Simple tricks and nonsense:
Handy ham radio field kit ideas
a few cures for the common mobile, portable & field operating headaches
I don't actually keep a "go kit/jump kit". I'll leave that to the RACES, ARES emcomm crowd. But I enjoy operating remotely & portable when camping and traveling. So I've learned a few simple tricks. There is nothing high tech or fancy here, nor any long lists; just some of my favorite simple tricks and nonsense that I've used to solve a few headaches in the shack, car and in the field. Page down.
Some folks take emcomm, grab-n-go kits quite seriously:
http://races.org/gokit.htm
http://w4ti.net/gokit.html
http://www.winlink.org/Stations/N5TC.htm
http://gcares.febo.com/jumpkit.htm
http://www.w0ipl.net/ShouldI.htm
My internal links:
The Desert Fly-ins
The Pub Pages (offsite)
My Ham Shack
About The Original WA4DQS:
www.FabulousRocketeers.com
My QSL Card
My Profession (offsite)
Crystal Radio
 



This is a micro sized QRP 5 watt CW antenna tuner. It tunes end fed 1/2 wave length wires. Stu, [email protected] makes these, and sells them for $25 plus shipping. The green unit above is what comes with the kit, not assembled. The box and knobs are available at Radio Shack. The green kit unit measures about 1.5".


Modular plug protectors. Ever replace a broken modular jack? It is meticulous, sucky work! I did it once, and swore I'd never do it again. This is a camper's toothbrush protector available at sports stores & sporting goods departments. Many modular plugs that come with your radios have built-on protection, but some accessory cables and aftermarket replacements don't have protection. You have to be careful and not just yank it out of this case or you'll be doing sucky work replacing it. Available also at www.ContainerStore.com

 
 

Rescue Tape. Pardon my French but this stuff kicks ass.t is a super strong, self-fusing, stretchable, high temp, water proof, permanent seal, 700psi, silicone tape product.

 

Battery clamps with wingnut posts. These come in handy if you fail to anticipate a power or ground connection when operating remotely. You can quickly attach bare wires and clamp them to batteries for power, or to a water pipe for ground, or car frame for a counterpoise. With extra large fender washers, it is even easier to secure large guage wire onto the posts.

  
 

You can seal a radiator hose leak with this stuff. I've used a couple wraps to seal up permanent or semi-permanent outdoor coax connections. www.RescueTape.com


  
 
 

A simple choke balun/isolator for temporary, light wire (18g) dipoles. An underbuilt, homebrew ferrite bead balun by any other name! I threw it together w/spare parts the night before a business trip when I realized I had no antenna interface for the FT-817ND I was carrying. (doh!) Three mix 43 beads were all I had. I was QRP on 17, 20 & 40 meters, SSB voice and PSK31 using inverted v-dipoles cut to center band. Hey; I got very low SWR's right where expected --sans tuner. I still use this with my FT-817ND.

  

Multi-compartment, two-sided folding translucent small parts case. Nifty! Made by RPI Group, 800-427-6770, available also at www.ContainerStore.com

  
   
 
   

Radio Shack auto accessory adapter with universal wire posts, fused, 10 amp. Freakin handy! It is practically a requirement for the FT817ND kit. It is suprisingly sturdy for a Radio Shack product. So far I've used it mostly for powering my Sigma GT-5 antenna coil relay switching in the field.

  
 

 

The clear parts bag. This is a disposable linnen bag with a zipper. Linnens, curtains and sheets are sold in these. I store various small parts and accessories in it. I can find out whether or not a certain part is there without emptying out my bag and making a mess. This bag also has a small, clear inner pouch that was just the right size for my license -- or a dirty picture if you're a pervy, fat, sweaty Ham.

  

The Poor Man's PSK31 interface: an audio coupled headphone and microphone. I logged my first PSK31 QSO using this. Line the headphones out of your computer, set the rig mic to VOX, sound insulate it all with a pillow (or cat bed!) and adjust the drive using the computers headphone volume. Click here to see diagram and copy from that QSO and signal report I received.

  
     
 

Everytime I hear they're banning the sale of something, I run out and buy it; must be something controversial and cool! This is the "banned" Vertex Standard VXA 700 "Spirit" crossband HT (airband and 2 meter amateur). They don't offer them for sale anymore in the USA. I guess the FCC is too uptight about mixing bands in one unit. Too bad. I wish I had one of these in the 1990's when I actually had to handle a life-threatening emergency requiring the alternating use of an air band HT and a 2 meter HT to make an emergency call, then help direct a medivac helicopter to our remote airstrip campsite. If you get a used VXA 700, make sure you get the AA battery pack adapter, and call Vertex and order an spare crossband HT rubber ducky.

 

 

Cable Labels. Proprietary cables can appear identical yet function totally differently. I use a Brother P-Touch label maker. A variety of label tape rolls are available including waterproof labels. http://www.brother-usa.com/ptouch/

 

 
 
 
 
 

Stealth comm head rest speaker. I grew tired of straining to hear audio from my under-seat dual bander. So I devised this elegant solution: a simple hidden head rest speaker for your mobile radio. Stuff the speaker into a thin sock, cut a hole in the sock where one or both headrest spikes are located, and just spike the contraption into place. Conceal with seat covers if you like, which also facilitates routing and hiding the speaker wire.This 2 inch speaker is the Radio Shack Communications External Speaker part # 19-318A.
 
 

Headlamps. For much of what I need a flashlight for, hand held flashlights suck because they're... hand held! A good headlamp will change your life! Free up both hands! Never hold your flashlight in your mouth again! I prefer purpose-built campers headlamps with focusing beams. But if you already got suckered into buying a Mini Maglite, then buy a Nite Ize headband adapter for it at a camping, surplus or hardware store. http://www.niteize.com/

Extra long, heavy-duty 12v, fused battery terminal to auto accessory jack extension cord. The over-the-counter models weren't up to my standards, so I built this heavy guage monster. This comes in handy in certain situations.

    
 
  An economical 4x4 truck! If you're going to sit on your ass and turn knobs on a radio all day, at least pick an interesting location to do so. Here I was mobile on Mt. Tam, near San Francisco, CA. My favorite moment: describing the view of San Francisco harbor to a Japanese contact.  
 

 

 
 
 

Super handy 3/8-24 to UHF (So 239) antenna mount adapter. It lets you put your HF ham sticks and CB antennas onto your existing ham radio SO 239 mobile antenna mounts. I didn't want my commuter car to turn into an antenna farm, so bought this adapter so I could swap out my low profile 2m/440 antenna for a low profile Wilson CB antenna during road trips where my wife and I sometimes have fun chatting with truckers. Inside the car I use an antenna switch to facilitate the change-over from CB to ham radio. This adapter is available at www.shopjubilee.net/ for around $20 bucks.

  
     

 

  
 
 
 
 

A simple cargo bed D-ring antenna mount; a non-destructive mount. I adapted a heavy duty Lakeview hamstick dipole bar by bending it 90 degrees and flush mounting it with my Tacoma's cargo clip D-ring without losing the D-ring function.

My local hardware store had the longer flush mount bolts to allow the extra 1/4". This is a better option than bumper mounting as I had before. The coax runs on the side behind the bedliner, and the assembly can easily be removed if temporarily necessary for cargo reasons.