For those living within driving range of Summit Racing Equipment/DX Engineering headquarters in Tallmadge, Ohio, we hope you were able to participate in our first-ever Mobile Cruise-In October 3, 2024 in the Summit Racing parking lot. (Summit Racing is DX Engineering’s parent company.)
The event was billed as an opportunity to meet other local hams, check out new gear and open-box specials in the DX Engineering Showroom, and, most importantly, display your vehicle’s mobile radio setup and see other unique ways hams install their mobile rigs.
(Image/DX Engineering)
Hams from the surrounding area arrived to show off a variety of ways they go mobile. Members of the DX Engineering team were there to capture the camaraderie and ham spirit that invariably happens when amateurs get together to make eyeball QSOs and swap operating ideas:
Ron Stoller, KB8LNK, brought his 2015 GMC Sierra to the event. The truck was equipped with Alinco, Icom, and Yaesu radios and multiple antennas, including three mounted under the back windshield on a metal rack built by Stoller. The Orrville, Ohio, Extra Amateur license holder designed the rack so he could lower the three antennas to a flat position if needed. (Image/DX Engineering)KB8LNK demonstrates his three-antenna mobile antenna rack. (Image/DX Engineering)(Image/DX Engineering)(Image/DX Engineering)(Image/DX Engineering)(Image/DX Engineering)(Image/DX Engineering)
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Couldn’t make it to DX Engineering for the cruise-in? No problem. Our celebration of all things mobile radio never stops.
We understand that it was logistically impossible for most OnAllBands readers, who operate from every corner of the globe, to attend the cruise-in (for our New Zealand fans, for example, it would have required an 8,607-mile excursion).
But take heart. You can still go mobile at DXEngineering.com. There, you’ll find everything you need to enjoy the fun and practicality of having ham radio communication at your fingertips when you’re on the road or off.
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Popular Mobile Radios & Accessories at DX Engineering
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on QRPer.com on Monday, October 7. We are sharing this important information with permission from the author, Thomas Witherspoon.
Good Morning, Friends,
If you haven’t read my previous posts, here’s the situation in a nutshell: we live in a rural mountain community in Swannanoa, NC, where the bridge connecting us to the outside world was swept away during the 1 in 1,000-year flood event caused by Tropical Storm Helene. We’ve also confirmed that a tornado swept through our valley, which explains the large number of trees down on houses and roads.
Community
The reason why I, along with all the households on our one-mile stretch of road, now have egress is because our community came together to make it happen. As I mentioned in previous posts, when I first surveyed the number of downed trees on my driveway and on our road, I thought we would be blocked from the rest of the world for at least a week. Instead, our neighborhood mobilized and cleared everything ourselves.
People we barely knew 10 days ago now feel like family. We all feel this way.
On Saturday at 13:00, we gathered for another neighborhood BBQ. This time, we enjoyed barbecued ribs, and they were exquisite—three different types: blackened, jerk, and extra spicy, both dry-rubbed and marinated.
These neighborhood barbecues give us a chance to relax and have casual conversations, rather than just focusing on work like fixing chainsaws and coordinating home repairs. It’s also practical: sharing meats that were thawing out in our freezers ensures everyone enjoys them before they spoil.
We had so much food that we also invited neighbors from the lower part of the road, as well as the National Guard, FEMA, and others working on our road. Of course, they declined, not wanting to take any resources from us (plus, they had packed their own lunches).
My wife spoke to a neighbor who joked that he wants to print T-shirts that say:
“I Survived Hurricane Helene and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt (And a Tighter Community)”
That pretty much sums up how we all feel.
We did have a little drama at lunch. One of the National Guard’s RSVs (Re-Supply Vehicles) developed a flat tire. They had to deploy the outriggers and lift the truck to replace it, which completely blocked the road for a while.
Evidently, there’s no easy way to replace a tire on one of these, and each tire must weigh over 200 lbs. Unfortunately, one of the soldiers helping to maneuver the tire fell unconscious, and the tire hit him in the chest as he collapsed.
Fortunately, one of our neighbors is a trauma nurse and jumped into action. The soldier was stabilized and re-hydrated. They quickly finished the tire replacement and took him into town for a proper medical checkup, but fortunately, he appeared to have no major injuries.
We are incredibly grateful for all the hard work of the 5th Battalion 113 Field Artillery. They’ve been amazing.
Coordinated Efforts and Misinformation
Speaking of outside help, we’ve received and been offered more than we could ever take. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s been humbling to be on the receiving end of so much generosity.
Lately, I’ve had almost no time to catch up on messages or news because I’ve been so busy. Yesterday, however, I checked in on Mastodon and a few news and social media sources.
There are rumors going around about major clashes between government agencies and private organizations, groups, and individuals trying to help out here in western North Carolina. This simply isn’t true—not in the way some on social media are portraying it.
Keep in mind that fear, anger, and drama fuel likes, views, and search algorithms, which is why these “news” sources tend to paint everything in the worst possible light. It’s in their best financial interests to create drama where there is none.
Here on our road, we’ve met and worked with our rescue task force, four different FEMA teams, the Sheriff’s Department, the Forest Service, the National Guard, a private-sector ex-military helicopter team, church groups, numerous NGOs, arborist companies volunteering, and countless individuals, friends, and families.
In fact, they’ve all been working together, sharing ATVs and trucks, to get up and down our road. They’ve even coordinated and shared their observations and findings.
Anyone who has been monitoring the N2GE (Mount Mitchell Repeater) will hear coordination efforts between both public and private entities.
The only issues that arise, and where volunteers are turned away, happen when people try to enter areas en masse where access is limited, and their vehicles block the way of search and rescue teams or supply deliveries. Many of our mountain communities only have two-lane access roads, and when these are blocked, it creates serious problems.
Authorities have also asked some individuals to leave when it’s clear their intent is more about disaster sightseeing for their YouTube channels than helping out.
There’s also concern about looters targeting abandoned homes and businesses. If someone shows up in an SUV, ATV, or motorcycle without any sign of delivering supplies or assistance, they’re likely to be turned away. We actually requested law enforcement presence on our road to minimize the number of vehicles traveling across our precarious, temporarily-repaired road. Some groups have shown up in high-performance ATVs just for the thrill of navigating our damaged road. Seriously.
All this to say: don’t believe what you see on social media. It’s not telling the full story. The only people being turned away are those who aren’t really here to help in the first place. Genuine volunteers being refused would be an extreme rarity and likely only because they would be interfering with search and rescue ops.
SITREP (Situation Report)
As of now, our neighborhood feels like it’s in a semi-stable place. We have egress and ingress, we’ve cleared our road and driveways, and we’re working together to overcome the challenges we’ve faced.
At our community meeting yesterday, we even discussed how we could help others who still need their roads or driveways cleared. We have a tractor and a dozen people with chainsaws and ATVs.
Thankfully, most communities around us have already been cleared, which is wonderful news. There’s still months of debris cleanup ahead, but most places around us now have access in and out.
We’ll find other ways to give back to the community.
The power grid is still down, and I imagine it will be for weeks. Duke Energy announced that most people in urban Asheville neighborhoods will have power restored within a few days or by the end of the week. My buddy Vlado (N3CZ) had his power restored last night in south Asheville, which is a good sign.
However, there’s still a lot of electrical infrastructure to rebuild, and rural communities like ours will likely be a lower priority because the work needed benefits only 40 or so households instead of hundreds.
And none of us here take our road for granted. One heavy rain could wash out the temporary repairs or the makeshift bridge that connects us to the rest of the world.
The road is currently a one-lane, steep, and curvy path with no guard rails and steep drop-offs. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s what we’ll have to live with for months until the DOT can properly repair it.
We’re lucky to have fresh water, unlike many urban neighborhoods. We rely on well water, and as long as our well pumps have power, we have water. Additionally, we have a creek running through the valley that we can use to flush toilets or even drink from (with proper filtration).
Those on city water aren’t sure when service will be restored. Asheville’s water treatment facilities and reservoirs were all damaged by the storm, with two suffering severe damage. The North Fork facility, which supplies water to about 80% of Asheville, requires rebuilding a 36-inch bypass line that was destroyed. Access to the damaged areas has also made progress slow.
Water service restoration is the top priority, but there’s no estimated timeline yet. Thankfully, water distribution sites are available across Asheville, so getting drinking water hasn’t been difficult for most.
Updates
In my next update, I’ll explain the details about our solar power system here at the QTH. Many of you have asked for information, so I’ll dedicate a post to it.
Thank You
Hazel posing with the sign my daughters made for the neighborhood. They drew caricatures of all of the dogs in the neighborhood!
Once again, our family is overwhelmed by the kindness and love you’ve shown us.
Next time you browse a ham radio catalog, compare the relative power ratings of some of the accessories. I was interested in replacing some antenna switches, and here’s what I found listed under the product specs:
PEP (Peak Envelope Power) is often the default rating for switches, antennas, baluns, amplifiers, and other ham radio accessories. But you’ll notice others on the list above, like ICAS (Intermittent Commercial and Amateur Service) or just watts (W).
What do these mean to you and station operation?
Explaining Duty Cycle
Before we tackle the alphabet soup of power ratings, understand they’re only part of the picture.
To understand power ratings, you also need to consider the duty cycle—the time your radio or amp delivers power. Each mode has its own duty cycle, expressed in percent. For example, a 100% duty cycle continuously delivers power.
Typical Duty Cycle Percentages
Mode
Duty Cycle
SSB
10 – 20%*
CW
50%
FM/AM
100%
Digital/RTTY
Up to 100%
* Duty cycle varies with compression/ALC/mic gain settings.
The higher the duty cycle, the more potential for stress on your finals. That’s why radio manufacturers recommend 25W AM, for example.
The popular FT8 digital mode doesn’t require a lot of power—many users find 20 to 30W sufficient to make contacts and only increase power as needed to make the QSO.
Peak Envelope Power (PEP)
PEP is used when output power varies, which is typical for modes like SSB. It’s the highest envelope power supplied to the antenna by a transmitter during any full RF cycle or series of complete radio frequency cycles.
A transmitter delivering 100W PEP can momentarily produce 100W power. Similarly, coaxial switches or other radio accessories rated for 100W PEP power can momentarily handle that amount of power.
