Operating Field Portable with Amateur Radio Kit

ALWAYS PORTABLE

LETS TALK WHAT KIT 

Topics.

The Transceiver / The Antennas / The Power System

Protection and carry kit

MILITARY VS AMATEUR

CODAN 2110M

From the typical Military manpack style of radio,that is not freely available to the General Public.
We embark on a journey to build a Radio System to be electrically equal to the Military radios listed below,made with existing amateur radio equipment to be used by Amateur Radio operators outdoors.

no encryption,just your basic Analogue AM/FM/SSB/CW/DIGI/PKT HF Transceiver.A means of powering and charging in the field with wire antennas. So a simple task of procuring and assembling the kit to make a working radio system.First THE RADIO TRANSCEIVERS.

BARRETT

HARRIS

The Modified OD 897 DSE

THE OD897DSE is a custom modified radio for field use by those who want to pay a little extra,Sporting 125W of power on HF 60W of power on VHF and 30W of power on UHF,Also fitted with full filter kit and  Temperature Controlled Crystal Oscillator (TCXO) the Audio interface now sporting a preamp from RODE in Australia and a condenser mic element straight from a RODE NTG2 Shotgun mic,the Audio on HF is said to rival many of the big guns audio quality while out Portable,This combined with a fully opened TX ability (WILL NOT TX on Air band or Broadcast Bands ) giving better than average performance for what was a sub £1000:00 radio will now cost you as it stands £1800:00.NO OFFERS.

So from the Three major manufacturers of the Amateur Radio World we have:

 KENWOOD          ICOM              YAESU

 From

 KENWOOD we have the TS480SAT 100W HF only radio with built in Auto Antenna Tuner

From

 ICOM The IC7200 another 100W HF only radio,No tuner but TPB IF filtering.

From
 YAESU The FT-897D The only Shack in a box in this line up.Again 100W but with the added advantage of 2m (VHF) and 70Cm (UHF) Bands.



Each has their Good and Bad points ,but lets just look for the good.The Amateur Transceivers listed here are going to be used outdoors,so need to be reasonably robust,they will all be in Dry bags and carried in by Bergen.

The Cyclops Vulcan

The Dry Bags

OK lets not beat about the bush ,they're not cheap for the average buyer,but we kept it under a Grand per radio,lets look at what it is we are putting together.

List of Basic Parameters..100W max Power up the spout.Man Packable,at least Eight hours of use,robust (NOT INDESTRUCTIBLE) nor waterproof,full coverage from top band (160m) through Six meters.now as we all know the radios can be modified to TX outside of the Licenced bands be you in the UK,USA,AUSTRALIA,EUROPE or for that matter the rest of the Planet EARTH,but for now we will not be talking modified,just off the Shelf.OK as good as the Yaesu ft 817 and 857 are these are not the radios for this particular build.

The 817nd and the 857D are great bits of kit,and yes the FT-857D is a 100W radio that complies
with all of the requested parameters, but not for 
What we have in mind for the manpack build....

Step 2.

ANTENNAS.

This is a massive subject,and should not be taken lightly.

From Military Kevlar Wire Antennas (Above BushComm Kevlar Military) through to your home brew Wire antennas,like these shown Below,Using the Kevlar 32D 5KW wire for End fed,Doublet,Basic Dipole or as I have Delta Style antennas ,this is great cable if you can get it but any conducting wire will make an antenna,as for life span,flexibility and ease of use this has to be on of my favourite types of wire.

The Components strewn across my cot are the 32D wire,RG223 50R coax insulators and a 4:1 BalUn.The result was a Delta Pi Antenna making a 42m triangle,which while on test on 40m was making contacts out to 2000 miles with just 3W pep.

Electrical characteristics for the antenna are below..

The other antennas I use are all home brew and are Thus..The DIPOLE 80m through 10m, the delta pi antenna will cope with 40m 20m 10m without a tuner VSWR <1.5:1. the squid pole antenna again needs a tuner nut works fine with good conditions on HF.

80m to 10m Centre fed Dipole Needs Tuner

40m,20m,10m Delta Pi No Tuner Required

17m to 6m Squid pole antenna needs tuner

like i said similar antennas to the ones I have built are available from Kevlar Wire Antennas from BUSHCOMM Australia  but are available from all over the world , other Kevlar wire antennas are pictured below.

From the UK we Have G whip

From Australia BushComm Antennas

And many more around the world both Amateur an Military

ELECTRICITY.

 

 Now its all good and well having this kit, but now we have to feed it,

POWER

Batteries.

