphones instead of the internal speaker with the power down at 5w it would be a good candidate and could serve dual duty. |
| How long are you at each location away? If more than a week you may want to try to ship yourself your tuner and power supply to where you are going to be. I have a friend that sent via priority mail his tuner power supply and wire. He would be at a location for 3 weeks at a time and just shipped it back to his house when he was leaving. Less than $10 each way. Easy to do with a flat rate box and you are on the air and having fun. |
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No such luck... Concert lighting technician (think roadie!) Different city every night. My sked is something like this: Day 1: fly to city A Day 2: show in city A Travel via tour bus for the rest of the time... Day 3: show in city B Day 4: show in city C Day 5: day off in city D (this is the day I would have time to break out the radio) Day 6: show in city D .... repeat .... 2-3 shows, then 1 or 2 days off. Because it is a pain to drag too much luggage back and forth between the tour buses and hotels, I need to keep luggage to a minimum. The 817ND looks like a good option. I'm starting with a 2m HT (vx170) probably won't get a HF transceiver until the end of the year. (Christmas maybe? =-) |