Over the last month, I've assembled everything I'd need to put a portable HF station together and get back on HF Amateur Radio for the first time in four or five years. After forgetting to bring the coax with me to Brunswick last week, this afternoon I was finally able to put in the air after work. I contacted eleven stations from 8 states, a Canadian province, and a DX contact.
I attended several Parks on the Air (POTA) activations with some of the amateur radio operators from the Coastal Amateur Radio Society over the last few months and they gave me the inspiration to get back on HF and suggestions on what to use for an antenna and a battery. I'm using a Yaesu FT-891 HF radio that I've had for awhile but has been gathering dust, powering it with a Bioenno 12 amp hour LiFePo battery and a Chelegance MC-750 portable HF antenna. The MC-750 is very easy to set up by yourself, breaks down into small package for transport and storage, and works remarkably well.
It only took about 15 minutes to get the station set up out of the back of the car. It didn't take long to find WW0WWV, the 106th Anniversary of the WWV time station calling CQ on 20 Meters and after a few calls using 50 watts, I had a QSO with Fred in Wisconsin with a 59 signal report. I couldn't have been more pleased! Over the next hour, I worked 9 Parks on the Air stations at 8 different parks in Alabama, Kansas, Texas, Maryland, New Jersey, Nova Scotia, Tennessee, and New York as well as a DX station in Hungary. I was quite pleased with the results and I'm looking forward to getting it back on the air soon (including trying it on 40 Meters).
WW0WWV, 59/59, Fred in WI, WWV Special Event Station
KQ4TPD, 57/55, US-3708, AL
K4BOS, 57/55, US-3708, AL
AK0A, 59/59, US-2347, KS
KC4EEL, 59/59, US-3000, TX
HA5JI, 59/56, Hungary
N0YY, 59/55, US-4765, MD
KB2SXT, 59/59, US-12644, NJ
VE1RPX, 59/57, CA-5436, Nova Scotia
KO4FX, 59/59, US-2940, TN
NO2N, 55/55, US-5168, NY
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