A very portable and affordable go-kit with the USDR and QRPguys EFHW
For less than $100* you could get on the air on the field with this rig
It’s a hotly debated topic whether amateur radio is geared more toward hobby or service. Personally, it’s 50 percent hobby for me and 50 percent service, particularly its potential for use in emergency communications.
For most radio amateurs, ham radio is there for fun, experimentation, exploration, and personal achievement. However, that’s not discounting the fact that amateur radio does have its use cases in preparedness and in emergency communications support.
To illustrate, there’s an intersect between my prepper and ham radio community. Many of my ham radio friends are into one or more forms of prepping. They’re capable of communicating through voice and data even when the grid goes down, for instance. This has proven to be useful not only during disasters that have rendered cell service unavaible, but even during those instances wherein communications backup was essential (e.g., battery has run down, traveling in remote areas, etc.).
Meanwhile, many of my more serious prepper friends consider communications capabilities to be an important aspect of preparedness. It provides the ability to gather knowledge and intelligence, support security efforts, and coordinate activities.
Whenever the ham radio community holds Field Day and activates POTA, SOTA**, or other similar operations, it goes beyond being a fun excuse to get out of the house and operate our gear in some semblance of the wild. It’s also a way to exercise our capabilities to set up and operate our gear in an ad hoc manner and establish meaningful contacts with other people who are doing the same.
The ARRL says so about Field Day:
It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio.
(** Parks on the air, Summits on the air)
My friend Jason DU1P/N2TPA told me that it’s not enough to just test one’s gear with one’s own fixed setup. You have to test different scenarios, because it might give you different results each time. It’s good to make sure your gear will work and that you are able to optimize operations in a compromised scenario— the very essence of Field Day.
Ham radio go kits or go bags are usually built in various shapes and sizes for the purpose of having off-grid communications capability in the field. Some would use tackle boxes, while some would go for pelican cases with customized foam or other inserts. Some utilize bags that are purpose-built, while some repurpose camping gear or other bags.
My ham radio go bag has gone through several iterations, the earliest of which involving a repurposed DSLR bag. I have used various radios ranging from a TYT TH5888UV, an Icom 207H, a Yaesu FT-818, Yaesu FT-857D, and more.
I’ve tested different antennas including a Comet HFJ-350 retractable antenna (disappointing at QRP and even QRO), the MFJ 9232 portable QRP loop tuner antenna (works well, but easy to damage if you deliver too much power), and the Comet HR7 mobile antenna (works great on mobile but I have yet to test it on QRP in a portable setting).
For power source, my first one was a gel-type 7Ah motorcycle battery, and most recently, I have used a much much lighter 8Ah LifePo4 battery.
Now I have gone for a more modular approach with perhaps the most minimalist setup that I think should still work. For my VHF and UHF needs, I can use either the radio on my vehicle or the Yaesu FT1XD handheld radio I always carry on my belt (along with a roll-up slim jim and extra battery in the bag).
For HF, I now use an inexpensive software-defined radio — a USDR clone, which is a pre-built kit based on the USDX. I understand that these radios have been mired by a history of Chinese builders and sellers commercializing the open-source project, so for this product, YMMV. I am fortunate enough to have a radio that is working as intended and expected.
In a small sling bag are the following:
- USDR+ QRP SDR radio — Tested to output 8 watts on 40 and 20 meter band, and 3–5 watts on higher frequencies
- QRPguys endfed no-tune halfwave un-un with 18 meters of wire
- Coax and various connectors — I prefer RG316 for portability
- NanoVNA (optional, but useful in ensuring good antenna layout and match)
That’s it. With a built-in battery, I don’t have to worry about lugging around a separate power source. I can bring a LiFePo4 battery, and I can even use a cigarette-lighter plug in my car to power the radio. But with an internal battery supposedly rated at 6,000 mAh, I feel the radio will have enough power to last an entire day plus more of making contacts. Draw at receive is reportedly at 70 mA (I’ve tested at 0.1A, but my ammeter does not have more precise measurement), while draw on transmit is just at 1A.
The best thing about this amateur radio go-kit is the cost. I can break it down as follows:
- USDR — Given to me as a Christmas gift, but I know it cost PhP 4,000 (around $80) bought pre-owned from another ham. The USDR itself costs around twice that brand new. I have not seen the exact same item on sale on Amazon, but a slimmer USDX clone with a smaller battery is available for around $130+. I’ve seen the USDX+ selling on Lazada for PhP 7,200+.
- QRPguys EFHW un un — one was included in the USDR package above.
- Speaker wire for antenna — Around $2 for a 100 meter roll. There’s plenty to build different-sized wires for different bands.
- Coax was loaned to me by Myke 4I1FCI.
- NanoVNA — Given to me by Sean N7SIX, which I believe was itself given to him as a review unit by the manufacturer. I’ve found several NanoVNA on Amazon ranging from $60 to $120. I’ve found some on Lazada for around 2,000 pesos.
- Various connectors are from the NanoVNA kit and some others I have from my other gear from Jason DU1P.
- Bag was given to my by my dad.
- Practically all of this gear was given or repurposed, so I am able to mention less than $100 in the subtitle, as that was the cost of the pre-owned radio. I know some folks who have built their shack-in-a-box go-bags with the Icom IC-705 for at least $2,000.
So far, my farthest contact was at 800 Km (4E9VVN in Iligan City, from Antipolo, Rizal) with the EFHW slung across two trees. The antenna is easy enough to deploy — less than 5 minutes each for setting up and packing away. It takes longer to tune the wire for proper length at your desired band, but once you’ve found the right length, it’s a matter of slinging up the EFHW wire to your desired or most convenient configuration.
DX contacts
Update 2024–02–21: I was able to make my first DX contacts on this portable radio and antenna. I had QSOs with Seong HL4CDA in Seo Gwi Po City, South Korea (~2,000Km) and Iskandar YE8UI in Koto Gorontalo, Indonesia (~1,500Km) on the 40 meter band. It helps that propagation is good this particular evening.
Update 2024–02–27: Happy to report a new DX contact with the USDR+ with Karel JJ0WON in Nagano, Japan around 3,000 Km away. He received me 3x5, while I received his 100 Watts signal at 5x7 on the 20-meter band.
2024–02–29: DX contact with Matt 9W6MST in Sabah.
For prepping, this go-bag/go-kit can be useful for deploying in the field post disaster. For example, expect that a strong earthquake or typhoon can render regular communications down. VHF and UHF can be used for local communications, while for HF, an end-fed halfwave antenna can be easily set up in the field to gather information from stations in other locations, check on friends (and even family members who are also hams), and potentially provide communications support to one’s community.
QSO with Nash 4E1FLD/2 in Baguio City around 250Km away from my location:
Here’s my transmission as recorded by Nash:
My antenna is just strung up two trees:
Checking in to the DU net with Vando 4E9VVN/5 around 500 Km away as net controller:
You can find my earlier review of this radio here:
