I firmly believe that, despite the physics behind HF communications there is an element of magic too. Being able to send a signal from a simple piece of wire and have that signal bounce off the edge of space and round the world to be picked up by someone else’s simple bit of wire and for them to hear you and communicate with you – pure magic.
For me, that magic is amplified many times when working portable. Everything about my system is just that little bit simpler; the radio is usually a small QRP rig, often one I have made from a kit, the antenna is very basic – a linked dipole or a ¼ wave vertical, my paddle is a basic twin lever etc. And everything is powered of a cheap 3s lipo pack or a lifepo4 pack.
This simple kit can be set up pretty much anywhere and, as well as just having normal QSO’s whilst out and about, there are many activities that you can take part in: Parks on the Air (POTA), Summits on the Air (SOTA), Bunkers on the Air (BOTA), Worldwide Flora and Fauna (WWFF) and among others.
The excitement of being sat out in the wilderness, or even just a local park and being able to talk to people around the world using whichever mode you choose, being completely self-sufficient – no cellphone network, no internet or WiFi, just you, a battery powered radio, a bit of wire and physics – is hard to beat.
My first experience of working portable was whilst on holiday in Cyprus. I was in the final week of the CWOPS Academy Advanced module and had initially been planning on working mainly SSB however since the CW bug had bitten my plans changed and I decided I would try using only CW. I had acquired a lovely little Elecraft K2 and took this together my W1SFR Fat Boy Cootie Paddle and a Buddipole Buddistick antenna, found a spot by the shoreline and started calling CQ.
Whilst I did not have a huge number of QSOs whilst I was there, I became hooked on the idea of portable operations and when I returned the to the UK, I started to refine my /p kit so that I could work effectively in the Peak District and surrounding areas. I will go into further detail of my /p kit shortly.
Since then I have worked from various beautiful spots in the Peak District, from local parks and woodlands, country parks and most recently Tenerife. I have worked stations all over Europe, the US and as far afield as New Zealand. All from the same simple kit. As I say, pure magic.
Vy 73 de Danny M0SDB