[TenTec] A Fun Day with Ham Radio, and a Question about Portable Operating

[Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP]

Jim is absolutely right on that point.

In 1975 I went on a contest DX-pedition to Liechtenstein (HB0) in the Swiss
alps.
We had rented a cabin about half way up the mountain.
On 20m we had a Hygain 203-BA 3 element monoband beam for 20m, and a
Heathkit SB-200 amp with about 600w.

I had a Heathkit HW-32, 20m monoband transceiver with about 60w out, as
mobile rig.  My mobile antenna was a home-brew center-loaded whip.
I drove up near the top of the mountain, found a spot where I could park
with my car oriented so that the best radiation pattern favored Stateside.

We then ran comparison QSOs with stateside (before the contest) and my 60w
mobile was stronger in the states than the 600w into a 3 element beam, every
time.

But in the mountains, you don't have a very good ground.  You really need to
stretch out about 8 radials to get an efficient vertical antenna.  12 would
be better.

With that and 20w CW or 50w SSB, you will work the world!

73
Rick, DJ0IP

-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Brown
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 6:04 PM
To: tentec at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] A Fun Day with Ham Radio, and a Question about
Portable Operating

On 4/16/2013 2:07 AM, M. WIJK wrote:
> It does not matter if you take a tiny Elecraft K1/FT817 or a larger
K2/FT857 and the like. It's the battery weight which counts.

It helps to realize that operating from a mountain peak is almost equivalent
to operating with a vertical on the beach. I worked Field Day last year from
a 5,000 ft peak running QRP with solar power and batteries. With very good
antennas, we were able to hold a frequency and run, with a rate of more than
70 QSOs per hour in the last hour. We made nearly 900 QSOs.

The year before, I worked Field Day from home QRP battery with very good
antennas and made 500 QSOs.

SO, if I were CARRYING my gear up the mountain on my back, I would go with
the lightest possible weight QRP rig, enough battery to run it for twice as
much time as I think I might have, and "stuff" to rig antennas for the bands
I hope to use.  There are a lot of nice lightweight telescoping poles and
mounting tripods that can give you a quarter wave on bands as low as 40M.
Add some lengths of #22 wire to use as radials or a counterpoise, and you've
got a pretty decent antenna for not a lot of weight.

In my experience, the WARC bands are the best QRP bands because they have
the least activity from guys with big tribanders, and 30M has the advantage
of a 200W limit.

The club of which I was a member in Chicago hosts an annual QRP night in a
local forest preserve, where members set up rigs and antennas in very close
proximity to each other. Typical turnout was a dozen guys. The guys with
Elecraft rigs did fine, but the guys with rice boxes got their receivers
blown away by the other close signals on the same band.  
Especially if you're using improvised antennas, it helps to have a rig with
an antenna tuner.

Note that N6KR, one of the two owners of Elecraft is an EE who is the
principal designer of their rigs, started out designing rigs for
backpackers, and he is a NUT for minimizing battery drain. That makes his
rigs a great choice if you're trying to maximize performance and minimize
the weight you have to carry.

73, Jim K9YC


_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec