For nice build for hobby/ rec use! I don’t see it being used for any kind of redundant or emergency communications as the size and setup( radio/ software) dosent seem practical.
In the time since I built that rig, I've come to agree. I tried to make it "cool" instead of practical. It's too heavy, too big, needs a higher quality/more capable radio, LiFePo batt, and a small headless PC instead of an RPi. I'm thinking of making a video about precisely that, along with a more practical build. I'm always open to suggestions!
Nice build. I like how clean it looks and love the PI monitor as well. As noted by many others, I would love to see under the top plate how you have everything positioned and connected.
Hello, After the earthquake we experienced in our country, we realized how important it is to communicate. Your portable work has inspired us, we will use it as a diagram if you allow. Greetings from Turkey, the cradle of civilizations.
Good project Harvey! Remember, a bad day off is better than a good day at work. A good day off is meant for memories to last a lifetime or at least the kind of memories we want to store in our brains, lol. This is a good antenna to take camping, however, regulations vary considerably regarding where you are allowed to use tent stakes. In the tent camping areas generally, there is no issue pounding in stakes. However, the day-use areas may not allow this due to various reasons relating to buried water lines and perceived damage to vegetation. I never argue with the park ranger, I just use it for ways to get inventive. For example, the USFS does not want you to tie ropes to trees (rules points to hammocks) but if you put a towel or a wide strap (instead) under the rope they are happy. Often the rules operate in shades of gray, lol. My interaction with the rules is with POTA activations and each property is unique, and often I need to carry 2-3 types of antennas with me as I never know if I will need to work with trees, or if there are no trees for miles, or if the Ranger is having a good or bad day, AND whether the local residents will stop by to see if I am a foreign spy trying to talk to Boris and Nitasha, LOL. Cheers es 73, Dave - KU9L
THE most offensive “survival” kit on the market. At least the Coughlan’s sardine can tries to address actual core survival principles and even it is a stocking stuffer joke. They’d probably sell more of these (with greater integrity) if they called them the “you’re dead, sucker! Doodad kit” and made it a kitschy kit. Better yet go with the Sardonic Survival Kit: includes a cigarette, Xanax, airplane shot and sun glasses.
Hello from North Texas. Nice video. I have subscribed and liked. I am currently putting in HF antennas in my truck and hope to be HF mobile soon. All the best, 73 de KI5HXM
Mini Solar Winter Tip: You can steplessly dim down a Beuler and all other hungry electricity consumers with a 5000W dimmer (EUR 7). I run 5 dimmers in parallel on an 850W inverter. Kettle 2.2KW at 150W runs 12 hours a day, so the water is always hot. The room is also nicely heated. 2.5KW washing machine runs in parallel with dimmed to 200...400W. Iron, dishwasher, oven, electric heater, coffee machine, all internal heating are throttled with me. Videos about it on my channel ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eC2olbCBhh0.html The inverter stays cool, quiet and the MOSFETs remain intact because extreme current peaks no longer arrive at the inverter. Now every Mini PV Inverter is enough to sell large devices...
I have a collapsable fiberglass flag pole which all the pieces fit inside the main mast which is around 4' and extends to 24' six pieces all together. Cool setup!
Not trying to be a douche, and of course I might have missed the explanation, and I do like your build - and go box! Since it's meant to be portable, wouldn't it just be easier to pull it up into some branches? I could see weatherproof for a base camp, but for hiking, that's sort of extra trouble.... Well done though! Have the same ed fong hanging in a 3rd story window on an HD and get great compliments on the signal..
A message for 6 months later :-) Yes, yes it would. I have paracord to do exactly that, but I'm in a part of the country where trees are sometimes few and far between. Besides, I wanted to build a pvc thing :-) If I had a tree nearby, I would absolutely use it (if I weren't simply trying to test my little creation).
I am building my Ham shack box when all the parts get here. Do you have a 2meter 440 solution. I going to use a apache 5800 for the box. Nice video. KO4NLI 73
Thanks for watching! The radio in my box is a dual band radio (2m/440). I use a portable j-pole antenna I can roll up and carry with me. When I deploy in the field, I usually hang the antenna off a tree or use the PVC antenna mast you see in the video to get it up in the air 7 or 8 feet high (higher is better, of course). I think the Apache 5800 will work just fine for your project. Good luck and please share your progress and results! 73!
Being a Linux/MAC OS user only I also stumbled upon the dilemma on how to run winlink and VARA modem on my go box raspberry pi using the Signalink and the KX3, well The PI4 with 8 gigabytes of RAM can run Windows 10 flawlessy (at least for what I need to do) so I carry two SD cards in the box, one for Raspian and one for Windows, so if I need to run Winlink/VARA to send or receive email while out camping, then I insert the Windows 10 SD card into the Pi and I'm in bussines.
