How To: Backpack QRP HF Portable

[SM7FBJ]

Nice Tim. I'd prefere the VHF/UHF and the backround music beeing QRT in this video. Just like you I like beeing out in the nature with my K2 and the paddle. My antenna is always just a wire connected to the homemade Z-match.

73 es GL de Barney/SM7FBJ

[angelcake12312]

Hi

[JohnSokko]

I just bought an 817ND and have made some surprising contacts in Europe from my QTH in north Georgia using an end fed long wire and tuner. Now that I'm familiar with the radio, I'm looking forward to taking the rig portable. Thank you for the cool video.

73, Dennis KJ4HSB

[SEWashingtonTactical]

I love that Yeasu Vx-8DR. Its my first ham radio.

[joukebmw]

nice vid and music in the background

[grneggsnhamon]

can you get Pandora? Man if this is our Freedom fighters we might as well hand our shoes over to China!

[rattinox]

How long did it REALLY take you to get that dipole strung correctly?! On a stack of Bibles........'cuz it never took me less than two hours in that situation.......

KC0BIN

[rattinox]

How long did it REALLY take you to get that dipole strung correctly?! On a stack of Bibles........'cuz it never took me less than two hours in that situation.......

[XRotors]

Great Vid. Is your VX8 wearing a Diamond SRH 940? How good is it across the three bands? 73 de IW9HOJ Italy.

[mryellow123]

You can get special waxed string on a spool for throwing up trees, features a braid which leaves no bits to catch on bark. Used by arborist to haul their climbing ropes up.

[mryellow123]

"throw line" might narrow it down.

[ChameleonWalker]

Cool video!

Next time I'm going camping with my antenna on my bike!

Cheers,

Carl

[NW7US]

Great video. Sharing this... hope I can start hiking like this. Inspirational. 73 de NW7US

[SM6YZC]

Hell of a great vid! Did you do the sampling and background music yourself? What program are you using?

73

Henrik

[PE2JB]

Great video Tim

73's Jaco PE2JB Holland

[rs4425]

QRP meets sampling! Great job.

[KA1YBS]

@rs4425

Over, o-o-o-o-o-o-Over...

lol :)

[9w2pju]

hi KA1YBS. can i have your diagram for the 20m, 40m homebrew dipole ?

[steveinusa]

LoL "what kind of an antenna are you using? Over!"

Kj4num

[9w2pju]

great video. i hope you will come back with more interesting video

[dieseldriver2003]

Very cool Tim. Peter KC2ZXL

[N101RG]

How long will that battery last transmitting? Do you use a solar recharging unit for extended stays?

[KA1YBS]

@N101RG

I use a fold-able solar panel now (1.2A) to charge the battery. I am going to use a 3-5AH SLAB or A123 this summer in lieu of that huge 9AH :)

The 9AH will last about 4 hours 100% CW duty cycle, as the rig uses about 2A on TX

Normally, you can get a weekend out of operation with it, assuming two days of 5 hours 80% RX and 20% TX

73

[spdavis513]

Great Job! Thanks for sharing your set-up.

73,

Steve

KJ4FEL

[magrum21]

I've really enjoyed this, and I hope to do a bit of QRP/Portable operation myself. Need to get my battery. I plan on making a 20m dipole, with 40m extensions. I probably WILL get a sealed lead acid battery despite the weight. Just trying to decide on what AH to go with.

Are you on Twitter at all?

[Uutyny]

Great video! What antenna are you using on your Vx-8r?

[KD8PIQ]

Good job.

[KA1YBS]

I am using RG-8X about 4 meters in length. Standard PL-259 connectors at each end. 73

[patoborq]

Nice video.I`d like to know what coax are you using when outside in the wilderness. I´ll appreciate your feedback.

Thanks in advance

Patricio

Chile SA.

[joshuafuller78]

Great video. Makes me want to try it out myself here in Denver.

[ka4rur]

Nice Video

73/fred

[DJ7EC]

Great movie, hpe you have many more succesfull wilderness adventures ! 73!

[KA1YBS]

@DJ7EC

I failed in the Great Smoky Mountains :(

I put my 817 on loan to KA1YBT to help het him on the air. He has limited time once the ice and snow of 2011 melts, however! :)

[oz1fjb]

Nice and complete instrucktions about how to do.. also with nice cut in -video and sound-tracks. nice work Tim.

[Karl036]

Great video..

73..Karl

VK7HDX

[2E1FUE]

hahaaa love that loop man DJ KA1YBS yes pro stuff there nice work :) 73s 2E1FUE :)

[k6tpl]

TIm very neat video!

[combatwombat71]

Hi Tim, brilliant video - really captures the essence of /P QRP. Where is the music from? Did you compose it yourself? Acid Loops? Some good bass going ont here that really gives my headphones a low frequency workout. Must get out /P more here in VK, but too many of the world's deadliest snakes out there too in summer HI. 73 - Rob VK2GOM

[KA1YBS]

@combatwombat71 Yes, it was Acid Loops! What a neat program. I used Sony Vegas (some Lite edition) to edit. I use Premiere at home, but I never have time to do videos anymore. I hope to do more vids soon. Thanks for stopping by and 73

[mypiju]

well, nice video. hopefully you can show your antenna diagram later.

