Help with Equipment List

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I just passed my General test and I’m ready to start picking up some equipment. This will be my first HF purchase and I want enough to actually go out and make some POTA contacts. I will wait until the black Friday / holiday begin.

Here is what I would like to start with-
– Yeasu FT-891
– Super Antenna
– Bioenno Power 12volt 8amp battery(s)
– DigiRig (for FT8)
– Coax feed line (what lengths would I need?)

What else should I consider or what else would I need? I want enough (for now) to go out and get my feet wet. Make contacts, get involved.

I live in a Condo/HOA so building a base station is out of the question, but with this setup I can go out into the patio or common area of the property and make contacts too.

Moving out of state in a year, so then I’ll be able to build a home base station with a suitable antenna for DXing – but for now, this will work.

ANY suggestions are welcome and everything is open to discussion.

thanks for your time and help,

john-
KN6FVK

[Ted Trost]

Hello, John.

I have some thoughts. 🙂

First, when you do POTA, how far will you need to carry your equipment?

Will you continue with POTA much once you have a base station?

The reason I ask is because the FT-891 is a nice POTA radio, but lacks many of the features that are available in a slightly larger radio that you would use as a base station. Many people use their FT-891 as a base station with no problem, but you may prefer the additional features available with a larger radio.

If you don’t have to lug your stuff far during POTA, and/or don’t plan on much POTA radio after you move, you may want to just get a “better” radio now.

As for the coax length, “As short as possible, but as long as necessary.” It really depends on how far from your antenna you will be.   For POTA, I have two 25-foot lengths and a barrel connector to join them if 50 feet are needed. I find that a single 25-foot coax is good enough for 90% of my outdoor work (and the other piece works as a “backup” when things inevitably go wrong).

Make sure your coax has PL-259 connectors on both ends, as that’s what the FT-891 and the Super Antenna both use.

[Nashua Area Radio Society]

Oh goodness.  Yeah, there are a lot of things you might want, and a way to keep them all sorted.  Perhaps a bright surveyors 1″ wide orange tape or something similar to mark coax runs, guy lines?

Toolkit with screwdriver, pliers and whatever else you might need to work with the superantenna.  The radial tabs get loose on mine so having tools to fix little things is nice to have.

I’m sure others will chime in here with their thoughts.  One last thing to do, once you’ve acquired your setup, is to take it all outside and do a dry run before you trek any distance for a POTA setup.  You’ll be surprised what you forgot 😀

[Anonymous]

Ted-
The wife is an avid hiker, so I’ll probably be tagging along up the trails (vs sitting in the car/park bench). But if I do decide to slow down on POTA, then the FT-891 will go into the car as a mobile unit. Using the FT-891 as a base unit (for now) will let me sit at home and learn all the digital modes. After we have moved, I will definitely be looking for a more robust/feature rich base station. I’ve added two 25′ cables with PL-259 ends and some barrel connectors to the list (good idea).

Fleet-
I do like the color coding idea (with tape). I task specific tool kit is something I hadn’t thought about. Added to the list.

 

Thank you both for your input & help.

[Anonymous]

Cables, connectors, etc.

Just got me to thinking. What is a good online “Radio Shack” to buy components from?

[Brian Quick]

Hi John,

You’re going to have to rethink your battery or turn your Transmit power way down.    Your transmitter will draw 23amps at full power out.  By turning your transmit power down to like 20W you only draw around 6amps.  If you draw too much power from the battery the transceiver will just shut itself off.   I’m not sure if the <span style=”background-color: #fbfbfb;”><span style=”color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Lato, sans-serif;”><span style=”font-size: 12px;”>Bioenno Power 12volt 8amp battery </span></span></span>has a Battery Management System (BMS) that will protect itself, otherwise it is possible to also damage the battery.

Brian

W1XMM

[Anonymous]

Hi Brian,

For POTA, my intentions are to use low power. From all the discussions and videos I’ve watched. The majority of users keep it at 15-20W. The 6 and 8 amp batteries are a good size for a radio pouch.

I’m still reading and learning about batteries, but it looks like BMS is built into the batteries. I just found this company too, with a sale going on now.

https://ipowerqueen.com/

thanks for the input, it’s appreciated.

john-

 

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