Category: Manpack

  • My First POTA Activation: What I Wish I Knew Beforehand

    I had the gear, I had the callsign, and I still made almost every rookie mistake possible on my first Parks on the Air activation. Here is what I would tell myself beforehand.

  • Building a Xiegu G90 Manpack: 20 Watts of Highly Portable HF

    My G90 build: an Armoloq cage, Armoloq RF relocation adapters, a Digirig for digital ops, and probably the best integrated tuner I’ve used on any field radio.

  • The AnyTone AT-D578UV III Plus: Why I Own Three of Them

    One radio in the Jeep, one in the manpack, one in the shack. Here’s why the AT-D578UV III Plus earned three spots in my setup instead of one.

  • Building the Ultimate POTA Go-Bag

    A good POTA go-bag is the difference between setting up in ten minutes and fumbling around a picnic table for forty five. Here is what actually lives in mine.

  • Choosing a Backpack for a Portable HF Setup

    A backpack is easy to overlook when you’re planning a portable HF setup, most of the attention goes to the radio, the antenna, the battery. But the wrong pack turns a good kit into an awkward, uncomfortable carry, and the right one disappears into the background of a successful activation. Weight distribution matters more than…

  • Building a Digital Voice Manpack: DMR or D-STAR On the Go

    Most of the manpack builds I’ve written about center on HF, the FT-891 and G90 manpacks in particular. A digital voice manpack is a different animal, built around VHF/UHF digital voice for a different kind of portable capability entirely. Why build a digital voice manpack at all An HF manpack gets you long-distance contacts independent…

  • Antennas, Bands, and Radios the Military Actually Uses (and Why)

    Military communications planning faces the same physics hams do, just with different priorities. Here is a look at the bands, antennas, and radios that show up again and again in tactical use.

  • Building a Yaesu FT-891 Manpack: 100 Watts of Portable HF Power

    My FT-891 riding in an Armoloq cage, powered off a 100Ah battery box in the field. No waterfall, no built-in tuner, but nothing else in this price range touches it for POTA and SOTA.

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