HFPack setup

My basic HFPack setup is described here. There have been some changes since this was first written and posted to the Yahoo HFpack Group. I have revised the text where appropriate.

RIG: FT-817 with neck strap, worn so the rig is on my chest, operating at 2.5w on the internal (Maha) battery pack.

TUNER: I originally used my MFJ 16010 L-network tuner. This is a very small and light tuner, and has since been replaced with my home-brew Fishing Pole Tuner. I recently bought a big piece of "non-slip pad" at K-Mart, in the Automotive Section. I cut a small piece and put it between the tuner and the top of the rig, then put a strip under the rig and a third piece on top of the tuner. I fastened the whole thing together with a short, 3/4-inch wide nylon strap. The tuner might as well be bolted down: it won't budge with this setup. The tuner is connected to the rig with a short coax jumper. A similar approach could be used with any small tuner. The counterpoise is my standard quarter-wavelength counterpoise with single-conductor Molex connectors in line so that it can be adjusted for any band between 40m and 10m. (Later replaced with a lighter version made with smaller gauge wire and "snap connectors" from Radio Shack.)

ANTENNA: I had some wire and I had this pole... The antenna is built on a 20-foot Black Widow telescoping fiberglass fishing pole (from Cablea's -- I am told it is no longer stocked by them, but similar poles may be available from WorldRadio and other sources), and is basically a "random wire" -- no attempt was made to make something that would work without a tuner. I started with about 35 feet of #16 insulated, stranded wire (half-wavelength on 20m -- just because I had to start somewhere). I attached the wire to the top of the pole, and wound it down the pole at a reasonably even rate, at about one to two turns per inch. (You will have to experiment with the turn rate to make the available wire fit on the available pole.) For the first few feet it is easier to wind the turns at a wider spacing because of the small diameter of the pole, but after about three feet it is possible to achieve the closer spacing. I fastened the wire about three feet from the bottom of the pole and left about three and one-half feet of wire free to connect to the tuner with a banana plug. About the fastening method: I had some half inch Velcro strips with an adhesive back. I cut three six-inch strips each of the loops and the hooks. I stuck the glue sides together so that I had three six-inch strips with loops on one side and hooks on the other. When wrapped around the pole the hooks and loops engage and the wire is captured in place. (I have found that the pole will collapse due to the shock of your footsteps, so it is best to tape the joints prior to winding the wire. At first I used black vinyl tape, but later settled on Scotch Safe-release Masking Tape.)

OPERATION: With the rig's strap around my neck, the pole is held in one hand and is steadied against my hip or thigh, (or rested on the ground when stopped). This gives one hand free for the mic, tuning, volume, etc. A boom mic was subsequently added to allow a free hand.

I hope this write-up provides others with some ideas on how to get started.

Here are the pictures:

Headed out to the pasture for /PM operations. Note rig on neck strap with tuner at bottom, yellow counterpoise wire trailing to my left. Boom mic visible on my right cheek.

Rig and tuner on neck strap. Note red antenna wire and yellow counterpoise wire.

Full length of the antenna pole is shown.