Chris set up at a picnic table

I had my ham license during last year’s ARRL Field Day, but wasn’t really aware at the time what an important “holiday” it is to US hams and didn’t participate. This year, I fixed that mistake.

I had an invitation to join RMHAM at their annual mountain excursion, but family duties kept me close to home. Instead, I planned to head out to a local park and operate on battery for a few hours. I don’t really have a great portable kit yet, so I hauled out most of my QTH station. I replaced my usual mains power supply with a 360 Wh battery, and opted to keep my QTH antenna in place and instead use a Chameleon portable.

HF station at the picnic table

This year’s gear list:

  • Icom IC-718 (from Alan’s SK collection)
  • LDG IT-100 tuner
  • MFJ 822 power/SWR meter
  • Signalink USB sound card interface
  • Panasonic CF-19 laptop
  • Chameleon MPAS 2.0 with SS-17 vertical
  • Bioenno 30Ah LiFePO4 battery in a Powerwerx MEGAbox
  • Powerwerx FSP-110W solar panels
  • Powerwerx MPPT-150-14.6 charge controller

Solar panels and antenna

Amazingly, most of that gear fit into my trusty ol’ Spec Ops T.H.E. Pack Tactical, minus the battery and solar panels. It’s not a radio station I’d want to lug up a hill, but crossing the park wasn’t difficult. Setup went smoothly and I wasn’t missing any critical parts.

I made 32 contacts on 20m FT8 in about 2 hours, and had a teenage kid stop and talk for a few minutes. Overall, it was an extremely pleasant day to be outside and playing radio.