We usually associate PEP with SSB transmissions, but it can also describe other modes. For a CW signal, PEP is measured during the key-down period when the transmitter is on.
PEP is equal to the steady carrier power in a CW transmission. PEP is also equal to the average power in a steady FM, FSK, or RTTY signal.
Let’s not forget AM.
Assuming a linear, perfectly symmetrical, 100% modulation of a carrier, PEP output of an AM transmitter is four times its carrier PEP. A typical 100W amateur transceiver is rated for no more than 25W of carrier output when operating in AM mode.
Continuous/Intermittent Commercial Service (CCS & ICAS)
Other ratings include CCS and ICAS. CCS stands for Continuous Commercial Service. This rating means the amplifier can put out its rated power nonstop, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That would equate to a 100% duty cycle. TV and radio broadcast stations look for these ratings when choosing transmitters.
Generally, amateur HF radio transmitter power ratings are defined as ICAS (Intermittent Commercial and Amateur Service). Intermittent operation implies that no operating period exceeds five minutes and is followed by a standby period of at least five minutes (or longer when tubes are used). In a solid-state environment, ICAS adjusts the rating to keep the device junction and case temperatures within their maximum ratings while also incorporating operating/standby periods.
ICAS appears to leave some room for interpretation by manufacturers. The following is found in the Palstar LA-1K Amplifier manual:
“The power output of the LA-1K is 1,000 Watts PEP CW ICAS. Intermittent operation of the LA-1K implies that no operating or ON period of 1000W of Continuous Carrier Power will exceed approximately 1(ONE) minute. On Single Side Band (SSB) voice duty there is no limit on transmit time at full power of 1000W PEP.”
Two ratings—one amp? You can rag-chew as long as you want (PEP rating), but watch it with RTTY and digital (ICAS).
Does Your Meter Measure Up?
An oscilloscope can be one of the best ways to measure RF power in your shack because you can see the waveform directly on the screen. However, most people don’t own one.
Many of us do own ham-grade add-on meters. They are good indicators of whether things are working normally and will give a ballpark reading, but don’t expect perfection. Generally speaking, most of these meters are rated at 10% full-scale accuracy. At full deflection (200 or 300W, for example), they will read within 10% of the actual output.
Your transceiver or amp may also have a built-in power meter. Depending on the display size, it may be an easy or difficult read. Accuracy can also vary among models and brands. I’m familiar with the Icom IC-7300 meters, and they appear to be close to the readings on my external meter.
Whatever you use, connect your radio or radio/external meter to a 50-ohm dummy load rated at least 100W–not the antenna–to get the most accurate reading. That way, you’ll avoid the effect of reflected power and other antenna system anomalies.
Are you looking for that 100W promised by the manufacturer?
The easiest way is to choose one of the modes with a 100% duty cycle–my go-to is RTTY–and briefly crank the power output to 100W. Be sure your radio is connected to a 50-ohm dummy load as described in the above paragraph. Allow some leeway for meter accuracy.
DXers will tell you that 2024 has been a banner year for high-profile DXpeditions. Once again DX Engineering has led the charge by providing equipment for many activations in the first three quarters of 2024, including:
The team at DX Engineering is keeping their collective feet on the gas pedal (see the article here about the similarities between hams and gearheads) in 2024’s final quarter by providing equipment for the six-operator 160-6M 3D2Y Rotuma DXpedition, scheduled to run from November 15 to December 4. Rotuma is an 8.1-mile-long, 2.5-mile-wide volcanic island located 401 miles north of Fiji. Look for more about Rotuma on OnAllBands this month.
Per the 3D2Y website, one of the primary goals of this activation by the Pacific Islands DXpedition Group is to “enable DXpeditioning for the next generation of amateur radio operators”—a goal which aligns with DX Engineering’s commitment to encouraging young operators and giving back whenever possible to the ham radio community.
The 3D2Y DXpedition includes operators Jamie, M0SDV (age 23); Connor, KD9LSV (age 23); and Lukas, LY7J (age 22); plus 19-year-old YOTA member Kees, W0AAE, who will be playing a key role in making the activation of this 63rd Most Wanted DXCC Entity a success.
3D2Y recently announced the members of the DXpedition’s multi-national off-island youth team, assembled in partnership with Youth on the Air (YOTA). You can see the off-island team here. The young hams will be operating remotely thanks to two W6IZT NexGenRibs (Rigs in a Box) that will be set up on Rotuma.
From the 3D2Y press release: “These future DXpeditioners will have the thrill of experiencing the DXpedition pileups for the first time.”
(Image/DX Engineering)
Here’s some of the gear that was provided by DX Engineering in support of 3D2Y:
If you’d like to up your DXing game, you can add the same mission-critical gear that DXpeditioners rely on by shopping at DXEngineering.com, where you’ll find transceivers, antennas, amplifiers, headsets, microphones, coaxial cable, cable prep toolkits, and everything else you need to break through pileups and compete with the Big Guns.
Mark your ham radio calendar! The Pacific Islands DXpedition Group, in conjunction with Youth on the Air, is offering hams an excellent opportunity to make contact with Rotuma, the 63rd Most Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog as of October.
The six-operator, youth-oriented 160-6M 3D2Y Rotuma DXpedition is scheduled to run from November 15 to December 4 from this volcanic island located 401 miles north of Fiji. We’ll have much more about this DX Engineering-sponsored DXpedition in tomorrow’s OnAllBands post.
For now, let’s take a look at this unique island and check out some of the QSL cards from past activations.
About Rotuma
Known for its natural beauty, Rotuma is an 8.1-mile-long, 2.5-mile-wide island in the South Pacific Ocean about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. It is the largest and only permanently inhabited island (about 1,600 people) of the Rotuma Group—a dependency of Fiji which includes Rotuma and several significantly smaller islands.
Comparatively, Rotuma is only the 12th largest of the Fiji Islands, which leads us to today’s geography question. The Republic of Fiji is comprised of more than 300 islands, 110 of which are inhabited, along with 500 smaller islets.
Can you name the largest of Fiji’s islands?
Rotuma is a self-governing heptarchy, meaning it is divided into seven districts (“hepta” from the Greek for “seven”), each with its own chief. Along with these chiefs, elected district representatives make up the Rotuma Island Council. On May 13, Rotumans celebrate Rotuma Day, the anniversary of the island’s cession to the United Kingdom in 1881. This marked its governance as part of the Colony of Fiji. Rotuma took on the status of a self-governing dependency after Fiji’s independence from British rule in 1970.
According to Rotuma.net, the island’s fertile land helps Rotumans cultivate a range of crops, including taro, yams, sweet potatoes, cassava, breadfruit, bananas, pineapples, coconuts, papayas, and mangos.
Despite the economic prospects of opening up Rotuma to visitors, around 85% of Rotumans voted in 1985 against allowing organized tourism, citing the impact the influx of people would have on the land’s traditions and culture.
QSL Cards
The active hams at DX Engineering have had great success contacting Rotuma over the years (a good reason to contact them for help with your gear if you’d like to do the same). Here are a few of the QSL cards from their collections.
Scotty, KG9Z, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, earned this card from 3D2XX back in October 1988. It was the first activation of the island after being recognized as a new DXCC entity. Working three stations on 160-6M from the thatched hut pictured on the card, the four-operator 3D2XX DXpedition recorded more than 34,600 QSOs with amateurs in 173 DXCC entities during their 15-day stay. The fascinating text on the back of the QSL card concludes:
“We were sad to leave the beauty, the people, and the DX pileups of Rotuma—but we don’t miss the bugs!”
(Image/DX Engineering)(Image/DX Engineering)
Wayne, K8FF, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, logged both FT8 and CW QSOs with the solar-powered 3D2AG/p station located in the Fapufa village of Rotuma.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, made multiple SSB contacts with 3D2AG/p from 2012-15.
(Image/DX Engineering)(Image/DX Engineering)
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, reached the multi-national 3D2R DXpedition in September/October 2011. The 19-operator, eight-day operation netted more than 66,000 SSB, CW, and Digital QSOs across 160-6M.
On the trip, the 3D2R team introduced amateur radio to students from Rotuma High School, providing training to teachers and students along with equipment for a school station.
(Image/DX Engineering)(Image/DX Engineering)
I’ll take “Fiji Islands” for $1,000, Ken.
Today’s featured DXCC entity, Rotuma, ranks as the 12th largest Fiji island. Can you name the largest?
If you said “Viti Levu,” enjoy a coconut and mango smoothie on the house! The 4,011-square-mile island has a population of around 740,000 and ranks as the world’s 75th largest island. Viti Levu contains Fiji’s capital and largest city, Suva.
Editor’s Note: Every month, DX Engineering features QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. To highlight upcoming DXpeditions, we’ll be displaying a few of our favorite cards along with details about what it took to make these contacts. We’re excited to share some of the special cards pulled from the thousands we’ve received over the years. We look forward to seeing your cards as well!
All of us at OnAllBands and DX Engineering would like to give a hearty “huzzah” to the entire CY9C St. Paul Island DXpedition team for helping thousands of hams worldwide record All Time New Ones and fill bands.
The 11-operator team made an impressive 114,842 CW, Phone, and Digital QSOs on 160 through 6 meters (including nearly 300 contacts via satellite) during their 10-1/2-day activation of uninhabited St. Paul. They manned multiple FlexRadio-based stations from St. Paul’s windswept and treeless Northeast Island site just off the coast of Nova Scotia until going QRT on September 5, 2024.
Kudos to the experienced operators who made it happen:
Craig, K9CT
Mike, K9NW
Adrian, KO8SCA
Pat, N2IEN
Lou, N2TU
Scott, NE9U
Dan, W4DKS
Glenn, W0GJ
Larry, W0PR
Murray, WA4DAN
Lee, WW2DX
As noted on the CY9C website, the successful activation required two helicopters and a boat to transport gear and operators to the island. The team experienced plenty of pileups, several days of “disturbed geomagnetic conditions” that limited QSOs, and windy but reasonably good weather. To help with the cost of the activation, CY9C asks “if possible, please be generous with donations.”
“Over four tons of gear, materials, and supplies were transported to St. Paul Island,” wrote Murray, WA4DAN.