When talking about operating in the outdoors the first power source we all think of is a Battery.the Military have both the finances and tech ability to have the newest and best ,as Amateurs we make do with what we can get on a limited budget.
the old faithful robust and reliable
 SLAB
 ( Sealed Lead Acid Battery) is the cheapest,easiest form of portable power even today,yes its heavy but it's a good starting point,LiPo,LiFePo,and even large Capacitors are now being used to lighten the load and provide the necessary capacity for a typical days operating.The SLA battery is the best choice for many uses; it is rugged, will not leak, easily rechargeable, and offers a good amount of energy in a convenient form. The primary drawback is the weight of the cell. To get the most out of SLA batteries takes just a few precautions in their use and care.

SLA batteries can be charged with a current limited, regulated voltage source. A 12V battery should be charged to a around 14.5 to 14.7V if a quick charge is desired. After the battery is fully charged this voltage should be reduced to about 13.5V to maintain the charge or the cell should be removed from the charger. The lower maintaining voltage is often referred to as "float" charge. A good battery charger will do this automatically, making charging relatively fool proof and will not damage the battery if left connected.

Most rechargeable batteries (Including NiCd, NiMH and SLA, but not Lithium Ion) suffer from self discharge, a small leakage current in the battery that will discharge the battery when not in use. After several weeks a significant portion of the battery's stored energy will be gone. To combat this problem, simply charge the battery before use, or utilise a float charger to keep the battery charged until use.

When checking a battery for full charge you need simply measure the battery voltage. This is done in the "open" state, with nothing connected to the battery. Use a voltmeter to simply measure the battery voltage and look for a reading around 12.5V (give or take a couple tenths of a volt depending upon the temperature of the battery). If the battery was just removed from a charger the reading will be high and will take a few minutes to relax to the open cell voltage. A discharged battery will read lower than this, but not a great deal lower, usually around or just below 12V with no load on it. When an SLA battery fails, it usually has one or more bad cells inside. Each cell contributes 2V to the battery voltage with six cells making up a 12V battery. Thus if the reading is two volts low, even after charging, the battery has a bad internal cell and should be replaced.

Heat is the enemy of SLA's, and indeed most battery types. Heat degrades the electrolytes and increases the rate of self discharge, causing a battery to slowly discharge when not in use. Rechargeable batteries should be stored in a cool place when not in use. A few days in a hot vehicle will probably not significantly damage a battery, but more than that certainly will.

Overdisharge of an SLA battery is a quick way to kill it. A battery should not be allowed to go below 1/2 its rated voltage, or 6V for a 12V battery. Properly designed devices meant to use this type of battery should contain circuitry to automatically shut off when the voltage gets too low (this is true of our IR lamps). This is also the reason that SLA batteries should be stored charged, as self discharge will eventually completely discharge the battery and damage it. Thus these batteries should always be charged after use and charged every few months if stored unused for extended periods.

Lead acid batteries can supply a great deal of current, enough current to create a hazard if the battery output is shorted. A short can result in melted wiring, badly damaged equipment, and even the danger of fire. The battery circuit should ALWAYS have an appropriately rated fuse in it.

SLA batteries contain a large amount of lead, a toxic heavy metal, and should never be thrown away, but should be recycled in a battery recycling program. Indeed, unsafe disposal of a lead acid battery is against both federal and many local laws. Many city and county waste programs have a lead-acid battery collection point or pickup for recycling. Many battery retailers also accept batteries for recycling. Sealed lead acid batteries are chemically identical to automotive batteries and can be recycled by the same programs.

Although there appear to be many problems with SLA batteries, problems are easily avoided by remembering the following points...

    Always keep the batteries charged
    Store the batteries in a cool place
    Use the battery with a fuse and with devices designed to use this type of power source
    Dispose of SLA batteries in a battery recycling program

DON'T BE A TIT AND SHORT YOUR BATTERIES

FIRE,BURNS,DAMAGE,EXPLOSION,DEATH 

WILL BE THE RESULT

 Mummy will not be happy if we send home a charcoal briquette instead of her Baby

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED 

and i accept NO responsibility 

for you being a total Muppet and hurting or killing yourself, Got it?

GOOD

YUASA NP17-12 (above) 

THE MILITARY TOYS

CHARGING and FIELD POWER

The two obvious choices when combined make a great setup

WIND & SOLAR

So what do I have?

well at the moment a home brew 135W solar PSU

At a nominal 13.5V we can, on a good day top 135W or 10A indeed useful enough for a portable station,giving a usable output power on the radio of around 50W.
The output of the panels go through two 35A Diodes which are then connected to the MPPT charge controller and on to the Batteries.The main Reservoir being an NP24-12, 24Ah Yuasa SLAB.For the radios in this blog,Yaesu,Icom,Kenwood the NP17-12 is used as the power supply,once depleted is swapped for the same type of battery being charged on the Solar PSU.
The System is not as aesthetically pleasing as the military kit nor do we yet have a Wind turbine but it works.

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