What are you using for portable HF ops?

[N8YX]

I did something interesting in the way of rigs this evening:

There are a total of four (count 'em) FT-726Rs in and around the shack. Space was made available this week for a 6M/2M/440MHz vertical so I reconfigured one unit for those bands and another for HF/2/430 - this for satellite work.

That left two more and a bunch of band modules.

Rig #3 got HF, 6 and 2M. There is a spare 430MHz module which can be swapped with the HF module to allow 6M/2M/430MHz operation @ 10w out - perfect for those VHF hilltop excursions.

I have one more of the rigs which is a bare-bones unit...it'll get 6M/2M/430 installed and maybe a spare HF module to boot. It's going up for sale to some like-minded VHFer/Field Day enthusiast.

[KC9ECI]

Thought about ordering a stake mount from Blue Star Antennas until I added up the final cost. $22+ was a bit much. I took the 3/8x24 mirror mount off my backpack frame, cut a length of solid aluminum rod, put a 90 degree bend near the top and made my own stake mount. I planted that, screwed the MP-1 to it, tuned and checked in to the MMSN on 14.300 to check it out. Got a good report from the net control station in NE.

Since you guys like pictures, here you go. I didn't bother with the telescoping whip for the MP-1, I just used the top section of a 40M hamstick I had out in the camper.

[W1GUH]

Based on the awesome performance I've had with my mobile setup, the first thing to suggest is a mobile antenna mounted on a car, or anything else for that matter. Here's a very convenient way of mounting something like that...



That's not an endorsement of that particular product -- just a generic pic. I got one of those at a hamfest last year -- think it was < $10, actually cheaper than buying the parts and doing the welding yourself. Haven't had an opportunity to try it out yet, but it was such a great idea that I HAD to get one!

;)

Anyone who has followed my portable/mobile comments over on the other site that we all know and love knows what's coming next -- (sort of). But I am stepping up on the

IMHO, there's no reason (at least for general, "recreational" operating) to get anything that costs more than a generic hamstick. Those babies get out!!!!!!

And I did an informal comparison between a 40m hamstick mounted on the car and a 31' vertical wire up in the tree. Never transmitted 'cuz the band was in one of those yellowy states, but on receive the wire was "about" (by a very subjective method of measurement) a S-unit better than the hamstick. But practically speaking, there wasn't much audible difference.

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is that when I operate that baby in motion, I get really, really, really good reports. And a generic hamstick is < $20 and has nothing fragile to break. That, plus a Diamond 400 lip mount, and you've got the lowest cost possible (without making you own from junk box parts) mobile or portable setup. And SOOOOOO quick and easy to setup. I imagine that finding something to clamp a vice-grip mount should be pretty easy, too, and that saves $$$$$ on the mount.

Another idea is a dipole mount to mount two hamsticks back-to-back.



That one's from MFJ, but there's bunches of others -- I see them at hamfests all the time. I've got one but haven't used it. I guess the thing is that the vertical hamstick'll give you the low-angle radiation for more range, the dipole mount'll be better for close-in? OTOH, the dipole mount needs 2 hamsticks. But if you want a short, protable dipole, it seems to me that 2 hamsticks and a dipole mount is far preferable over a buddipole becuause it's extremely cheaper. Approx $40 the the hamsticks and $15 for the dipole mounts. Last I checked the buddipole will set you back far more than that.

But, in conclusion, a hamstick mounted on a car is an almost ideal setup. It gets out like gangbusters -- most days last year were days when Europe was easy and routine from the car -- in fact, one Saturday afternoon I worked 6 or 7 E. Europe nations, including Russia on CW (2x 599's). (Who needs sunspots?) AND, I worked Amsterdam from the NJTP (New Jersey Turnpike) with my '817 & hamstick. If you need more performance than that....well...you pays your money and you takes your choice.

PLUS....for even more "goodness"...

Adding "mobile" to your call adds at least 10 dB to your signal. Whether you're parked or in motion, hams LOVE working mobiles, especially DX. "Portable" just doesn't have that cache'.

Ok, over and I'm stepping down from the soapbox. My advice is try a generic hamstick first, for either mobile or portable with a vice-grip mount. It's not a lot of money (well, it's more than speaker wire, but less than speaker wire + tuner), and will probably do great things for you. AND be a lot easire to setup!

[Vinnie]

In April we used a hamstick clamped to aft rail of a canal boat up near Chester, Wales. Worked a few state-side (no west coast) and EU using an old TS-50. Trouble was, everytime we'd stop, the pub came first, THEN the radio......

[KC9ECI]

Sounds like a blast, the pub part in particular. I will be QRT as KC9ECI tomorrow and QRV as M0KCE on Thursday sometime. I doubt I'll get much op time on Thursday, but by the weekend I'll be on the air as much as time and the XYL permit.