Part of our Yaesu FTX-1: The Complete Guide.
The FTX-1 Field Head is built for exactly this kind of use, and after a bunch of activations, my kit has settled into something I don’t second-guess before I leave the house anymore. Here’s what’s actually in it.
The radio and antenna
Just the Field Head, no SPA-1 for a typical activation, since 5-10W is plenty for POTA and keeps the whole kit lighter. For an antenna, I usually bring the Spooltenna Ultra, it deploys and packs down faster than almost anything else in my bag, covers the bands I care about for HF activations, and doesn’t need a counterpoise or ground system to get on the air. If the site allows a mast, I’ll bring one of the Chameleon Porta Masts to get it higher.
Power
The Field Head’s internal battery covers a couple hours of typical activation use, but I bring my DIY 100Ah LiFePO4 battery box for anything longer or if I know I’ll be running digital modes, which draw more continuously than ragchewing SSB. Having external power also means I’m not managing battery anxiety while trying to actually make contacts.
Logging in the field
I log on paper as a backup no matter what, but for the primary log I use a phone app or a small laptop depending on how much gear I’m willing to carry that day. If I’m running digital modes, the FTX-1’s built-in digital interface connects straight to a small laptop over USB, no external sound card or interface box needed, and WSJT-X handles logging automatically from there.
The full checklist
- FTX-1 Field Head, charged, plus a spare battery or the LiFePO4 box for longer sessions.
- Spooltenna Ultra and enough paracord or a Porta Mast to get it up.
- Coax, a BNC to whatever connector your antenna needs, and a spare in case one fails.
- A single USB cable for digital modes, the FTX-1’s built-in interface handles the rest.
- Paper log, pencil, and a pre-printed callsign and grid square cheat sheet for quick reference.
- Garmin inReach for safety communication, separate from the radio entirely.
- Water, sunscreen, and enough layers for the actual weather, not the forecast.
What I learned skipping steps early on
My first few activations I under-packed power and over-packed everything else. The radio itself is rarely the failure point, running out of battery or fighting a tangled antenna deployment is what actually eats your activation time. Simplify the kit until setup and teardown both take under ten minutes, and the rest takes care of itself.