Among this hefty load was equipment provided by sponsor DX Engineering, including:
Hams everywhere offered praise for the team’s diligent efforts:
“Thank you for outstanding activity in challenging conditions! Made all missing bands covered!” wrote EY8MM on the CY9C Facebook page.
“CY9C far exceeded my expectations, given the competition and not an easy path. I managed only two bands SSB 40 and 10m, but (6b) 80-15m CW and (9b) 160-10m FT8. It took some work and a good station, but they were there to be worked,” wrote VK3HJ.
“Thanks again to all of the foundations, clubs, and individuals who supported the CY9C DXpedition,” WA4DAN wrote. “We could not have done it without your help and support!”
The team plans to send out a “beautiful, double-folded, six-panel QSL card,” per the website.
Parks on the Air (POTA) has taken the ham radio community by storm. According to POTA’s website, there are more than half a million unique “hunter” call signs participating in this volunteer program that was “first inspired by the outstanding work of Sean Kutzko, KX9X, and Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, from the American Radio Relay League in 2016.”
The POTA phenomenon sprung from the ARRL’s one-year National Parks on the Air program, which gave legs to today’s soaring interest in park activations. Earlier programs such as Ohio State Parks on the Air, which celebrated its 17th year in September 2024, provided inspiration and operating details for the National Parks event.
As of this posting, the list of available POTA locations includes 11,668 parks in the U.S., 5,915 in Canada, and 8,523 in Australia, with new spots being added weekly. At any given time, scores of parks around the world—from North Carolina’s Blue Ridge National Parkway to Sweden’s Kungsbro Nature Reserve—are ripe for keen park hunters (click here to see what parks are on the air right now).
Since its founding, Parks on the Air has captured the imagination of young and seasoned operators, both park activators and hunters, to the tune of several million QSOs. Activators have embraced both the challenges and sheer enjoyment of making contacts amidst views you simply can’t get from inside a shack:
(Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)
“Parks on the Air combines a few of my favorite things—ham radio, the outdoors, and, if the conditions are right, the occasional pileup,” DX Engineering’s John Miller, KJ3X, told OnAllBands back in 2019 when the program was getting its foothold.
“Parks on the Air brings publicity to amateur radio, and amateur radio brings publicity to parks that normally might be overlooked. I’ve made contacts with people who never knew a particular park existed and have since visited that location.”
Jeff, KB8ZWT, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, during his first POTA activation in 2019. He used a Chameleon MPAS portable antenna system during his activation at West Branch State Park in Portage County, Ohio. (Image/Jeff, KB8ZWT)
POTA Resources
The ARRL’s 144-page reference guide, “The Parks on the Air Book“, is an excellent source to launch your POTA pursuits. Available at DXEngineering.com., the paperback features a look at how 14 operators, representing a range of skill levels and backgrounds, set up and handle their park activations, including gear lists of each. The book also covers satellite operating, QRP, urban backpack portable, wire antennas for POTA, and more.
“Just a very informative book,” in the words of one customer.
Still not convinced to add POTA to your list of ham radio activities? OnAllBands put together the following list.
10 Reasons to Give POTA a Try
POTA activations are an easy way to hold your own mini-DXpedition. Ever wanted to be a station in demand without having to traipse halfway around the globe? POTA is your answer.
It doesn’t require a mega-station to make contacts. For a modest investment you can start making QSOs from a park on day one.
With thousands of qualified sites, finding one within a reasonable driving distance shouldn’t be too difficult (this, of course, depends on where you live). How about picking a new spot every couple of months for a weekend getaway with the family or significant other?
While you may experience pileups, it’s still low pressure. Handle what you can based on your capabilities and improve your skills the more activations you take on.
Even if you don’t set the airwaves on fire, you’ll get to enjoy the foliage, an infusion of vitamin D, and perhaps some curious wildlife observing you from behind a tree.
Become an ambassador for ham radio. “Hey, what’s all this stuff you’ve got here? Looks like a blast,” someone—or perhaps dozens of folks—will undoubtedly inquire. It’s your chance to show them (without overdoing it) why ham radio is the greatest hobby in the world.
Like a personal Field Day adventure every time you set up, POTA is a great opportunity to experiment with a new antenna, QRP operation, and alternative power sources as you free yourself from the confines of the shack.
It will help you become a better operator, especially from an EMCOMM perspective. From the POTA website, the program is meant to encourage “amateur radio operations that promote emergency awareness and communications from national/federal and state/provincial level parks.”
The best reason of all—POTA operations are fun. After all, isn’t that why you spend hours thinking about refining your stations, getting on the air, and filling your logbooks?
In addition to “The Parks on the Air Book”, DX Engineering carries the gamut of POTA-friendly gear you’ll need to assemble the portable station that best fits your goals and budget, including:
In the video below, DX Engineering’s Michael Murphy, KI8R, with help from the active community of microwave operators and assistance provided by rain scatter propagation, makes two QSOs on 10 GHz—his first ever on the super high frequency bands.
You can watch both QSOs in action on the IC-905, along with tips on parabolic antenna positioning to maximize your receive signal, more about rain scatter, and some encouraging words on expanding your amateur radio horizons by giving these lesser-used bands a try.
“In the 40 years I’ve been in this hobby, this is probably one of the most awesome things I’ve ever done in ham radio,” KI8R said.
While contesters the world over await the SSB portion of the CQ World Wide DX Contest at the end of the month, don’t forget that there’s plenty to do on the air leading up to this mega-event.
Sis-Boom-Bah
With college football frenzy in the air, we’d like to give a special shout out to collegiate competitors this October who will be more concerned with hamming than pigskins…gray lines than goal lines…station grounding than intentional grounding. All of us at OnAllBands wish the best of luck to the students, faculty, and alumni who will be participating in the Collegiate QSO Party October 5, 0000Z to October 6, 2359Z.
From the contest website, “The Collegiate QSO Party is an operating event focused on amateur radio clubs at colleges and universities around the world. Each Fall, the Collegiate QSO Party provides an opportunity for clubs to demonstrate amateur radio to new members, engage with alumni, and promote activity throughout college and university communities.”
This year’s roster of competitors who will be trying to mitigate interference (a 15-yard penalty in the gridiron world, but even a bigger annoyance in radiosport!) includes teams from Missouri University of Science and Technology, University of Central Florida, University of South Florida, University of Florida, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Oregon State University, Michigan State University, Virginia Tech, St. Louis University, University of Cincinnati, Irvine Valley College, and others.
“This event is open to all radio amateurs,” per the event’s website. “Points can be earned by individuals, clubs, and collegiate stations. The Collegiate QSO Party encourages alumni to connect with their alma mater and students to network with other schools. New hams are welcome and stations are encouraged to be accommodating to new radio amateurs.”
A Halloween Reminder: Beware of the Wouff-Hong!
In this season of ghosts, goblins, and things that go kerchunk in the night, it behooves contesters everywhere to be wary of the most sinister, medieval —and, frankly, hilarious—of all ham radio legends. Of course we could only be referring to the dreaded Wouff-Hong—a device imagined (with tongue firmly in cheek) by Hiram Percy Maxim, W1AW, to remind amateurs that shoddy operating that runs afoul of accepted etiquette should not be tolerated.
While the first article about the Wouff-Hong, penned by The Old Man himself, appeared 100 years ago, its relevance today in light of DQRMers and other ne’er-do-wells hasn’t waned.
If you’re looking for something to do on Halloween that doesn’t involve dressing in blue tights and a cape, the Anoka County Radio Club of Anoka, Minnesota, is hosting a Halloween Special Event Station, W0YFZ, October 31, 1400Z-2000Z, 14.250 7.250 7.056 ft8.
Anoka—a northern suburb of the Twin Cities—“is believed to be the first city in the United States to put on a Halloween celebration to divert its youngsters from Halloween pranks,” according to anokahalloween.com. Today, its 17,000 residents proudly call their hometown “The Halloween Capital of the World®.”
The town’s first Halloween celebration was in 1920. The good-natured merriment lives on today with parades and other activities, including the special event station: “Anoka residents can watch their grandchildren or great-grandchildren continue the tradition they started so many years ago,” per the website.
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Sufficiently scared? Make October the month you shake off your “mic fright,” get on the air, and make some QSOs. Here are a few contests to put on your calendar:
Oceania DX Contest, Phone: October 5, 0600Z to October 6, 0600Z. The CW portion of the contest runs from October 12, 0600Z to October 13, 0600Z. The contest promotes HF contacts to and from stations in the Oceania region as well as contacts between stations in Oceania. Find complete rules here.
The Oceania DX Contest website offers these words of encouragement to get on the air: “This is the 79th running of the Oceania DX Contest, and with the solar conditions the way they are, we are expecting some big things from all of our contestants this year! Solar conditions are the best they have been in more than a decade, so your opportunity to make contact with stations in Oceania has never been better! We look forward to seeing you all on the air on both weekends and expect many stations from Oceania to be calling CQ Contest looking for your calls!”
QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party: October 12, 0000Z to 2359Z. The QRP Amateur Radio Club International kicks off autumn in their usual manner—by doing more with less! This club for low-power enthusiasts worldwide sponsors various contests and events that promote QRP operating and related activities, such as building minimalist radios, portable ops, and antenna experimentation. Like much of the club’s activities, its Fall QSO Party (HF CW only) is a test of ingenuity and skill, as operators make QSOs using anywhere from 55 mW or less to 5W.
Stew Perry Topband Challenge: October 19, 1500Z to October 20, 1500Z. Here’s a popular event 160M fans won’t want to miss. Point value of QSOs depends on the distance between the two stations. Participants are given one point plus another point for each 500km of distance. Points are also multiplied for lower power categories—for both the sending and receiving station. Looking to boost your top band capabilities? Read this article on the effectiveness of the DX Engineering 160M THUNDERBOLT Vertical Antenna.
ARRL’s EME—50 to 1296 MHz: October 19, 0000Z to October 20, 2359Z. Work as many amateur stations as possible via the earth-moon-earth path on designated frequencies. This portion of the ARRL EME event continues on November 16-17.
