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Getting Started In Amateur Radio Field Communications

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by OH8STN, Oct 29, 2017.

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  1. KG5THG

    KG5THG Ham Member QRZ Page

    My first attempt at portable was using a hamstick dipole on my boat for a feld hell contest. I hooked up the radio to the trolling motor deep cycle battery and set out on the lake. Made a lot of contacts and had a lot of fun. First experience with an antenna rotator (granted it was the entire boat). Good lessons in moving and an holding antenna lobes in the best position for a contact. What I failed to consider was that the laptop battery would die long before the marine deep cycle ever would. At least I got to play for a couple of hours. Fun learning experience. Everyone should try portable operation at least once.
     
    AK5B, KQ6XA and OH8STN like this.
  2. KY5U

    KY5U Ham Member QRZ Page

    looking for an off road fat scooter i can add hf to.
     
  3. KM4DYX

    KM4DYX Ham Member QRZ Page

    Keeping a laptop running in the field is problem. I found 12 Volt car chargers for my laptops but they only seem to power the unit, not recharge the battery also. Anyone found a definitive solution?
     
  4. US7IGN

    US7IGN Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

  5. KM4DYX

    KM4DYX Ham Member QRZ Page

    AK5B likes this.
  6. W4AZT

    W4AZT Ham Member QRZ Page

    Good Afternoon Julian oh8stn,
    I have to tell you I have been following your Vids for over a year. I find them extremely educational and for that, I have purchased the following:
    * Chameleon MPAS full antenna
    * 2-60 watt solar panels
    * 2-Genasun GV-5 solar charge controlers
    * 1-ZLP Mini Pro SC
    * 1-Wolphi Link modem
    * 1-Samsung Tablet E-9.6
    The one question I would like to ask you, if you have any idea, would a HP Stream 14 (14-ax030wm) tablet work for QRP operations. I would like to use it for WinLink & RMS express email. The Laptop I had in Iraq is a 15" with a hard drive and uses 24 Volts/45 watts and would not be conducive due to power consumption and weight. Please let me know, I do like QRP work. I have 2-Yaesu FT-857D and 1- Yaesu FT-817ND that I just got a week ago, hoping to down size for a back-pack kit.
    Thank for your time and great videos! John KM4TWE
     
  7. KG5QKK

    KG5QKK Ham Member QRZ Page

    Not sure about HP Stream but one of the few laptops that still operate on 12V are the Panasonic Toughbook. I refused to buy a laptop that needed 19V to charge. Though very durable for field operations they are also extremely heavy. The screen is visible in direct sunlight and with a SSD hard drive its great on power consumption. Might look into one of there hand held systems like the CF-U1 refurbished they can be had for very little money.
     
    OH8STN likes this.
  8. US7IGN

    US7IGN Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    The field operation is always fun but never operate two radios at the same time

     
  9. OH8STN

    OH8STN Ham Member QRZ Page

    Just checking in on the comments once again. I never use inverters because they're terribly inefficient. If I'm trying to take a computer out into the field more often than not it's going to be an tablet or convertible laptop tablet. It's especially important to find one that works off of 5 or 12 volts. In my opinion the entire idea of a portable station is to keep everything DC, avoiding the conversion losses of inverters converting DC to AC for devices that actually run on DC.
    73
    Julian oh8stn
     
  10. OH8STN

    OH8STN Ham Member QRZ Page

    I totally agree. I'm just about to pull the trigger on a Toughbook. I really don't understand who was the person who decided 19 volts was a good standard for laptops. I'm still using an Asus Eee pc because it runs on 12 volts.
    Thanks for the comment
     
  11. KA0HCP

    KA0HCP XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Voltage choice is largely driven by the components in the laptop, by I2R losses, conversion inefficiencies, and by the supply voltage tolerances that must be allowed for (12v specified does not necessarily get delivered).
     

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