The "Super Awesome DXpedition-in-a-Box" is Complete!

When I see that child’s happy face, I feel happy being a ham.

 

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Hope and her sister do a nice job here of demonstrating their product. Well done ! That they are youth make this even more impressive. Science is cool. I hope they keep their passion! Way to go parents, too.

OK, changing gears (pls no hijack of the thread):
In the past, ham operators would launch DXpeditions. It was a challenge to pack up gear and go to another country. Obtain a foreign call-sign with reciprocal licensing, put up antennas, and operate with a DX callsign to piles and piles of stateside hams. But for the average US-based ham, that's just not entirely possible. Reciprocal licensing isn't as easy as it once was; Getting gear through customs, on airplanes, and even travel itself has become difficult in a post-911 and now Corona virus environment. Aside that, a mere 10% of Americans even hold a valid passport and even fewer have any global travel experience.

Enter the OTA "no-code" version of the ham DX-peditions: "field" operation activities that somehow simulate some elements of a real dxpedition (well.. a radio not plugged into the wall socket seems to be the only criteria now days). So here goes:
With respect to Flower and Fauna -- CQ 44 is simply lingo... Stands for Flower and Fauna which is kinda hard to say and sounds funny on the air. Flower and Fauna denote specific parks and other wildlife locations (link http://wwff.co/directory/). What started as National Parks on the air has morphed into "any Parks on the air" and there are some park designators for state and municipal parks in addition to the national parks and that list can be found in the parks on the air web site: https://parksontheair.com/ ; A more recent thing is WMPLOTA : ah yes...WalMart Parking Lots on the Air http://wmplota.org/ for the satellite inclined ham. There are light houses on the air too https://wlota.com/ which has been a thing for a couple decades; Boats on the air, Submarines on the air, Boat Anchors on the air.... Now, pretty much anyone can lay claim to being "OTA"... it's kinda humerous actually - just make up your own OTA. But hey what-ever. It breeds activity and mini pseudo pileups which keeps other services from taking our spectrum...so all good in my book. 99% of the folks answering the CQ don't have any idea what the OTA is for...they just want to make a contact and "how is my audio" and 59, 73, So...by all means...put your radio in a pelican case, grab a battery and an that crappy end-fed excuse of an antenna and go for it. The point is, GET ON THE AIR. HAVE FUN. MAKE SOME NOISE ! It's ham radio ! And activity breeds more activity. Go for it !!!

 

Awesome .
Keep up the good work

 

Wow, this one of the best videos I have watched here in a long time

 

Hi Joe,

The bottom of the box has a sliding handle on it and we couldn't make an intake hole there. The fan is a high volume fan and so far in tests, we have had good results with keeping the temperature under control.

 

I think it's a good design... the Icom IC-7100 also has the intake of the fan in the front of the radio and evacuates the air out the back.... looks like the intake has plenty of cool air to blow across the PA and out the back and that hot air vents into the airflow of the intake/exhaust in the go-box.

The 7100 that I have never gets too hot.. even running cw full blast in contest mode...... and since it has a temp meter on the front panel display, you would see any heating issues on that meter long before they become a problem if that ever were to be the case.

 

We have had no issues thus far here in the Florida heat.

 

CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day! DE W5DPH!

I received mine today via UPS. Only the best materials and supplies are used and the build/assembly quality is superb! Shack-in-a-box.com is the way to go when it comes to portable battery boxes, and extremely portable, full featured shack-in-a-box! If you are considering a portable shack setup, this is the way to go! Just add the antenna of your choice and get on the air! Thank you Grace, Hope and Faith Hannah.

 

next generation of engineers , cool and powerful ! Congrats from germany DB5SM 73

 

Fantastic Job! Outstanding! Keep it up!
Happy Hamming!
73, Marty KD4HLV