ARRL School Club Roundup: October 21, 1300Z to October 25, 2359Z. This bi-annual event is designed to foster contacts with and among school radio clubs. Participants can exchange QSO information with any amateur radio station, so non-school clubs and individuals are encouraged to participate as well. All amateur bands except 60, 30, 17, and 12 meters are permitted.
CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB: October 26, 0000Z to October 27, 2359Z. This is why they call this time of year Contesting Season! The CQ Worldwide DX Contest is the largest amateur radio contest in the world with over 35,000 participants. The challenge is to make as many contacts with as many DXCC entities and CQ Zones as possible, while competing against the world’s elite contesters. Not into SSB? The CW portion of the contest is November 23-24.
Also check out these State QSO Parties:
California: October 5, 1600Z to October 6, 2200Z
Nevada: October 12, 0300Z to October 13, 2100Z
Arizona: October 12, 1500Z to October 13, 0500Z
Pennsylvania: October 12, 1600Z to October 13, 0400Z, and October 13, 1300Z to 2200Z
South Dakota: October 12, 1800Z to October 13, 1800Z
New York: October 19, 1400Z to October 20, 0200Z
Illinois: October 20, 1700Z to October 21, 0100Z
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Ready to upgrade your station for better contesting results? Visit DXEngineering.com for everything you could possibly need to boost your scores:
The TO2DX DXpedition from Réunion by OM2DX is scheduled to run until October 7 from this overseas department and region of France in the Indian Ocean, 422 miles east of Madagascar. The HF operation from the 970-square-mile island (slightly smaller than Rhode Island) is scheduled to be active on CW, FT8, and RTTY. TO2DX, operating from the island’s far west side in the commune of St.-Paul, was QRV for the just-completed CQ WW DX RTTY Contest.
The volcanic island of Réunion (part of the Mascarene Islands) is the 219thMost-Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog as of September. Originally named Bourbon, Réunion has a population of around 885,000 and is home to a rich diversity of flora and fauna. There are more than 230 plants only found on the island, as well as endemic birds such as the Réunion cuckooshrike, which, if you’re lucky, can be observed in two mountain forests in the northern part of Réunion. The island’s marine biodiversity is even more impressive. Its waters feature 1,000-plus species of fish and 500 crustaceans. You’ll also find a variety of shark species, whales, and sea turtles.
QSL Cards
The active hams at DX Engineering have had great success contacting Réunion over the years (a good reason to contact them for help with your gear if you’d like to do the same). Here are a few of the QSL cards from their collections.
Scotty, KG9Z, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, earned this card from FR7ZD back in April 1984.
(Image/DX Engineering)
Wayne, K8FF, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, provided us with this card from the TO3R November 2008 Réunion DXpedition.
(Image/DX Engineering)
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, produced three Réunion QSL cards from his collection: FR5DZ (December 2010, 20M SSB), FR5FC (October 2010, 20M SSB), and FR/DL1YAF (October 2012, 17M SSB).
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, reached FR/DJ7RJ in October 2013. This spectacular card displays the shield volcano known as Piton de la Fournaise—one of the world’s most active volcanos and a major tourist attraction. Located on Réunion’s eastern side, Piton de la Fournaise, known to islanders simply as “le volcan” (The Volcano), last erupted from July to August 2023, per The Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism website.
“More than 150 eruptions, a majority of which have consisted of basaltic lava flows, were recorded since the 17th century,” the website noted. The volcano lies within Réunion National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which covers 40% of the island. The dormant volcano Piton des Neiges marks the island’s highest point at 10,070 feet above sea level.
(Image/DX Engineering)(Image/DX Engineering)
Geography Question of the Day
While Réunion has a single World Heritage Site (France has 53 total), can you name the top three countries based on number of these sites? Read much more about Réunion’s “pitons, cirques, and remparts” at the World Heritage Convention website.
Scott, N3RA, DX Engineering sales manager, made contact with FR5CB on FT8 in November 2019.
(Image/DX Engineering)
I’ll take “World Heritage Sites” for $1,000, Ken.
Can you name the top three countries based on number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites? As of July 2024, here’s the answer:
Italy, 60
China, 59
Germany, 54
The United States has 26 such sites, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Independence Hall, and Redwood National and State Parks. The only World Heritage Site in Ohio (home of DX Engineering) is the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which was named the 25th U.S. World Heritage Site in 2023.
Editor’s Note: Every month, DX Engineering features QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. To highlight upcoming DXpeditions, we’ll be displaying a few of our favorite cards along with details about what it took to make these contacts. We’re excited to share some of the special cards pulled from the thousands we’ve received over the years. We look forward to seeing your cards as well!
Feeling left out? It’s a fact that most contests take place on the HF bands, but even as a Technician you can participate.
For starters, you only need your Technician license and a VHF and/or UHF FM handi-talkie—two things you already have. An HF transceiver covering 80-6 meters will give you even more opportunities
Contesting on the VHF/UHF Bands
The problem with the VHF bands is that they are often underutilized. But you can be sure someone will be on the air during a VHF contest weekend. Events like these increase activity and bring people out of the woodwork. A VHF contest is more like a friendly reunion of VHF enthusiasts—some you’ll know, others you’ll get to know.
If you only have FM gear, you will be at somewhat of a disadvantage. But you may still be able to work a bunch of stations. Hams have actually won their state in the ARRL VHF/UHF contest FM category with an HT and a good antenna. There are many more operators, with basic setups, that have fun and use the experience to become better operators.
In 2016, the ARRL contests allowed the use of the 2M FM calling frequency, 146.52 MHz. Note that the CQ Worldwide VHF Contest prohibits the use of 146.52 MHz. If the calling frequency gets busy, move off to any of the other standard simplex frequencies. The FM calling frequencies for the other VHF/UHF bands are 52.525 MHz and 446.000 MHz.
Perhaps you have one of those HF rigs that also does VHF, such as the ICOM IC-705, IC-706, Yaesu FT-818, FT-857, FT-991A, or FT-100D (otherwise known as a “shack in the box”). Most of the operation will be on 6 meters and 2 meters (mostly on the SSB portion of the band), with less activity on higher bands. Standard SSB calling frequencies are 50.125 MHz and 144.200 MHz.
In recent years, FT8 has been used extensively during VHF contests, mostly on 6 meters. This requires a bit more setup and configuration than operating voice, but the weak signal performance of FT8 is worth the effort. If you have experience with FT8, you should try it out on the 6M band during a contest. You may also encounter some FT4 activity as well.
Worldwide DX is not very common. But with good conditions, stations hundreds of miles away can be worked via tropospheric ducting, E-skip, and perhaps even meteor scatter. But weird things do happen. During 6-meter openings, multiple-hop sporadic E propagation has produced contact distances of up to 6,200 miles. Witnessing such an event is fascinating and mind-boggling, not to mention the adrenaline rush.
Get in the car and drive to increase your effective range. A rover is a mobile station that travels during a contest to activate locations, usually grid squares, during a contest. Rover stations are common in VHF contests, and often involve setups that can activate multiple bands from high places. Remember that VHF/UHF are usually line-of-sight modes, so you’ll want to go for high elevations with the fewest obstacles between you and your intended contacts. Mobile stations must indicate each location they are operating from on their log sheets.
Whether you’re roving or at home, most SSB/CW/Digi operation on VHF uses horizontal antenna polarization. A Yagi or dipole antenna with radiating elements parallel to the ground produces a horizontally polarized signal.
Technician Privileges on the HF Bands
Many hams forget that Technicians have HF privileges on CW. As the solar cycle reaches its peak, you’re likely to find more and more opportunities for nationwide and DX contacts on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters. There’s a lot of activity on those bands, especially during domestic contests like the ARRL November Sweepstakes or the North American QSO Party.
Not a CW fan? You can operate SSB on 28.300-28.500, and other modes like digital, on this large chunk of ham real estate. With the peak of the solar cycle just ahead, this is an excellent time to explore the band. It’s primarily active from daytime to dusk.
Another way to participate is to be one of the operators in a multi-operator setup. As long as one of the operators with a General Class or Extra Class license acts as the control operator, you can operate in those portions of the bands where you don’t have privileges. Field Day can also allow you to try the HF bands. One local club uses State QSO Parties several times a year as an on-the-air practice at its club station.
These events are open to U.S. amateurs of all license classes and are a great way for Technician Class hams to compete in contests.
Contests
Here’s a small sampling of contests available on bands which Techs have privileges.
VHF/UHF Events for Technicians
VHF/UHF contests are often held during the summer and fall when propagation is best, but you’ll find some during other seasons as well.
EOTA (Everyone On The Air) is sponsored by the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Amateur Radio Club. Held in September (it’s over for this year), EOTA is a local mini-version of POTA (Parks On The Air). Bands and modes—FM: 2M, 70cm, 6M; SSB: 6M and 10M. Look for local clubs that are sponsoring similar Tech-friendly events in your area.
ARRL September VHF Contest is held the second full weekend in September. All amateur frequencies and modes above 50 MHz may be used.
The ARRL January VHF Contest is held the third or fourth full weekend in January, as announced (January 18-20, 2025), for U.S. and Canadian stations.
The CQ World Wide VHF Contest is held the third weekend of July. It promotes VHF activity on the 6- and 2-meter bands, and participants come from many countries around the world.
Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge, held in March, is a ham radio contest primarily designed to give 2-meter operators a chance to compete on an even basis and have fun doing it.
Central States VHF Society Spring Sprintsare held in April and May. They’re band-specific with separate days/times for 50 MHz, 144 MHz, 222 MHz, 432 MHz, and Microwave.
HF Events for Technicians
HF contests, especially QSO parties, are a good training ground for general operation and Field Day. Remember, you have privileges on the following:
80, 40, 15 meters – CW only
6 meters – SSB/CW/Digital/AM/FM
10 meters – SSB/CW/Digital/RTTY
North American QSO Parties are favorites of beginners and seasoned operators alike. The NAQPs are low-power only (100W or less), giving everyone less interference on the bands. CW is the second full weekend of January and the first full weekend of August. SSB is the third full weekend of January and the third full weekend of August.
ARRL November Sweepstakesinvolvesstations in the United States and Canada (including territories and possessions) exchanging information with as many other U.S. and Canadian stations as possible on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10M bands.
