Portable 100 watt HF Amateur Radio by Craig VK3VCM

[133Gordini]

Great vid mate.

[aka572]

Well, this video answers all my questions. I should have waited before posting from the previous video. Thanks for all you've done here.

73 KD4ID

[makitaman60]

awesome set-up ! Can you give me some info on the solar panel, and where I might find one like it. BTW I will soon have a buddipole, I can see it works better than my teliscopic paint poles,but they do work pretty good. Thanks great video Good Day Mate! I always wanted to say that. We normally say see yall later in Alabama !

[cu3eq]

nice video 73 cu3eq

[SanderP67]

Terrific video! Also nice to see Melbourne as I have colleagues there. Thanks very much for sharing. 73, Sander KB1WCY

[ON4AEM]

Thanks for this informative video Craig.Enjoyed watching it.

Very good quality too.

Also plan on doing some portable operation in the near future.

It'll be on a smaller scale though Craig ;-) radio will be an FT857D and wire or 3 band vertical antenna.

73s GL from Wim ON4AEM

[twylo]

Absolutely great setup! I work HF exclusively portable and mobile, so I really appreciate how nice your configuration is. I also use a Buddipole, but usually as a vertical on 20m, 17m, or 15m.

What mast are you using, if you don't mind my asking? Is it one you bought from Buddipole, or is it another brand?

[craig3008]

@twylo Hi there, It's just the Buddipole mast that comes with the Buddipole Deluxe. It includes the really nice sturdy base and a mast that extends up just over 22 feet. You then just screw the Versa-tee to the top and away you go! Just make sure you buy an extra guying kit. The Buddipole deluxe comes with one lot of strings and pegs however on a windy day the mast can whip around too much so it's better to get an extra guy kit. THe mast is available separately from the Buddipole site. 73, Craig

[dv1az]

Thanks Craig for sharing this very informative video. I have the buddipole deluxe and works perfectly I also bought an analyzer. I'm just waiting for some time for the solar set up (my wife will kill me if i buy another equipment hihi) can you find a radio that I can take to heaven with me hihi?

73 this Gerald A65CB

[craig3008]

@dv1az hahaha Hi Gerald - don't upset the XYL whatever you do!!! An analyser will really make life easier for you. I've found a spot on my coils where it's resonant at 40m..and also has a resonant spot in the 20m band. I just use my tuner in the radio to clean up any little SWR issue on 20m. It works well and prevents me from having to take the mast down to adjust the antenna every time I want to change between 20m and 40m. Thanks for your comments - I hope to work you one day! 73, Craig

[dv1az]

@craig3008 Hi Craig thats great, how many turns for 20 to resonate with 40? How many antenna arms do you have? Do you use long whip instead of standard whip? SRI for so many questions hihi.

[craig3008]

@dv1az Hello! No problem with questions! I use the large antenna arms. Re how many turns - I am not with my antenna at the moment. I think if you check the video when I am showing how to tune it up - you can probably pause the video and count the turns. I set the antenna up to be resonant at 40m and it also has a small resonant spot at around 20m. I then use the tuner in the TS590 radio to handle the small mis-match. I can also set up antenna for 20m only which works well. More videos to come!

[dv1az]

Thanks Craig for sharing this very informative video. I have the buddipole deluxe and works perfectly I also bought an analyzer. I'm just waiting for some time for the solar set up (my wife will kill me if i buy another equipment hihi) can you find a radio that I can take to heaven with me hihi

[dv1az]

Thanks Craig for sharing this very informative video. I have the buddipole deluxe and works perfectly I also bought an analyzer. I'm just waiting for some time for the solar set up (my wife will kill me if i buy another equipment hihi)

[craig3008]

@buffaloo99 Hi There! Thanks for your comment. Sorry it took me so long to respond. I didn't see your message. I hope to chat to you on air one day soon. Make sure you take some video and upload it too! :-) 73, Craig VK3VCM

[TheKC1ML]

Great video. Thanks for being very detailed as well.

73,

[teamfab]

A very good video, great viewing showing a super set up..

[vk3hgx]

Hi Craig. You have a Great setup. Well done!

73,Chris

[trylleklovn]

About the power, usually the manual for the radio has suggested max output settings for 100% duty cycle modes like rtty, psk31 and sstv. Usually i find its somewhat lower than 90 watts, for instance my small Yaesu FT-450 suggests a maximum of 30 watts when using such modes.

Vy de OZ3SR

[craig3008]

@trylleklovn Yeah that's right. A friend of mine however cooked the final RF output stage of his Icom 706MKIIG when doing SSTV... the difference between 100w and 90w on air is not even noticeable as you'd know....in fact you the other day I went from 100w to 5w and the difference was 2 s points on the receive end. Of course depending on conditions..those 2 S-pionts can mean the difference between getting through & not! It's just my advice to not run 100% power on 100% duty cycle modes. :-)

[vk3ye]

Excellent production, Craig, this is my favourite of yours. Excellent signals from Scott as well.

73, Peter (whose often left power cables or mics at home!)

[k6lsn]

Great Craig. Probably the best Buddipole Instructional Video I have seen! Enjoy! 73 from John K6LSN

[craig3008]

@k6lsn Hi John, Thanks for your comment. The Buddipole has served me really well. Yesterday I made over 40 contacts in over 15 countries on 20m. It's a bit of a compromise but if you tune up the antenna ok and make is resonant on the band you want to use - it's a fantastic portable antenna. Hope to catch you on air one day! 73, Craig VK3VCM

[markbeermonster]

Very well done Craig.

Pity your so far away, we both use te Buddipole deluxe!

Very nice setup for portable, I really like those solar panels, i'm reduced to 5watts from the FT-817nd or 20watts fro the FT897d becasue I have a tiny panel and smaller batterys.

Hope to work you one day on the Buddipole to Buddipole, I worked Budd (J6/W3FF) from St lucia during the Buddi's in the caribbean DXpedition.

73 and good DX in 2011

M0VST - Mark

[craig3008]

@markbeermonster Hi Mark, It was your video that I kept watching over and over while I was waiting for my Buddipole to arrive!!! Thanks for your comments. I've made 5-9 contacts to the US, Canada, Middle East, Japan, France etc... all from the Buddipole. I hope you get as much fun out of yours that I do from mine. I think they are working on a Buddipole Rotator. If you type "Buddipole Rotator" it into Youtube it comes up, but haven't seen anything else about it since that video. 73, Craig VK3VCM

[melbourneradio]

You would be kicking yourself about that! Bloopers are OK, makes it more fun. Between you and VK3YE (and a few others) it's great to see VK3's on the net blogging and making videos.

[melbourneradio]

Excellent video Craig, really well done - Grant VK3VIM

[craig3008]

@melbourneradio Thanks Grant. I actually went out one day and realised I'd left my radio power cable at home! So it's easy to do - so I find it better if you have a pack or box with a dedicated power cable (so you don't have to use the cable you use at home etc) for portable use. Just leaving one little thing at home like a connector or patch lead can ruin the whole day. Hopefully someone gets something out of the video. One thing is for certain..I aint no TV presenter!!! :-) Regards, Craig