This previous week, I’ve been revisiting my shack, paring down, and reorganizing. By that, I imply separating the wheat from the chaff and reevaluating my grab-and-go radios and equipment.
Earlier than Hurricane Helene (a second in time I appear to make use of to benchmark occasions now), I picked up a couple of IKEA shelf organizers and was fairly happy with how neatly they displayed my gear. Over time, although, the cabinets turned a bit cluttered, so it was time to present them some care and a focus.
Whereas sorting by way of gear, I stumbled upon a small ditty bag holding my trusty moveable ATU: the Elecraft T1.
I held it in my hand and tried to recall the final time I’d truly used it within the area. Possibly throughout this activation in July 2023? If I’ve used it since then, I can’t bear in mind when.
That second made me understand I’d step by step modified how I pack for area outings with out even noticing.
In my early days of POTA—2019 and 2020—I relied closely on the Elecraft T1 and antenna tuners typically. I liked the flexibleness they supplied when paired with a random wire antenna.
Even now, I usually carry an ATU as a type of first help for antenna malfunctions. Whereas uncommon, these points do occur. Prior to now 5 years, an ATU has saved me twice—as soon as with a damaged Path-Pleasant EFT antenna and as soon as with a Tactical Delta Loop mishap.
For mission-critical activations, similar to distant or uncommon POTA websites, or throughout multi-week household highway journeys, I at all times pack an ATU. It’s a security internet.
With numerous activations underneath my belt, I’ve discovered a couple of issues about myself and my gear:
1. Higher Antenna Deployment
I’ve grow to be extra expert at organising antennas. I now keep away from snag-prone timber and branches and have extra helps when nature doesn’t cooperate.
2. Simpler Activations Because of Extra Hunters
The POTA hunter group has grown exponentially for the reason that early days. Again then, frequency agility was essential as a result of working the identical hunter throughout a number of bands was typically the one option to log ten contacts. It wasn’t uncommon for hunters and activators to coordinate activation occasions and frequencies upfront to extend the possibilities of logging one another.
Today, logging ten contacts is far simpler, whatever the antenna selection–POTA has grown a lot. Living proof: as I write this submit on a Thursday morning at 9:00 AM EST, there are 29 activators noticed on POTA.app. I can bear in mind a time if you wouldn’t see that many activators even throughout a Help Your Parks Weekend, not to mention on a random weekday morning!
For many area actions, I’ve streamlined my setup:
Radios With out Inside ATUs
If my radio lacks an inner ATU, I pair it with a resonant wire antenna that matches the bands I plan to make use of. For instance, a 40-meter EFHW covers 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters with out requiring an ATU. Equally, my 30-meter EFHW with a 40-meter linked extension offers me resonant protection from 40 by way of 10 meters—an ideal match for radios like my TR-45L Skinny.
Radios With Inside ATUs
After I need frequency agility, I pack a radio with an inner ATU, just like the Elecraft KX1, KX2, KX3, KH1, K1, K2, Xiegu X6200, or Mission RGO One. Because the tuner is built-in, there’s nothing additional to hold or arrange.
After all, I nonetheless pack an exterior ATU for sure activations, particularly these far afield or once I use a non-resonant antenna with a radio missing an ATU.
In case you take pleasure in moveable operations and your radio doesn’t have an inner ATU, take into account including a superb exterior ATU to your area package. It offers the flexibleness to function safely on non-resonant bands and might save an activation in case your antenna breaks or is poorly deployed.
As well as, I really feel an ATU is an important a part of any HF emergency communications system.
Not able to spend money on an ATU? At the least carry a spare antenna to the sphere—it’s a easy option to put together for the surprising.
Click on right here to discover extra of my ideas on ATU choices.
Do you pack an exterior ATU on your area outings? If that’s the case, I’d love to listen to about your motivations and experiences!
