Manpack is gone and the new QRP rig is ordered

Well the manpack radio has been sold in preparation for another addition to the stable....the Youkits SK-1A

With Chinese new year coming up it may be slightly delayed. I've kept the LiPo battery pack from the manpack and with an operating voltage range up to 15V I should not need to use the voltage regulator. I'll be pairing this with my Z11 tuner.

10m Manpack is finished

After a bit of work the 10m manpack is finished. It's built on a Philips TP-92 portable chassis (originally for the Philips FM92 radio) and one of the benefits is that any compact/mobile radio can be added to the unit. I've currently got the Dragon SS485H in there but with a bit of rework my Alinco DX-70 could be used instead.

 

The radio is attached by removing the top cover and riveting it to the TP-92 door. I could have gone with a normal mounting bracket but wanted to maintain the lowest profile for the unit. This makes it a pain to open up the unit as the radio has to be unscrewed from it's top plate but not the end of the world.

 

 

I'm running a 5AH LiPo battery from Turnigy which replaces the original SLA batteries. The original charging circuit and speaker have also been removed. I've added a Power-Meter to monitor the battery......but have put it after the regulator so won't get too much useful info although the ammeter measuring instant and peak current is a good tool to have. With the LiPo in place and the potential to dump a lot of current quickly I have gone fuse crazy with 2 internal fuses and one chassis fuse on the outside.

 

Without the original internals it does lose some of it's weight and potentially some of it's stability although I have not seen this as being an issue so far. Current weight without an antenna is 4.4Kgs.The main antenna is the 2.7 metre ANT-129 military antenna I got in from Greece - great buy and recommended. Without a tuner I am still getting a sub 1.7 SWR on 10m. If you are looking for one for yourself I bought mine on eBay from a great seller (and their eBay photo below):

Military-Whip-Antenna-ANT129-22-30Mhz-New-Old-Stock-PRC-Army-Radio-Singcar-radio

 

I'm not running any counterpoise at the moment as when I tried 2 3m wires my receive went backwards so that area needs a little bit of work.

 

I'm thinking it's nearly time to join the SOTA ranks and start hiking........

EFHWV

Thinking about the next antenna and I'm liking this end fed half wave vertical in the video below. I already have the squid pole (need to check the length) and just need the 9:1 transformer dooby and some wire...and some coax. Looks great for portable work or on the side of the car when stationary.

Dragon 10m HF portable is finished

A final bit of motivation and I finished my 10M portable radio. Here we are on Sunday finalising the wiring:

It has a Dragon SS-485H HF rig along with a Z11 ATU and runs a 7Ah SLA, All housed in a bench instrument enclosure from Jaycar. Some space constraints within the enclosure so the ATU is on the outside. I have a section to attach some counterpoise wires but haven't made any up yet.

And out in the back garden running a 2.4 metre ex-mil HF whip - ANT-129 22-30Mhz....

A local operator Darren - VK4HDO, came back to my call on 28.480 reporting my audio as good but the signal was low and according to his radio I was about 3Khz off frequency.

.....and with a more managable HF antenna

.....and on the radio bench running into the external 10M vertical

I'm hoping to get it ready for the WIA National field day on the 13th and 14th of April and see how it goes communicating from a hilltop.

Another portable component

I'm still gathering the bits for my new 10m portable rig. Latest addition is the LDG Z11 Auto tuner. Should be here shortly.



Other items on the list:

• Stick with the 3x12V 7.5AH SLAs I already have? How many to use vs. weight?
• Transceiver - Have 10M rig
• Auto Tuner - On the way - needed to allow for different types of antenna
• Antenna - ex-military whip on the way from Greece, need mounts for new antenna
• Counterpoise?
• Enclosure - this is the problem, stick with what I have or go with a new enclosure like EC1CW?
• Wiring - looking to expand my first effort and some extra features especially on the charging and fuse side.

Youtube inspiration

I've been spending a bit of time youtubing and thought I'd share 2 of my current favourites. There is of course the well-known GoatHiker (along with the goats Peanut and Rooster). Always enjoy seeing WG0AT - Steve operating mountain tops with his poor beasts of burden in tow:
http://www.youtube.com/user/goathiker

Next one is EC1CW - Diego. I stumbled across Diego's channel over Christmas and I think I've worked my way through just about all of his videos so far. Another mountain top operator Diego regularly activates a number of peaks for the SOTA program.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ec1cw

But of special interest to me is how Diego has contructed his Yaesu FT-897 based manpack. Definately something I'm looking to try in the future.