NØEQ Rapid Deploy Station
... Portable Remote, in minutes.
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Park to QSO - 5 minutes Here's the description of my rapid deploy ham radio station. It can be set up with any of several different antennas, power sources etc. These photos show setup using my van which is typical of my operations. The desert spot shown in the photos is detailed at my Urban Desert Ops page. The goal of my rapid deploy station, is to be able to setup AND breakdown in 5 minutes or less. Lots of people concentrate on the setUP time but overlook the breakdown time. In the desert, weather, animals, intruders can threaten quickly and require a fast bug out. |
  
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1...2...3...comms! After parking the van... 1 - Open the side door 2 - Unload beach chair and table 3 - Set ham station on table, unzip Talk! Pack the components in logical order. LIFO = Last In First Out I want the plastic table OUT first therefore I pack it IN last. |
 
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Ready for an Operator Add about 60 seconds to the mix for this particular iteration, to screw a hamstick into the roof mount. The coax stays pre- connected to the antenna mounts. They only require plugging into the tuner/radio. Have a seat, hit the power button, hit the autotuner button. Power is supplied by a normal auto battery located in a marine box just inside the door of the van. If desired, I can carry that battery to the station, if setup farther from the vehicle. |
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Readin' the Hamstick There's a 20m Hamstick on the mount that's dead center on the van roof. Here's the MFJ analyzer readout. 1.5:1 SWR without a tuner Perfect vertical impedance, 72 ohms. Reactance at a very acceptable 11. |
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What's What (kind of) Clockwise from 3 o'clock... - Time(zulu)/Temp/Humidity meter - Code paddles - Logbook and pencil - PTT switch w/ velcro loop - Aviation headset - LDG Autotuner - Yaesu 857 transceiver - Audio breakout box (bottom) - Mic preamp box (above breakout box) - LDG multifunction meter - Local time clock. Not very visible in this pic is a West Mountain electrical power meter, mounted above the tranceiver. It keeps tabs on voltage and current use. UPDATE: The components in this rack mount station have been modified! See - Green Radios |
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Makin' Contacts I am actually in QSO here with K5ML, K9KEJ and NI7J. I had to QRO to at least 50 watts to get a good signal report from K5ML. The other two stations, Mickey and Ron were closer (Ron was mobile just miles away. They heard me great on 5 watts. Visible near my left shoe is the ground strap that connects all the cases in the station to one point. It's DRY in the desert. TOUCH GROUND to clear static electricity from your fingers before you start operating. Likewise ground any antenna feedlines before making connections by simply touching the center pin of the PL259 to the ground braid. |
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