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KH6/WB6FZH Operating QRP from Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii
Greg Greenwood Operates from Honolulu County BL-11 Grid
AO-27 Satellite QRP QSOs from Hawaii to "Mainland" USA
EQUIPMENT CONFIGURATION 1999- TX: Icom 2iA 2meter HT @ 1w/5w output on 145.85 FM (1w output powered by 6xAA alkaline batteries/5w output with 12vdc Cable)
- RX: Realistic PRO-27 Portable Scanner on 436.8mhz FM (powered by 6xAA alkaline batteries/12vdc Cable)
- RX PRE-AMP: Advanced Receiver Research P432VD for 420-450mhz (powered by 8xAA alkaline battery Pack/12vdc cable)
- ANTENNA: Cushcraft A270-10S 2mtr/70cm Yagi Beam Antenna, Hand-held during operation to track satellite. (6 elements each band)
- COAXIAL CABLE: Separate UHF & VHF feedlines, 10' of RG8X coax with connectors & adapters as required.
- POWER SOURCE: Alternate Back-up Battery: Yuasa 12v 7ahr Gell Cell with cables to power all equipment at same time.
- SATELLITE TRACKING: STSPLUS- Print-out of AO-27 AOS/LOS & Elevation /Direction
Field Notes: WB6FZH used standard polarized connectors from Radio Shack for all 12 equipment and accessories. The rubber covered, interlocking 2 conductor for low current, and the High Current 2 conductor Molex for distribution and higher current equipment. The use of homebrew branch adapters and mulitple outlet adapters makes set-up and take-down easy. It also avoids the posiblity of reversing polarity,etc.
This antenna boom separates into 2 pieces and the antenna fits inside the trunk of most cars. It can be disassembed and reassembled at site too. (be sure to have extra hardware, and tools). This station can come out of canvas tool bag and be plugged together in less than 3 minutes. The antenna 2 pieces in about the same time. Complete antenna disassembly is about 5 minutes. Spare alkaline or charged nicad batteries are in zip-lock bags.
A simpler, lighter antenna is the Arrow Antenna that is used by many that have satellite compatible dual-band Handi-talkies.
Consider assembling some of the power and antenna cables, adapters, etc. for your own equipment to configure a similar portable station. You can have quite a variety of configurations with equipment for packet, voice even PC based SSTV,etc that can be deployed quickly into the field in times of disaster or public service event. Radio Shack has pre-assembled 10' & 6' BNC to BNC coaxial cables and adapters for antenna connections.
Last Updated: November 22, 1999
