"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
(1 John 4:10)
(1 John 4:10)
"...it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
(Romans 10:9)
(Romans 10:9)
Portable Ham Radio
2025-09-19 After nearly a lifetime as a ham, well since high school and I'm now nearly 81, with much of that thinking about if not actually operating portable I've come up with a few generalizations or observations that pretty much guide my approach today. Perhaps they are helpful to others. Much of this is a result of my POTA (Parks On The Air) activities the past several years. My "guiding principals" are simplicity, ease of setup/tear down, low power and light weight. I'm not into big numbers, long distances or anything exotic. I just like to go to a park, setup and make at least ten contacts and pack up and head home! I operate mostly CW around 18WPM. So here are my thoughts.
Radio Gear: Recently most often I'll take my ELECRAFT KH1 QRP transceiver including their 4 ft whip, 13 ft counterpoise, including their 40 meter add on coil and extra counterpoise. I seldom work 40 meters in the field but I have the option just in case. I include the N6ARA tiny paddle just in case but prefer the native paddle.
I occasionally take my ICOM IC705 and depending on the antenna my ELECRAFT T1 autotuner, since unlike the KH1 the radio does not have an internal autotuner. I also take a nanovna along to help adjust the antenna if needed. I take a N6ARA CW key.
Antennas: I nearly always take my GABIL GRA7350tc vertical antenna. It covers nearly all HF bands and doesn't require a tuner. It's a short vertical, about 8 feet tall, but works very well and is really easy to set up with a ground spike or small tripod. I use four 10 ft speaker wire radials just tossed out on the ground like spokes. Very easy to deploy almost anywhere. I typically use a 15 or 20 ft rg174 feedline.
My second choice antenna is a K6ARK 29 ft end fed with a 17 ft speaker wire ground radial. Typically I don't use any feedline, just connect the BNC directly to the radio and run the far end to a 15 or 20 ft fiberglass fishing pole, low tree branch or whatever. The kh1 will tune it directly on 20 meters and above. I use the T1 tuner on the IC705.
When using the KH1 radio I sometimes use the included 4 ft whip and 13 ft counterpoise. It works surprisingly well but obviously not as well as either of the other two options above. But is pretty amazing to literally have a complete, functioning station in the little 1.5lb pouch slung over your shoulder! Of the over 1000 POTA contacts I've made with the KH1, 267 of them were with the whip.
Power Source: Both the kh1 and ic705 have internal batteries and typically that is what I use. I may take a small battery, such as a Bioenno 3Ah battery, just in case. The battery also allows the icom ic705 to output 10 watts whereas with the attached battery it is limited to 5 watts. Seldom have I noticed any significant difference.
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Ultra Portable with the Elecraft KH1
(update 2025-07-13) |
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GRA-7350TC HF Vertical
(10/30/23) Multiband EFHW Antenna
(update 03/14/2022) |
My Ideal POTA Antenna
(07-07-23) |
My Ideal POTA KIT?
(update 08/08/2025) My First POTA Rove
(07-25-23) Pedestrian Mobile
(Update 04/10/24) |
Personal Note and Background.
A personal web site or blog is kind of an odd thing. On the one hand it provides an insight into the owner/author, showing their interests and some information about them. On the other hand it hopefully provides information that others may find helpful. That is my aim for this one. Like many people I have many interests. Foremost among them is that I am a "Believer." That is, I believe that for His own reasons, God created us, loves us and sent Jesus to make a relationship with him possible. Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection pay the price for our sin so God can freely offer forgiveness and become our father if we simply believe and accept that. For that I am thankful and look forward to not only enjoying the privileges of being his son now but will be with him in eternity.
How does that fit with my other more "earthly" interests such as ham radio, backpacking, flying RC planes, etc. Well for me those activities are interesting and of value because they exploring and enjoying God's creation! He is the one who designed the earth and universe, including propagation, trees, the rules of physics, etc. So when I "play" with those things, I'm gaining insight into and increased appreciation for God, through his creation. It's not unlike when one admires an amazing painting, admit it or not, one is really admiring the artist!
Romans 1:19-20 in the Bible it says, "19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God."
I hope what I record on this site is helpful in itself, but will also help you pause and think about the creator, architect, our Savior!