Presentation of my FT-818 go kit and portable operation to Coron, Palawan on the February SARTS monthly meeting.
Category: 9V1KG
FT-818 portable setup
Finished the setup of my portable station. All components are mounted together using maker beam profiles: FT-818, PA MX-P50M, ATM Z817, Solar charge controller and Computer interface.
Solar Power for portable Operations
Today I tested the first time my new solar power setup for portable operations. I am using a 60 W PowerFilm foldable solar panel and a 5 A MPPT charge controller for a LiFePo4 4S battery. The whole weight is 1600 g including the 5 m connection cable.
It was cloudy day and the sun was most often covered by clouds. The panel is only exposed to 1/3 up to max. 1/2 to the full sunlight, if it is there.
Using a power analyzer, the data show a 1.4 A peak current and 19 W peak power. I was able to charge 10 Wh in about 2 hours. Next time I will try to get the panel under full illumination in the sun and measure again.
The analyzer shows current, voltage and power and in addition peak values for current and power as well as total energy (power integrated over time) in Wh.
QRP tranceiver FT-818ND
VHF/UHF Tranceiver FTM-400XDR
Visit of Stephan DG1BGS
Meeting Stephan, DG1BGS, in Singapore. He is moving to Singapore in 2018 and will apply for a 9V license.
Linear Loaded Dipole for 20 m
As the propagation conditions getting worse for 15 m and 17 m, I extended my linear loaded dipole on both sides by 1.8 m in order to cover the 20 m band. SWR is ok without modification of the 1 : 4 transformation line.
Will see, how it works in the upcoming CQWW DX CW contest.
G5RV Measurements
After replacement of my 80/40 m trap dipole with the G5RV antenna, I made some measurements. The antenna has a height of 12 m at the center, and is hanging as an inverted V with both ends still 4 to 5 meter above ground. The symmetric feeder line is connected via a 1:1 balun to 12.9 m 50 Ohm coaxial cable.
4E1ADW
Finally, I received my amateur license for the Philippines with the call sign 4E1ADW. Now trying to get a 2 letter suffix, like DU1KG or 4E1KG.
DU1 – Tagaytay – Jan 2017
During this visit I had more time to setup my station in Tagytay and test the antennas. I was very impressed by the performance of the spider beam and even the good propagation on the lower bands.