Too cold to camp (21F!), too stubborn to skip, I worked Winter Field Day from home this year. Made a couple dozen contacts spread across seven band/mode combinations, and ran everything off of a medium-large LiFePO battery. BTW, it was the battery that really convinced me to stay home this year – those things do not like sub-freezing temperatures. Sure, I could have managed it, but it just didn't sound like fun.
So... things learned? The FTdx-1200 averages about 4 amps draw when operating. The HP/Linux laptop and charger combo takes about 3 AH to top back up. After months of using a plug-into-wall-socket power supply, it took longer than expected to get all the parts together and get running on the battery. Patience pays, because in the last hour, repeated PSK-31 calls on 15m yielded two contacts in one four minute period – and then the 15m band promptly shut back down again.
Next up... I need to get to the woods to sort out some novel inverted-V configurations for larger zepp antennas. That'll make for a nice camping trip in more friendly weather. I really, really want to get slow-scan TV working on my linux laptop. Finally, I need to finish the satcoms antenna project. I mean the UHF antenna has been *that* close for over a year. That's enough of a list for now.
Anyway, once again and despite being stuck indoors this year, WFD was fun and it helped shake out a few unknowns.
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