I see from QRZ you got your general, have you started building HF antennas yet? Glad to see another HAM from Austin on YT, although technically I'm not from Austin, I'm from Pflugerville. Hope to catch you on the air 73 - KI5BXN
A QSO with a tree squirrel is a success? That's a lot of work, bulk, and equipment for a failed 2M contact. It's a nice set up, and you obviously put a lot of thought and effort into the gear and layout, but if you don't make contacts, then why bother? If ham radio was all about how cool your equipment is, you'd probably win something. It's unfortunate that you let 2m (and passive APRS) define ham radio for you. A 20m CW HF kit radio and a wire antenna (deployed using the hundreds of "masts" around you) would have opened just about the entire country to you. Morse code is challenging, but the effort to learn and use it beats talking to the squirrels. You obviously have the technical skills to build a nice HF kit (Google QRP Labs). You could also build an nice, truly portable HF antenna (check out KM4ACK and QRP Guys). Transistor batteries can power some of this equipment, but a small LiFePO4 pack isn't that expensive (especially if you can build your own). 73.
Thanks for your comment, Pat. I encourage you to watch my other videos as I continue my stated goal of growing from a newbie HAM to a more seasoned user, sharing my experience of experimenting with amateur radio (what real HAMs do) and using it as an educational resource, inspiration, and reassuring source of victories, mistakes, and lessons learned. Learning is fun, and the lessons stick better when you learn through experience, eh?
It's 1" inner diameter regular ol' schedule 40 PVC pipe. This is the exact pipe I use: www.homedepot.com/p/JM-EAGLE-1-in-x-10-ft-PVC-Schedule-40-Plain-End-Pipe-531194/202280936
Tried to use that same QYT quad band. Had issues immediately. No way would I trust that radio in an emergency. Ended up installing an Icom 2730a. Also, like the Pi intergraded into the box. I might go to the next box size up from what I have and install mi Pi, buck converter, and Shari that makes up my AllStar Node. Like those Wago connectors you are using. Those are a bit pricey, but are easily reusable and adjustable. I typically install Blue Sea fuse boxes in my go boxes. Good quality, each accessory is individually fused, and makes for a nice clean and simple setup.
Yeah. The QYT is, um, adequate. Don't be surprised if you see a future video where I talk about swapping it out with a more reliable radio, not to mention a Pi4. I'm currently working on a new project building a power box. Of course, I will be installing a fuse box in it, and very likely ordering another one to retrofit into this go box.
For the extra switch: It is possible to use the Raspberry Pi without a monitor. For instance, you could use a table to SSH into the Raspberry over a WiFi network run by the Pi itself. Then you wouldn't need to power the display. So you could use one switch to power on the Pi and a separate switch for the monitor.
Repeat, nice job! One recommendation from what I learned building my first: Use barrel nuts or (easier to find) acorn nuts. They cap off the support bolts neatly AND prevent gouges to the arm. Just use bolts that will not be more than 1/5" an inch above the the cover panel. Also learned that using nylon locking nuts to set the height of the covering panel and to minimize the length of bolt that is exposed. They can be adjusted to get the cover panel at just the right height. The two bolts trick to lock is okay but a PITA when adjustments are needed. AND...I learned that using a fuse panel with spade connectors with no ground post is easier. You can place a common ground wherever you like and is can help keep the King Rat from forming! LASTLY...I prefer to have my plug-in receptacle (USBs, cigarette lighter, etc.) toward the case hinge. Keeps wires/cords out of the way. Okay, last comment: I am still looking for a speaker to mount on the cover panel. I have a Yaesu FTM-400XDR and the control head is a PITA to position. The radio body is beneath the panel` and the built in speaker gets muffled a bit. I have a cut-out area where I mount the control head on a DIY bracket. It lowers it just enough to close the Apache 2800 case lid and not put much pressure on the control knobs. It does allow for hearing the speaker but I still want the exterior speaker option.
Some cheap no-name brand from Ali Express. They’re TERRIBLE! One died and the other loses about 39 seconds per day. I’ve since purchased a Casio wristwatch that shows UTC and two other time zones simultaneously.
looks pretty good, thanks for the video. Working on one myself and been thinking about posting a video as well. One question i have and am struggling with it myself is how did you mount the screen? I don't want to put holes in the case and wondering how you did it. Keep up the work! 73
Thanks Andrew! Well, I came up with an imperfect solution for the screen. I cut away a square of the padding to expose the hard plastic of the inside of the lid and used industrial Velcro I picked up at Home Depot. It works great unless it gets warm. I was operating one day in 90°F heat and after about half an hour the adhesive holding the Velcro to the lid just gave up. If/when I find a better solution (that's doesn't involve drilling holes) I'll definitely make a video. Thanks!
@@k5hrv605 Thanks for the reply. I thought about using velcro also. Thought about using a VESA mount and using EPOXY to glue it to the lid. Wasn't sure if that would work. I was worried also about the velcro adhesive not sticking to the lid. I wanted to put in a mini PC running SDRPlay with an RSP1A. Plus I could run Chirp to program the radios. Thanks again. Keep up the good work.