CW: First full weekend in November (November 2-4, 2024)
Phone: Third full weekend in November (November 16-18, 2024)
State/Province QSO Parties can be a good way for new participants to get involved in the hobby. They can also be a break from the longer, more intense major contests. WA7BNMprovides a comprehensive list with dates, times, and information links.
ARRL 10-Meter Contest: With the contest going, you should hear lots of stations from late morning until about sundown. CW and Phone are the second full weekend of December (December 14-15, 2024).
ARRL Field Dayis the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the U.S. and Canada. On the last full weekend in June, more than 35,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups, or friends to operate remotely. Is it a contest, PR event, or emergency exercise? You can make a case for all three.
It Isn’t All About Winning
It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s about getting involved. You may never win the top place in a contest, but you’ll enjoy the competition, the camaraderie, and the experience you’ll gain as an amateur radio operator. Give it a try. A reference, ARRL’s Amateur Radio Contesting for Beginners, can help you on your way.
One of our favorite pursuits at OnAllBands is discovering ham radio and Morse code references that have found their way into television, movies, books, and music—everything from Paul McCartney’s inspiration for the song “Morse Moose and the Grey Goose” to the plaintive transmission at the end of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” broadcast. We’re pleased to report, despite multiple posts on the subject, that the tank isn’t dry when it comes to our favorite hobby and popular culture. Here’s the latest we’ve found:
0DFx
Also known as Zero Defex, this Akron, Ohio, hardcore punk band used the very first Morse code transmission, “What hath God wrought?” in their song “Target Earth.”
The message—sent May 24, 1844 by Samuel F. B. Morse in Washington, D.C. to Alfred Vail forty miles away in Baltimore—can be heard at the beginning and ending of the 58-second scorcher. The biblical quote (Numbers 23:23) was handed to Morse by Annie Ellsworth, the daughter of a close friend, who had written down the line as suggested by her mother.
John M. Harris wrote on the Tippecanoe County Historical Association blog, “Quickly Morse sent the words using the dot and dash code which bears his name. It was received in Baltimore and repeated back. As the words were decoded in Washington, the room erupted with cheers.”
We reached out to 0DFX drummer Mickey Hurray about why the band chose this seminal moment in communications history for their song:
“We included the first telegraph message in our song ‘Target Earth’ because Morse code was essentially the seed to the advent of whole Earth mass communication. As the seed blossoms the answer to that question (What hath God wrought?) is revealing itself globally every day. Stand by for the exciting conclusion.”
“Thunderstruck”
Erik Larson, master of page-turning nonfiction, followed up his gruesomely captivating 2003 book “The Devil in the White City” with the story of Guglielmo Marconi’s development of wireless juxtaposed against the saga of one of Britain’s most infamous criminals—Hawley Harvey Crippen.
Marconi’s and Crippen’s stories run parallel in the book, finally merging to reveal how Marconi’s work played a role in the chase to apprehend the unlikely villain, who had done away with his wife and fled. In interviews, Larson has called the two stories “an amazing confluence of invention and murder.” Amateurs will certainly enjoy the technical details in the Marconi chapters.
“Thunderstruck” comes highly recommended by my lovely YL, who, like Scotland Yard from the story, is in hot pursuit of something that takes dogged effort to achieve—in her case, a Technician license.
“NCIS“
Premiering September 2003, “NCIS” is still going strong. In April, the military police procedural and CBS high-ratings staple was renewed for its 22nd season. With more than 460 episodes under its well-armored belt, you would think that Morse code and ham radio may have been written into a script or two. And you would be correct!
However, as we’ve mentioned in this column before, sometimes ham radio and Hollywood can offer up a mixed bag.
In the “NCIS” episode 6 “Trapped” from Season 15, an investigation into a murder on a golf course leads senior field agent Timothy McGee and special agent Nicholas Torres to discover a ham radio setup in the victim’s home. On the good end of the spectrum, the episode includes mentions of the value of ham radio in emergencies—the “if all else fails, ham radio is there” scenario that has saved countless lives. For some viewers—many of them longtime fans of “NCIS”—that’s where the “good” ended.
While ham radio is used to solve the murder, many operators were not pleased at all the things the show got wrong.
The general sentiment: If you’re going to focus an entire episode on a service that’s been around since the early 1900s, take a few hours and do your research. Objections included the stereotyped portrayal of hams as socially awkward loners, display of a “data only” band on the Yaesu rig used in the episode, the operator’s powerful HF setup being only able to reach “80 square miles,” and, most egregious to many, a not-even-close-to-correct callsign that included a “handle.”
You can find the episode on YouTube and judge for yourself. Next time we’ll look at “NCIS” and how the show handled Morse code.
No matter what kind of operating you do, sooner or later you’ll need a “gadget” that isn’t readily available commercially.
Maybe you’ll need a special switch or an interface between connector types or to a radio accessory port. After making one or two of these, you might develop a taste for homebrewing of the electronics variety! Many hams started small and wound up making equipment that rivals professional quality.
One thing you’ll learn quickly, though, is that nice-looking metal enclosures are surprisingly expensive. Even small boxes can cost as much as the electronics inside them.
To keep the cost of building reasonable, I’ve learned to make use of less-expensive materials to make my own, particularly when building something for the first time or just trying out an idea. Low-cost materials encourage prototyping and trying out alternatives—you can then use the money saved on a better enclosure for the final version. Or you might find the inexpensive alternative to be a fine permanent solution.
Here are some tips and tricks that have served me well.
Basic Boxes
One of your most useful discoveries will be that specialty products sold for electronics are often quite a bit more expensive than a very similar product made and sold as consumer and commodity products.
This is true for more than just metal boxes!
If you can use something made and sold by the zillion, you’ll save a lot of money, especially if you are willing to accept a different shape or can modify a commercial product. For example, electric fence insulators and PVC pipe, or conduit fittings, are much cheaper than ceramic insulators!
My favorite source of project enclosures is products made for electrical wiring parts, especially the junction and switch boxes. You can see several examples in the photos below. The boxes are sturdy and cheap, and they are galvanized or plated. They make good shields since they are metal, which is extra important in the ham station where RF is present everywhere.
This photo is a great example in which I used an electrical box to make a message control box for a voice keyer. The box is a single-gang, four-inch-long, 2-1/8-inch-deep, new work utility box. (“New work” means that it’s intended for new construction.) The top is a blank cover that I drilled out for four pushbutton switches. A 3/8-inch conduit clamp secures the shielded multi-conductor cable. Total cost of all the metal parts was less than $5. (Image/Ward Silver, NØAX)
Most of these boxes have convenient holes for grounding and bonding connections. The boxes are inexpensive so if you make a mistake or decide to change a layout, you can start over very easily and cheaply. Ganged boxes can be joined together to make larger boxes. There are quite a variety of these metallic boxes available online or in the electrical section of your local hardware stores.
Electrical boxes have round “knockouts” for attaching conduit and cable clamps. There are three common sizes specified as “trade sizes” of 1/2, 3/4, and 1 inch. They mount in the body of the box with a small tab. Push on the knockout with a screwdriver to bend the tab, then flex it back and forth to break the knockout free. Threaded conduit clamps mount in the resulting hole. There are a large number of clamps and parts that mount in knockouts for different purposes.
Rubber grommets are available to avoid chafing a cable.
The conduit clamp is threaded and mounts on the box with a large nut similar to a toothed lockwasher. Tighten it by tapping on the nut’s serrations with a screwdriver while holding the clamp with pliers. The clamp is flat-sided to capture electrical cable and is tightened with screws. The clamp will also capture the flat side that is present on most threaded RF connectors.
Smaller connectors, such as phono or phone plugs, will probably require a drilled hole or you can enlarge a pre-drilled hole. Another option is to use a pair of large flat washers to both fill the hole and hold a threaded connector.
If you are running coax or other shielded cable through the clamp, create a pigtail from the shield braid or wire that is long enough to wrap around one of the clamp screws. This allows you to make a good connection to the metal box.
Another nice thing about electrical boxes is that they are heavier than a similarly-sized aluminum or plastic box. This helps keep them in place when cables are attached or if controls or switches mounted on them are used frequently. Rubber or plastic stick-on feet work as well on steel as on aluminum, but be sure to clean the surface first since there may be some lubricating residue left from the manufacturing process.
This photo shows a four-inch square box used to switch DC control signals to a receiving antenna controller. (Image/Ward Silver, NØAX)Here’s my latest project, a preamp for Beverage antennas mounted in a four-inch box. The PCB is mounted on the enclosure’s cover. Switches fit in pre-drilled holes that were enlarged with a drill. In this photo, you can see the dual-size knockouts that accommodate two sizes of conduit clamps. (Image/Ward Silver, NØAX)
Noise Pickup
A caveat about using plastic enclosures—unshielded enclosures for RF projects can allow common-mode noise to get into feed lines. (Noise refers to any unwanted signal picked up on the outside of the shield.) Noise currents flow to the end of shield on the outside and then enter the cable as a differential-mode signal.
If you can’t shield the enclosure, consider feed line chokes from ferrite cores on the cables to block the noise currents.
Surplus and Used Enclosures
An often-overlooked source of project materials is surplus, overstock, or used equipment. Popular online auction websites are a good place to find enclosures and other materials. Local sources include Craigslist and free “buy nothing” sites organized by location. You will also be able to find “service pulls,” which are equipment and devices designated as past their service life. You may have to buy several to get the best price, so share the savings with friends!
Along with hamfests, flea markets, and garage sales often include electronic gear that can be stripped for parts and hardware, with the enclosure left to be reused. Equipment cabinets for outdoor use, like the fiberglass box I bought surplus, are usually weatherproof, too.
I reused this surplus fiberglass enclosure to hold an L-network to match my tower’s base impedance on 80 meters. I used a plastic cutting board to mount the vacuum variable capacitor. Another such enclosure in the background holds a remote coax switch and lightning protection components. The yogurt cup holds mothballs to discourage critters from trying to nest inside! (Image/Ward Silver, NØAX)
Data and cable TV service boxes are widely available as surplus and usually have a basic weather-resistant cable entry. They are mostly plastic and unshielded but make good protective enclosures for cable connections and smaller devices.
The photo below shows such an enclosure used to hold a control circuit for switching a pair of receiving loops. Feed lines come in through the foam inserts at the bottom.