73 de 9w2pju

[lordtapdoles]

Great video. Love the background music in particular. 73 de Matt. MW3YMY

[MRodness]

Very cool. I am thinking about putting together a portable rig and this video's great. I'm in northern VT so maybe some time you'll hear me calling CQ. KB1UGO

[ridethepow]

You guys should get involved with SOTA (Summits On The Air) Portable HF Peak activation. We could use more summit activators in the east coast for sure.

[andfon7a]

Very inspiring video! I share both your interests (since I have S9 static around my house) and your setup. I have very good experiences with CW, so I bring a paddle that I can strap around my thigh. I also using the Yo-Yo Vee antenna which i hoist over a branch and use as an inverted V. I have also tried to bring my stuff with my camp gear (tent, sleeping bag, food, multifuel stove etc.) but the weight becomes prohibitive.

[7wt]

Very nice! I am interested in QRP myself and plan to get a 817 as well. I will stick with 2M sideband until I upgrade out of Tech. Great job, looks like a heck of a lot of fun.

[KJ4TEE]

NICE shirt I have the same one nice video 73 KJ4TEE

[indystormjay]

Hey there Tim- We worked 2 meter simplex while I was atop mt. Greylock last year- my call is KB1QYH. The quick young ham. That same afternoon we worked 2 meters I worked a guy in the canary islands on 6 meters with my icom 7000 and a PAR stressed moxon antenna!! That is still my best contact ever on 6 meters! Can't wait for the sunspots to pick up and work on 10 meters...!!!

[yogi540]

Cool video, thanks for posting

[2e0bmi]

Awesome, I can't wait to go portable this year :)

[arriscado13]

Is this the setup you would recomend for wilderness treckking?

[solobackpacking]

Young people have the nicest gear.

however, I recommend a lithium battery. It least when you get older your back will hurt carrying that lead acid battery.

[KA1YBS]

Thanks Solo! I'm not that young, but if you say so :)

Yes, my back DOES hurt carrying the sealed lead acid. I am considering a smaller pack and a solar panel this summer.

[kc8ard]

@KA1YBS

I second the notion to get rid of the sla. I'm considering a LiFePo4 battery for my setup...more expensive initial outlay, but it's lighter an will last longer.

[92461528]

hey, thanks very nice.....CA3WFN, my name is victor, from Chile, bye 73

[zombiefood2009]

For a new ham like me who is aspiring to put together a hiking rig, this video rules! I've been looking at the 857 for the extra power but maybe an 817 is the way to go!

73,

KJ6DRG

[KA1YBS]

Hmmm. Well, the extra weight of that rig, some would question, but I'm hauling a slab with me (sealed lead acid battery)!

I'd love to hike with an 857 for the record! 5W did pretty good, low conductivity underneath and zero sunspot activity, on phone! Pretty much sums it up that even flea power is OK. Most RX ops had beams I bet :)

Don't get me thinking for 2010!

...I'm brushing up on severely bad CW... that will be my extra power!

73

[Foehammer54]

You gave me some great ideas. I am studying for my first license and am excited to get started.

[WA5MUF]

Fantastic!

[theredbaron057]

I backpack portable in Southern Cal frequently, using a ft857d, 12v/8ah and homebrew dipole. Very similar. Enjoyed your vid and the music was very creative.

--... ...--

[TangoTracker223]

Terrific video. I watched it twice. Thanks!

73!

[yigalrechtman]

Very fine business. I like working southern and central VT because I found the least QRM there.

[KC2UOO]

Nice vid, Looks like a good time!

[VA7BC]

Great set up! I enjoy HF portable ops as well.

73

Greg

[RA1AOP]

Nice video. Try to use HF END-FED antenna from Par Electronics - it works much better and much smaller than dipole. Good luck my friend!

[davidlu6tai]

lu6tai 73

[wwaallee1]

quit funny actually.. I also have a VX-8 but the E model sold here in Europe. I also use a Yaseu Hf-rig but the 857. I also use YBS as callsign but SM3YBS. Talk about coincidence. 73 //Anders. Sweden

[smaqdat]

great setup and looks like you are having lots of fun. i love to work 2 meter from "mountain" tops down here in the Missouri ozarks and HF backpacking looks like even more fun!

[plantopguy]

Thanks for the Video. Hot as &^%% here but looking forward to the cooler weather down south for Field QRP when you guys are in the snow :-) 73

[barrygkx]

Tim,

Well done video. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being excellent, I'd rate your video an 11 !  You didn't just plop a rig down and put a camera on. You gave great information from start to finish and showed how you can have fun. Great job !

Barry, KU3X

[KA1YBS]

Thanks Barry! I had fun mashing up the "music" too :)

I am hoping to find some time to do a how to: HF mobile before too long as well.

Thanks again, 73

[esclavosoy]

Good video!

[KA1YBS]

Well, I guess the dipole is a few more than 25 feet 'up', but for HF, what matters is height above ground underneath. I'm sure the altitude helps and hurts, so they cancel each other out. What matters is having fun with what you got! Enjoy :)

73

[whistlesun]

5w out a dipole up 25 ft in the air?!

[burt2481]

good editing

[drahtfunker]

Nice video, Tim!

73 de Delta Mike 1 Kilo Whisky

[n2jmb]

Great video!!!! I love to look at other portable setups... Nice one!!

73

[S58F]

Nice video .. ''nice idea for next weekend''

GL de S58F ERIC