KJ4FWN on the air!

Since we are not travelling much these days I have been participating in the local Amateur Radio Emergency Service supporting Orange County, FL. I have put together a portable radio station to be used in emergency activations, but also with an eye towards bringing it on the RV when we travel. Using this setup in the house with a limited antenna in the attic I have reached other amateur radio operators continents away. The furthest south was in Ecuador. The furthest east has been Ukraine. The way the antenna is oriented I have not contacted, or heard for that matter, anyone further west than Louisiana. My furthest north contact so far is Wisconsin, and that was on reduced transmitter power while on battery. I fully expect to make Canadian contacts from home when I have full power available.

Barbara and Nia followed me to Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake here in Orlando for an afternoon test run at setting up the station in the field and operating only on the battery I have built into the box. It was a wonderful afternoon, but a bit hot for spending too much time at the park. For the first time, Barbara got more mosquito bites than I did!

 

Thankfully there was plenty of shade.

For those interested, I am using a Yaesu FT-857D radio, LDG FT-100 antenna tuner, and Buddipole portable antenna. In this case, power is from the on board nine amp hour battery. The box contains a 30 Amp switched power supply for when 110v AC power is available. Automatic transfer from the 110v mains power to battery power is provided by a PWRGate PG40S, which also charges the battery when 110v power is available. This set up acts as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) similar to what many use with their computers.

Buddipole Vertical Antenna set for 20 meter band.