(Image/Ward Silver, NØAX)
Obsolete instruments and equipment are usually constructed with solid, high-quality cabinets that cost a lot new. Panels and other metal parts can be cleaned in the dishwasher. Disassembling this type of equipment is an education in how electronic devices are assembled and provides a lot of useful hardware.
Taking this stuff apart is a great project for beginning electronics and ham radio hobbyists to build expertise (and a junk box)!
Holes in used enclosures can be filled with metal “hole plugs” that snap in place. Large holes can be covered with a piece of unetched PC board material or scrap sheet metal to maintain shielding. Older outdoor enclosures, particularly fiberglass or plastic, should be painted with automotive primer to protect and seal the surface.
Food and Novelty Containers
A popular activity in the QRP community is to build gadgets in the snap-together tins that hold Altoid mints. After all, they say, if the mints themselves were “curiously strong,” then why not the signal from a transmitter built in the same container?
There are even prototyping kits based on the tins such as this product from QRPme.com.
(Image/Ward Silver, NØAX)
Don’t expect heavy-duty use from these lightweight, nearly disposable items. They are often painted and need to be scraped or sanded to bare metal around connectors and any overlap joints you expect to act as shielding. There are a variety of sizes from postage stamp-sized to large cookie and chip tins. The metal is quite thin, so drill with caution or use a punch to avoid tearing the metal. People have come up with all kinds of projects for candy tins, such as this Instructables collection.
Not only candy tins are pressed into ham service. Even tuna fish cans get into the act, like the legendary “Tuna-Tin 2” 40 meter transmitter. You can read all about this Doug DeMaw, W1CER, creation from 1976 at DIYRadio. Cans make great sub-enclosures in larger projects, too.
Finally, hobby, outdoor, and craft stores sell a wide variety of containers and boxes that can be used for electronics. Metal toolboxes make very nice enclosures for electronics, particularly portable or mobile radios, and can even serve as a ground plane for a mag-mount whip! They are often lockable as a bonus. Larger coolers can carry an entire station, may have wheels, and are almost always water-resistant.
My VHF/UHF emergency communications station in the photo below was built in one such cooler. Watch for seasonal sales at the start of camping, fishing, hunting, and boating seasons.
(Image/Ward Silver, NØAX)
Although they aren’t often used for projects, tackle boxes, compartmented trays, and storage boxes come in very handy.
These can be used to keep connectors, parts, and hardware organized and ready for action in the field. I save my chewing gum and peanut butter jars to make great hardware kits, even including a crimping tool with the terminals so everything is kept together and sorted.
I hope this article gives you the idea that useful materials are all around—not only for enclosures, but for hardware and accessories, too. Using inexpensive materials lowers the “barrier to entry” for building your own gear and will make you a more capable and flexible homebrewer.
Editor’s note: For those less inclined to homebrew enclosures, you’ll find the DX Engineering Utility Enclosure Kit at DXEngineering.com. Check out this article on ways customers have put the DXE-UE-2P Utility Enclosure to work around their stations.
Last month we featured a video of Richard Desaulniers, Sr., VE2DX, displaying some of the new VE2DX Electronics products that would be coming soon to DX Engineering. Today, we’re pleased to announce that some of those items are now available at DXEngineering.com, with more items on the way. Here are a few highlights:
The VE2DX LED “On Air” Acrylic Sign enhances the look and feel of your shack and will let everyone know when you are operating.
When powered, the sign displays the “On Air” text in red. It remains transparent when not illuminated.
The sign is operated with a user-supplied 12VDC power source. Additionally, you can enable automatic activation and turn on the sign during TX by integrating a dry contact relay controlled by your transceiver (not included).
These TrueCI-V data hubs connect Xiegu and Icom transceivers to multiple CI-V devices that need to be simultaneously served the interfaced transceiver’s CI-V data stream.
They feature TrueTTL/TrueCI-V technology—a combination of advanced RFI filtering on all ports, signals, power sources and grounds, with an auto-leveling design that ensures the output signals on all five ports remain at maximum TTL levels.
These five-port CI-V hubs feature USB-C power, CI-V status LEDs, and magnets under the enclosure to aid with installation. They support many types of station devices including frequency-based decoders, smart antenna switch controllers, amplifiers, tuners, band pass filters, and more.
These hubs interface to all Xiegu HF transceivers, which utilize the Icom CI-V protocol, with a 3.5mm mono audio jack (X5105), 3.5mm TRSS multifunction jack (X6100), or a MiniDin connector for the G90 and G106. These hubs will also work with Icom remote port transceivers from the legacy IC-735 to the newer IC-7300 and IC-9700 using a simple 3.5mm patch cable. Choose from these options:
CT17B-5X Version 2: Transceiver Interface Data Hub, TrueCI-V Icom/Xiegu CI-V Remote, Five Ports, RFI Filtered, Works on all Icom CI-V 3.5mm, 5VDC USB-C
(Image/DX Engineering)
CT17B-6XUSB Version 2: Transceiver USB Interface Data Hub Plus Five Ports TrueCI-V, Icom/Xiegu CI-V to USB PC, RFI Filtered, 5VDC USB-C
CT17B-5X: Transceiver Interface Data Hub, 5 Standard Icom/Xiegu CI-V Remote, Five CI-V Ports, RFI Filtered, Works on all Icom CI-V 3.5mm, Passive
Bluetooth Icom/Xiegu Five-Port TrueCI-V Data Hub models feature CI-V over Bluetooth and a five-port hub that connects the interfaced transceiver’s CI-V data stream to multiple accessories simultaneously. Bluetooth models are also the perfect electronic remedy for the missing physical CI-V port on the Icom IC-705. These Bluetooth devices pair with the IC-705 to send data to their five TrueCI-V ports. Alternatively, these interfaces can use CI-V over Bluetooth to pair with the computer to isolate it from the RF side of any Icom station. Choose from these new Bluetooth options:
CT17B-6XBT Version 2: Transceiver Bluetooth Interface Data Hub, Plus Five Ports TrueCI-V, Isolated Icom/Xiegu CI-V to PC via Bluetooth, RFI Filtered, 5VDC USB-C
CT17B-7XDM Version 2: Transceiver Bluetooth and USB Icom/Xiegu Data Hub, Plus Five Ports TrueCI-V Isolated Icom CI-V to PC via Bluetooth, RFI Filtered, 5VDC USB-C
Most new hams start with an HT (handie-talkie) radio. They’re very affordable, portable, and will get you on the air quickly. No one has to think about batteries and chargers—they’re almost always included. The only real decision is whether you want to buy a spare battery.
Going mobile doesn’t take a lot of thought either. You find a place for the radio and remote head, then follow your car manufacturer’s recommendation for power connections. Technically the battery isn’t free, but you already have it.
However, when it comes to field operations like POTA, SOTA, and all the other OTAs, you should consider several factors before investing in a portable battery system. Things like weight, size, durability, and capacity become important considerations.
Understanding LiFePO4 & Other Portable Battery Types
Power for portable operations can come from various sources, like generators, solar, wind, and batteries (the primary choice of portable operators). Lithium-ion (Li-Ion), sealed lead acid (SLA), gel cell, and absorbent glass mat (AGM) are among those available.
However, the most efficient battery choice is a member of the lithium-ion family, LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate).
LiFePO4 is superior to other lithium-ion batteries for a couple of reasons. Number one is safety. The LiFePO4 chemistry has better thermal stability than lithium-ion. It will remain cool at room temperature while charging, while Li-Ion heats up faster and may potentially suffer from thermal runaway. LiFePo4 battery systems also contain built-in battery protection modules to address concerns like overvoltage and balancing. You probably remember stories about hoverboards whose lithium-ion battery packs began overheating, which led to sparking, catching fire, or melting.
The voltage supplied by a LiFePO4 is a good match for today’s radios.
Each fully charged cell produces 3.6V. With four cells in series (4S), a typical LiFePO4 battery pack comes in at 14.4V. The nominal voltage is 3.3V per cell, making the working voltage about 13.2V—an excellent choice for a typical 100W transceiver.
Li-Ion/LiFePO4 batteries maintain a flat voltage curve compared to sealed lead acid or absorbent glass mat batteries, which start dropping voltage right from the beginning. SLA or AGM runtimes will be considerably shorter than a comparable Li-Ion or LiFePO4 battery.
Though people still buy lead-acid batteries because of their low prices, LiFePO4 is a better bargain in the long run. When you consider the lifespan of each type of battery, the LiFePO4 will last more than 12X longer, yet only costs 3-4 times the price. Lithium batteries will also hold a resting charge much longer—LiFePO4 is typically rated at 5% discharge per month.
Each one of these battery types has its pros and cons, and you can find in-depth discussions online about the nuances of each battery chemistry. However, what matters is which best suits your particular application and provides your gear with the appropriate voltage and operating time. If you’re looking for a simple and effective portable battery solution almost custom-designed to power radio gear, invest in a LiFePo4 battery and charger.
Which Battery Works Best for Ham Radio?
Everyone is looking for maximum operation time in the smallest package. SLA, gel cell, and AGM batteries will do the job but have drawbacks for portable operation, especially with weight and available power.
I suggest that those new to these battery packs look for something that is safe, hassle-free, and performs well. The battery management system built into the lithium batteries avoids the “oops” factor—it won’t let you draw more than their rated capacity.
For that reason, the lithium-ion battery—specifically a LiFePO4—is a no-brainer, especially the Bioenno Power line.
(Image/DX Engineering)
For example, Bioenno Power’s BLF-1220A LiFePO4 Battery is ideal for stationary applications requiring a higher capacity and greater power output.
The integrated PCM (Protection Circuit Module) provides complete internal cell balancing and management, protection from overcurrent, undervoltage (over-discharge), overvoltage, and short-circuiting, as well as integrated charging circuitry. As shown above, the BLF-1220A can also be purchased as a combo with a 14.6 VDC charger.
It’s easy to find various lithium-ion batteries online with a casual search. The problem is that you can quickly become overwhelmed by all the choices. I consulted with several hams who have experience with portable operation and got some excellent advice.
