POTA on the cheap. How much does money does it really take to get on the air?
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- čas přidán 10. 06. 2023
- Let's talk about what is probably the biggest barrier to entry in portable ops (POTA, SOTA, etc)......COST! HF stuff is expensive. A quality QRP all mode rig can cost upwards of $1500 to $2000. CW only QRP radios can be had much cheaper, but even then, they're not inexpensive and you NEED to know Morse code to use one. In this video I go through my idea of a budget setup. This is literally everything you need to get on the air be it SSB, CW, or digital (minus a computer or other device for digital). Is this an optimum setup? Nope. Will it get the job done? Yep. I've made SSB contacts as far as the Dominican Republic with this exact setup, and CW as contacts as far as Spain. If you want to get your foot in the door without breaking the bank, this just might be the ticket. Thanks for watching and 73!
(tr)uSDX: dl2man.de/where-to-buy-trusdx/
Battery: amz.run/6mS9
Speaker: amz.run/6mSA
Coax: amz.run/6mSB
BNC Binding Post: amz.run/6mSC
Wire: amz.run/6mSD
12V Cable: amz.run/6mSE
Adapter: amz.run/6mSF
CW Keys: cwmorse.us/
Digirig: tinyurl.com/4vfn9mvp
Evan
K2EJT
www.buymeacoffee.com/k2ejt
Basically have this same setup or the majority of it. It's not my only rig but it's a fun and challenging option. I'll be activating parks next week with mine...but I'll have a Xiegu 6100 as backup.
Thanks for the great videos!
I keep that same Talentcell battery in my backpack, it’s actually quite good. I use it with all my radios, and charge my GoPro and phone off of it. Great piece of kit! Great video and recommendations for a low cost portable kit. I agree with your comments on the (tr)usdx. It gets the job done, but it’s not particularly refined. I didn’t keep it long, but it’s a fascinating product.
Yeah, the (tr)uSDX is kinda weird, and like you said, not very refined. It's getting better though with each firmware update. It even has a panadapter now. Really the only reason I chose that radio for this was that it's so inexpensive and will do literally anything someone needs it to do. There are obviously better radio options out there, even for beginner. I'll talk about some of that in my next gear video. Thanks for watching Aaron!
Thanks Evan, you inspire ideas and help folks get on the air! Keep them coming.
Thanks Ed!
Great video, Evan. Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
👍🏾👌🏾⚖
Evan, good video thanks, but you overlooked the cheapest option for getting on the air for POTA or SOTA......the lowly handheld. My first 2 SOTA activations were done with a $30 Baofeng handheld. There are still a good number of activations going on in the world on 2 meters and 70 cm. And then if you add to that a $10 tape measure yagi, it is surprising just how far you can make a 5 watt Baofeng work. Cheers Phil ZL2VTH
Very true. The one problem with an HT is that it's geography dependent. Here on the east coast of the United States, there are so many hills, without a ton of really high peaks, so getting out further than a few miles is extremely difficult. Now, if you're in a place where there is a lot of elevation and you can get to a really high peak, you can get out miles and miles with an HT. It hadn't even occurred to me since I can't really use 2M or 70CM here, but you're absolutely right. If that will work for your QTH, that's absolutely the easiest, least expensive way to get into it. Thanks for the comment, and thanks for watching!
Good video. I suppose it helps to define what constitutes "breaking the bank" in the first place. For some $100 might break the bank. For others not so much. What you laid out will certainly work, but 1) I'm not certain how beginner friendly it is and 2) while qrp CAN be fun if the conditions are right, if they aren't well...
So, I approached the problem in a different manner. First off I could in no way justify taking a $1000+ radio out into the field, so I began scouring the used market and found a perfectly serviceable Alinco DX70 for less than $300 (despite being a bit beat up, this radio kicks serious a@@). 80 bucks for a 17ft whip, $60 for a tripod, $25 for some lmr 240/rg 8, $15 for a standard issue cb mirror mount at the local truckstop, another 15 bucks or so for a spool of wire, and $60 bucks for a battery. I have a rig that will work from 20-6m at 100w for less than $600 or so.
There are other new options that will likely provide a better experience at reasonable prices as well. Don't overlook the ubiquitous Xiegu G90. They are what... $450 new and can be found quite regularly used for 3-350 (often times with several accessories). There are also 10-12m mobile rigs that can be considered. The Anytone 6666 is a fantastic little radio for about $250 and hamsticks are cheap and effective especially on the top bands. And there's always the IC-718 if you have a few dollars more (~$650). Rugged, capable, simple to operate, qro and not so huge as to be painful in a portable environment.
All good points. I was looking at it from the standpoint that if you wanted one setup that could do everything (including digital, and be carried deep into the woods or up a summit), then this was probably the least expensive option that ticked all the boxes. I'll be talking about the G90 in my next video, and honestly that's the radio I recommend most people start with. Inexpensive, 20w, awesome tuner, small enough to throw in a pack, runs all of the modes easily. There are a ton of options out there. I just couldn't think of another that was small and light enough to use for something like SOTA, yet full functioned enough you could do JS8Call or FT8 on for anywhere near that price point. Thanks for your input, and thanks for watching!
@@EvanK2EJT no worries. I would also point out that despite what everyone says you 100% can do Ft8 without a digirig or similar. I do it all the time. I hand key the mic because none of my radios have vox. Most of the time I use FT8CN which you mentioned but if I'm using my laptop, I use a $10 Amazon usb sound card and it works fine... or if I'm lazy I just plug straight in.
@@KC3UVF Yeah, you definitely don't need a Digirig. There are lots of ways to get digital modes to work. I just mentioned the digirig because it's inexpensive and it works very well.
Second hand is a good way but keep in mind the truSDX is very light and has very low RX power consumption so you don’t need very big batteries. An old 100W rig will draw 1A on RX a modern rig 2A - that’s a lot of battery power you have to carry. Fine if you have a car with you….
I figure the net upgrade from the (tr)uSDX be the Venus SW-3B QRP CW transceiver.
I have an SW-3B and it's a great little rig. The only reason I chose the (tr)uSDX for this video was that not everyone (or even most people) will do CW, so I wanted something that could also do SSB and Digital. If I had to pick between the (tr)uSDX and the SW-3B for CW, I'd throw the (tr)uSDX in the garbage and happily use the SW-3B LOL. The SW-3B is great to use. The (tr)uSDX gets the job done though, and it's the radio I usually throw in my pack when I want to bring an HF radio with me but I'm not planning on doing an activation or anything. It's more useful in that role.
With pixie and some diy it will be lot cheaper than your highend equipment :P
Yeah, but then you're stuck on one band (or one frequency which is even worse), QRPp, and CW only. I couldn't think of a cheaper way for a NEW op to get into POTA and be able to do CW, SSB, and Digital without having to have major compromises.
@@EvanK2EJT Yeah, you are right.
And now the QMX is out now too. Lots of cute stuff in the last years.
73
What's a good way to get the dipole into the air? Rope into tree? Any good cheap mast options?
I use a throw line and a Weaver throw weight, but you can use pretty much any smaller diameter rope and a bag full of rocks (done that many times). As for masts, it depends on what you want to do. You can get a 24' telescoping painter's pole for like $30 and it'll get the job done. If you want something to carry out into the woods, there are lots of masts, but they vary wildly in price, weight, height, and quality. Thanks for watching!
I’d love to get links to all this stuff.
I'll try to put together a list later and post it in the video description. Thanks for watching!
Just figured I'd give you a heads up. I posted links to everything in the video description
@@EvanK2EJT very cool of you. Thanks!
@@nickfrazier8013 No problem at all. I probably should have done that to begin with.