QRP operation (10W or less, CW/SSB): A good starting point is a 6 Ah LiFePO4. It’s relatively small and will keep you going most of the day. If you intend to add digital, consider 10-12Ah instead.
100W operation: Sometimes you need an extra boost, especially in crowded bands or with marginal propagation. About a year ago, a friend suggested I purchase a 20 Ah LiFePO4 and use it during the Ohio State Parks on the Air event. It was used for at least five hours on sideband, with power to spare. I prefer a battery capacity that meets my needs so I don’t have to worry about recharging in the field.
When you buy, be sure you have the proper charger for LiFePO4 batteries. Some come in battery/charger combos like the above example. SLA chargers are NOT compatible and may damage a LiFePO4 battery. Whatever you do, don’t compromise on your battery and charging system.
Useful Info
The following will help you get a better understanding of your battery needs and help you narrow the options.
How Much Power Am I Really Using? Weighted Average Calculation
Your radio doesn’t demand a consistent amount of power; rather, it varies according to the transmit time, receive, and transmit modes used. According to the Yaesu FT-891 mobile transceiver manual, the receive takes about 2W while the transmit may take as much as 23W. Sideband will draw less power than a continuous mode like FT-8 or RTTY.
Weighted averages will give you a better picture of power consumption.
Weighted Average Formula:
(x) * (power 1) + (1-x) (power 2)
Example
20% of time transmit at 100W
80% of time receive at 2W
0.20*100 + 0.82*2= 21.6
11 hours of run time on 20 Ah LiFeP04 ([12v x 20 Ah]/21.6)
Don’t forget to account for accessories such as portable tuners.
Live Testing
Inline DC Power Analyzers and wattmeters allow you to measure and monitor the DC power consumption of your portable equipment. These DC power meters read voltage, current, watts, amp/hours, and watt/hours. They’re connected between the power supply and radio to help you monitor power consumption.
You can also utilize these as part of your portable OTA gear, which gives you real-time information about your battery’s state while operating.
E-Z Match
Bioenno mobile transceiver compatibility guides cover the most popular radios. They are available on the DX Engineering website at the links below.
This is the second installment of a two-part article about RF when you are operating “in the field,” meaning away from a fixed station.
For example, when you are operating a portable station for Parks On The Air (POTA), that’s considered “in the field” whether you are in an actual field or a parking lot or not even outside. Field Day certainly qualifies in most cases. In both parts of this article, the RF from your transmitted signal is what we’re concerned with.
Mechanical Concerns
We can start with some non-RF considerations that are certainly related to antennas, but not the radiated RF.
Most antennas used in the field are either ground-mounted or lower in height than at a fixed station. This, combined with the likelihood of their being in a public space, presents a variety of hazards to passers-by and other visitors. Your goal is to keep people from walking into, tripping over, touching, or otherwise getting too close to the antennas and feed lines.
The photo below shows a typical portable station with a table, tarp, and temporary antenna about 20 feet away in the background.
Carl, AE0CJ, and I operated from the grounds of Missouri’s first capitol to celebrate the state’s bicentennial. Note that the tripod-mounted antenna takes advantage of the property fence to help keep other visitors from getting too close. Below is another photo of the antenna. (Image/Ward Silver, NØAX)(Image/Ward Silver, NØAX)
You can see the yellow rope placed around the antenna as a warning not to get too close. Plastic fence posts were used to hold the rope. Yellow caution tape is inexpensive and even more visible. Remember that many parks prohibit sticking anything in the ground, even for safety. In such cases, orange traffic cones are a good compromise.
Feed lines and power cords present a tripping hazard to both visitors and operators. If allowed, a stake in the ground next to the cables with a bit of yellow caution tape marks their location and can secure the cables. I always tie or secure the cables to a table leg so that if something does happen, the equipment is not dragged off onto the ground. (Don’t ask me how I learned to do this…)
Finally, don’t install your antenna where it can come in contact with vegetation. The end of an antenna element can present fairly high RF voltages, even at 100 watts output. This is enough to heat up leaves to the point where they will catch fire or at least smolder. Starting a fire is a definite no-no! (Don’t ask me how I learned this, either…)
Choose Your Words Carefully
Before we go any further, I need to remind you that the word “radiation” when referring to our transmitted RF may be accurate, but it is not a word the public or facility staff are comfortable with. I am careful to keep things simple and speak of “radio signals” instead of “field strength” or “radiation.” If someone asks about risks, you could truthfully tell them they might get a slight shock if they touch the antenna while you are transmitting. (If you are using an amplifier, it might be harsher than “slight,” so consider the possibilities.) Then explain that is why you have taken steps to prevent anyone from accidentally coming in contact with the antenna.
This is also a reminder to read or re-read the paragraph on preventing RF burns in the first part of this article, “RF Management—In the Field.”
RF Field Strength
The primary concern of this article is the high RF field strength near an antenna. FCC rules require us to evaluate the RF exposure from our fixed station antennas. Portable stations don’t require the same level of scrutiny, but you can use the same methods to determine whether your portable antennas might present a hazard to you or the public with respect to the Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE).
Uncontrolled vs. Controlled
The allowed exposure levels are different for two kinds of environments—controlled (or operational) and uncontrolled (or general public). For a fixed station at our home, for example, the antennas are on private property and access to them is limited by property boundaries, fences, etc. This implies that anyone in the vicinity of the antenna either knows it is present or is there with your permission and supervision.
This is a controlled environment, and the MPE levels are higher because it is assumed the person can either take steps to stay away from the antenna or avoid being close to the antenna when the station is transmitting.
Uncontrolled environments are different and assume someone near the antenna is not aware of what it is or that it is present. They may approach the antenna at any time and are not assumed to be under your supervision, nor can they manage their own exposure.
For example, a vehicle-mounted antenna on your car in a parking lot can be approached by anyone in the lot. This is why the MPE levels are lower for uncontrolled environments. It’s safest that you assume these limits apply when considering how to construct and use your station.
High-Q Antennas
Another factor to consider is how your antenna radiates a signal and whether the RF field strength near the antenna will be particularly strong. The antenna’s ratio of stored energy to radiated energy is a measure of the antenna’s Q. Q is also known as quality factor, and for components, measures the ratio of reactance which stores energy to resistance which dissipates energy.
Antennas that store a lot of energy in the near field (within a wavelength or two of the signal frequency) can build up a surprisingly high field strength for any given power. These are known as high-Q antennas.
A high-Q antenna usually has a very low radiation resistance, which represents the antenna’s ability to radiate power into its far field, which is what launches our signals. The low radiation resistance means the antenna has to store a lot of energy for our transmitter output power to be turned into radiated signal (or heating in antenna system losses).
Imagine our antenna as a balloon being inflated by a compressor that delivers a continuous flow of air—this is our transmitter. The antenna’s radiation resistance is represented by a hole in the balloon through which air leaks out to the outside world (i.e., our transmitted signal). The balloon inflates until the amount of air leaking through hole balances the compressor’s output. The smaller the hole (the lower the radiation resistance), the higher the pressure in the balloon must be (the near field strength) for the leaking air to equal the incoming air.
The relationship between stored energy and radiated power and Q is clearly presented in a February 2013 QST article, “Q and the Energy Stored Around Antennas,” by Kai Siwiak, KE4PT. In the article, he describes and illustrates these important relationships and gives examples for real-world antennas.
For example, dipole antennas have a Q ranging from around 7 to 20, while small HF transmitting loops (a.k.a., a “magnetic” loop) can have a Q as high as 1,000. Antennas that are physically small compared to the transmitted signal wavelength generally have low radiation resistances and are high-Q.
You can tell if you have a high-Q antenna if the SWR bandwidth of the antenna is low compared to a full-size antenna. Along with the small loops, this includes popular antennas like loaded whips that are often mounted near the ground.
Tune the antenna for an SWR of 1:1 at the operating frequency. Then find the two frequencies at which SWR increases to 2.6, FU and FL. Divide the square root of FU x FL by the SWR bandwidth, FU – FL, and that will give you Q.
For example, if SWR equals 2.6 at 14.275 and 14.295 MHz, Q = 714. That’s a high-Q antenna!
Bear in mind that losses in the feed line will make SWR look a little better at the meter than it is at the antenna terminals, so the actual SWR bandwidth is smaller and Q is higher.
How Safe is Safe?
Like most questions about antenna systems, the answer always seems to begin with “It depends…” So do answers about minimum safe distances for transmitting antennas.
The answer depends on operating frequency, antenna Q, and transmitter output power. Since every portable setup is a little (or a lot) different, you can’t be modeling or making complex calculations all the time.
To help amateurs deal with this complexity, the ARRL provides an online RF exposure calculator.
The following is a calculation for a 100-watt, 14 MHz station using unprocessed SSB with a 20% operating duty cycle and a ground-plane antenna with 1 dBi of gain.
(Image/ARRL.com)(Image/ARRL.com)
Note that it’s safe to get pretty close to the antenna. However, if I turn on speech processing or operate more aggressively, such as during a contest or POTA activation, the minimum distance will increase. Similarly, using a mode like FT8, which has a 50% duty cycle of full power on periods, will increase minimum distances still further.
This short table is an excerpt from Table 5.7 of RF Exposure and You (see this article’s conclusion for how to obtain that book) that provides typical gains for some popular portable antennas. For a vertical dipole or end-fed half-wave antenna, use the half-wavelength dipole gain. For a “hex” beam, use the two-element Yagi gain. Loaded whips are less efficient than a full-size vertical, so that antenna’s safe distances are a conservative estimate for the whip.
Typical Antenna Gains in Free Space (dBi)
Quarter-wave ground plane – 1.0
Half-wavelength dipole – 2.15
2-element Yagi – 6.0
For the special case of a small HF transmitting loop, the minimum distances are larger, due to the higher stored energy of this very high-Q antenna. Siwiak calculates these minimum safe distances in his May 2017 QST Technical Correspondence item, “RF Exposure Compliance Distances for Transmitting Loops, and Transmitting Loop Current.”
From that article, for a one-meter-diameter loop with five watts of continuous transmit power on the 40–10 meter bands, the minimum safe distance for the uncontrolled environment is 1.7 meters (5.6 feet). This increases to 2.1 meters (6.9 feet) at 10 watts output power. Table 17 from the FCC OET Bulletin 65B shows the safe uncontrolled distances for 150 watts increasing from 2.8 meters (9.2 feet) on the 40 meter band to 4.2 meters (13.8 feet) on 10 meters.
Using an amplifier, such as for a special event or contest, with a small loop increases the minimum distances on 40 through 10 meters to 17.4 feet to 42.4 feet, respectively. (A two-meter-diameter loop on 80 meters requires 21.6 feet of separation at full power.)
See Siwiak’s March 2012 QST Technical Correspondence article, “An Antenna Idea for Antenna-Restricted Communities” for more information.
Please Think About RF Safety
It’s easy to overlook these concerns in the “heat of battle” when you are just trying to get a station put together and on the air. Hopefully, this article will encourage you to consider antenna placement in the field. I see far too many pictures of portable setups where the antenna is a few feet away from a 100-watt transceiver. There are even photos of “mag loops” sitting right on a picnic table next to the operator! Don’t do that.
You can learn a lot more on the ARRL’s RF Exposure website. The excellent text reference RF Exposure and You by the ARRL’s Ed Hare, W1RFI, is downloadable at no cost as a PDF book. It has many helpful tables and examples.
I don’t think RF exposure is something we should be afraid of, but neither should we be careless in how we treat it.
There are a lot of exciting things happening on the DX Engineering Facebook page and DX Engineering YouTube channel. Make sure to check in from time to time for product reviews, ham radio news, overviews of the latest equipment, and interviews put together by DX Engineering for the benefit of the ham radio community.
One of the most popular shows is the Manufacturer’s Showcase hosted by Tim Duffy, K3LR, CEO of DX Engineering. Tim has interviewed dozens of representatives from the manufacturers whose products you’ll find available at DXEngineering.com. You can listen to these insightful interviews live and send questions in real-time Thursdays at 2:30 pm ET or visit YouTube to watch the archived videos, along with hundreds of other videos from DX Engineering—everything from instructional presentations on weatherproofing coaxial connectors to FM satellite etiquette.
Also, don’t miss Tim’s Weekend Special on Facebook Fridays at 4 pm ET, featuring interviews with hams on rare DXpeditions, innovators in the amateur radio community, youth operators, and more.
Today, we’re excited to feature K3LR’s interview with Ray Novak, N9JA, senior sales manager at Icom America.
Whether you’re a seasoned ham or buying your first antenna, choosing the right one is more about how you operate as an individual and less about the antenna’s capabilities. In previous OnAllBands articles, I’ve explored field antennas and the decision-making process behind choosing the right one. I believe that a practical understanding of your operating style is key to making the best choice.
This article is about vertical antennas—specifically, those designed to be portable and stealthy. These antennas are ideal for field operations like POTA, SOTA, or IOTA, and for those living under HOA restrictions that prohibit permanent antennas.
(Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)
There are hundreds of vertical antennas on the market, and it’s beyond the scope of this post to cover them all. Instead, I’ll focus on three models I’ve personally used, each representing different concepts and reasons why you might choose one over another.
All of these antennas are multi-band, and while some can be installed permanently with proper sealing, they are primarily designed with portability and ease of setup in mind.
Before diving into the specifics, consider these questions as you search for your next antenna:
What modes and power levels do you intend to operate? Ensure your antenna can handle the wattage and duty cycle of your chosen mode (SSB, CW, Digital). For example, an antenna that handles 100 watts SSB may not be suitable for 100 watts FT8.
What bands do you plan to operate? Confirm that the antenna covers your preferred bands. Portable verticals are effective on 20 meters and above but become less efficient at lower frequencies due to the need for loading coils to electrically lengthen the radiating element. This compromises performance and decreases operating bandwidth. However, I’ve had great success on 80 meters with some portable verticals, though they are less efficient compared to longer wire antennas.
How far do you plan to hike with this antenna? Check the specifications for weight and element lengths, as these factors will impact your comfort and the feasibility of carrying it in your pack.
How important is frequency agility? If you primarily operate FT8 and stay on one frequency for extended periods, any antenna will likely suffice. If you frequently move across bands to chase activators or DX, consider an antenna that doesn’t require manual tuning.
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Three Types of Portable Verticals
Here are three vertical antennas I’ve used in the field, along with their pros and cons:
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1. Quarter Wave Verticals
One of the simplest vertical antennas is the quarter wave. My first quarter wave antenna was a 5-meter radiator wire (one-quarter the length of 20 meters) with four counterpoise wires on the ground. I attached the radiator to the center of my coax and the counterpoises to the shield. I’ve deployed the radiator vertically in a tree (great for permanent setups) and supported it with a fiberglass telescoping fishing pole (ideal for portable use).
While these antennas are simple to build, I prefer an antenna that works on multiple bands and is easy to deploy and pack. This is why I’m a big fan of the Chelegance MC-750.
The MC-750 is a portable vertical deployed using either a stainless ground spike or a tripod. The vertical element is a stainless steel whip with silk-screen markings that help you deploy the antenna for resonance on multiple bands.
(Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)
When I follow the silk-screen markings and all four counterpoise wires (attached to the base), I consistently achieve a near 1:1 SWR. Thus, no ATU is needed. The SWR remains consistent across various topographies.
The Chelegance MC-750 comes with jacks to install four included preassembled counterpoise radials. (Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)Chelegance MC-750 carrying case (Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)
The MC-750 ships with a coil for 40 meters. Chelegance also offers an optional 80 meter coil as well.
Pros: Easy deployment, high quality, efficient, multi-band use with no ATU needed, resonates on 20-10 meters and 40/80 meters with coils, comes with a custom padded carrying case.
Cons: Not truly a con, but you must adjust the whip length when changing bands if not using an ATU.
***
2. Verticals with Transformers
Chameleon CHA MPAS Lite Modular Portable Antenna (Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)
If you regularly use an antenna tuner in the field, you might prefer a high-quality multi-band vertical antenna equipped with a transformer to reduce potentially high impedances to a level manageable by most tuners. I think of this type of antenna as the vertical equivalent of a random wire antenna. Many of my QRP transceivers have internal ATUs, making this type of antenna very appealing. The one I have the most experience with is the Chameleon CHA MPAS Lite.
Like the MC-750, the MPAS Lite uses a stainless steel whip but includes a transformer at the base, making it easier to match the antenna across multiple bands with virtually any ATU. Additionally, it can operate on lower bands, including 80 meters, without needing a loading coil attached. While not as efficient below 30 meters, it remains highly effective for both POTA and SOTA where you are often the DX.
The MPAS Lite offers excellent frequency agility, which is a major advantage if you frequently hunt or chase other stations in the field. Just change the frequency, activate the ATU, and you’re set.
(Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)
The MPAS antenna can also be configured as an end-fed random wire using the counterpoise wire. Consult the MPAS Lite manual for multiple configurations.
Pros: Easy deployment, high quality, multi-band use, frequency agility, only one counterpoise, versatile platform for multiple antenna configurations.
Cons: Pricier than the MC-750.
***
3. Loading Coil Verticals
I’ve used several antennas with helically wound coils and a sliding tuning coupler at the base to match the antenna across multiple bands. The coil at the base shortens the antenna electrically, making it portable and low profile—ideal for stealthy use or in neighborhoods with aggressive HOA restrictions.
Among the many coil antennas available, the new REZ Antenna Systems Ranger 80stands out for its robustness. I was impressed with its ease of setup, high quality, and smooth tuning coupler. The REZ Ranger 80 antenna also handles higher power than other coil systems—100 watts CW/digital and 200 watts SSB.
REZ Antenna Systems Ranger 80 HF Portable Antenna System (Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)(Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)
The Ranger 80 is quick to deploy and incredibly durable. While I’ve never been a big fan of verticals with loading coils and sliding tuning couplers, as they can be finicky to tune, I found the REZ Ranger 80 to be the best of the bunch and more forgiving than others I’ve used.
(Image/Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL)
Pros: Easy deployment, superb quality, higher power handling capacity, multi-band resonance, no ATU required.
Cons: Heavier than other options, tuning coupler needs adjustment for each band change, pricey.
***
Summary
Choosing the right portable vertical antenna is more about matching your equipment to your specific operating style than simply selecting the most capable model. Whether you prioritize ease of deployment, frequency agility, or power handling, the antennas discussed—like the Chelegance MC-750, Chameleon CHA MPAS Lite, and the REZ Ranger 80—offer distinct advantages that cater to different needs.
Before making your decision, consider the nature of your operations. Are you regularly chasing signals across multiple bands, or do you prefer to set up and stay on one frequency? Do you need a lightweight, portable solution for long hikes, or are you more concerned with stealth and ease of use in restricted environments? Your answers will guide you to the right antenna.
Ultimately, the best antenna is the one that enhances your enjoyment of the hobby, allowing you to operate confidently and efficiently in your chosen environment. If possible, try before you buy—borrowing from friends or club members can provide valuable insights that specs alone can’t offer.
If you’re a fan of Yaesu’s exceptional lineup of transceivers and amateur radio accessories or if you’re in the market for your first rig, don’t miss today’s OnAllBands showcase video.
It features Tim Duffy, K3LR, DX Engineering CEO, interviewing John Kruk, N9UPC, amateur division national sales manager of Yaesu USA.
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N9UPC explains that Yaesu has made 2024 a year of education for amateur operators—a mission near and dear to the hearts of the hams at DX Engineering. N9UPC and other members of the Yaesu team have been fixtures at hamfests and club meetings, answering questions and helping amateurs get the most out of the company’s popular transceivers, including the FT-710 AESS HF/50 MHz Base/Portable Transceiver (below) and FTDX10 HF/50 MHz 100W SDR Transceiver.
(Image/Yaesu)
“We’ve been getting out there, and, man, we have had a blast,” N9UPC said. “And I tell you it’s not so much talking about our products, but it was so interesting for us at Yaesu to see the many different ways that people are using our products beyond what we even had our products designed for.”
The device provides Internet-to-RF communications that expand the range of Yaesu VHF/UHF C4FM amateur radios using internet-enabled Voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology. With WIRES-X, an amateur radio node station connected to the Internet and interfaced to the WIRES-X HRI-200 unit can communicate using VoIP over long distances reliably and with ease.
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