HB-1B – WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio

A “Cooler” Idea

When I was in need of a container to transport my QRP rig, my XYL came up with an inexpensive solution. The answer was as close as the nearby grocery store.

A few years ago, I was using a plastic food container to keep my little YouKits HB-1B and accessories organized and protected in transit. It had enough room for the radio, a Li-Ion battery, keyer, paddles, K1 tuner, earphones, my clipboard/paddle mount, and assorted cables and connectors. Life was good until I cracked the plastic box while out in the field for a QRP Skeeter Hunt contest. I started searching for a replacement.

I mentioned my dilemma to my XYL. She came back into the room carrying a nifty insulated lunch box that she was using for a first-aid kit. I emptied out the first aid stuff and found that it could hold all of my radio stuff. I was particularly happy that my clipboard/paddle mount fit in there perfectly. I made a trip to the grocery store where she found the container and bought one for myself.

Arctic Zone Upright HardBody® Lunch Box. This one has seen years of use and now holds my KX3 and accessories.

The box my XYL found was the Upright HardBody® Lunch Box made by Arctic Zone. The outer material is padded for insulation and it has a rigid plastic liner that provides some extra protection. It also comes with an adjustable divider, which might be useful in some cases. There’s an outside pocket that I use to hold a notebook and pencil for logging. At the time, I paid less than $10 USD for it.

Last year, when I bought my KX3, I went through the same trial and error with the lunch box. I was able to get the KX3, Palm Mini paddles, MS2 straight key, microphone, earphones, clipboard and assorted cables and adapters in there. It holds everything but my LiFePO4 battery and antenna. (These items can vary from trip to trip, so this isn’t much of an inconvenience for me.) So, off to our local KMart store I went. I bought two of the lunch boxes this time — one for the KX3 and one for a first-aid kit for in my truck.

This is the lunch box with the KX3 and accessories packed up. Out of sheer paranoia, I normally wrap the KX3 in a layer of bubble wrap for extra protection. When placed on top of everything, the clipboard provides another rigid surface for even more protection.

When I load up the KX3 box, the other items keep the radio for shifting around while in transit. Out of sheer paranoia, I put a layer of bubble wrap around the KX3. I’m not really sure that’s necessary though. When I’m ready to head out to the field, I just grab the KX3 box, my battery, and antenna of choice for the day and I’m all set.

There are certainly better, more expensive containers available. For the price, it’s hard to beat these lunch boxes. Maybe I should buy another one to hold my lunch and a couple of cold ones when I go into the field. Hmmm…

73, Craig WB3GCK

‘Twas the day before Christmas…

Or was it? You certainly couldn’t tell by the weather. It reached a balmy 71 degrees F today here in southeastern Pennsylvania. It just doesn’t seem right being outside in late December wearing a T-shirt.

Anyway, the shopping was done and the presents were wrapped, so I decided to sneak out to a local park for a little QRP-portable. I drove a couple of miles down the road to Charlestown Township Park and set up in my truck. The forecasters were predicting possible storms, so I operated in the truck today. I used my roll-on support to put my 31-foot Jackite pole up. I used one 30-foot wire as a vertical and another on the ground for a counterpoise. I fed it through a homebrew 4:1 unun. I used my YouKits HB-1B running 4 watts.

Stationary-mobile set up in Charlestown Township Park — Stationary-mobile set up

I started out on 20 meters but had no luck there. Moving down to 30 meters, I got a call from Walt WB8E near Detroit. Walt had a nice signal in Pennsylvania, despite some fading on the band. Next, I went to 40 meters and had a nice, long chat with Lou WA3MIX in Williamsport, PA. Lou grew up in my area and has some relatives in nearby towns. Finally, I went back to 20 meters and called CQ on 14.060MHz a few times. As I reached over to shut off the radio, I heard Dave KB8XG calling me from Michigan. This was Dave’s second CW contact. After wrapping up with Dave, I packed up and headed home.

Whatever your weather is like, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

72, Craig WB3GCK

QRP Joy on Mount Misery

I can’t believe it– three decent weekends in a row. Thanks to El Niño, we’re headed for record temperatures this weekend. I definitely needed to take advantage of these mild temperatures. So, I drove down to Valley Forge National Historic Park to do some portable operating. I had planned to operate from Mount Misery (aka Valley Forge Mountain) for a while but never got around to it.

Following some directions that my friend, Carter N3AO, gave me, I hiked up the Mount Misery Trail. Carter operated a QRP field contest there years ago and said it was a nice spot. I hiked in about a mile and branched off onto the Horse-Shoe Trail for another half-mile or so. Most of the other hikers seemed to be staying on the Mount Misery Trail. I figured the Horse-Shoe Trail would be more secluded. I was right. The only other person I saw was a Park Watch volunteer. She came by as I was trying to figure out where to hang my antenna. I’m sure she was wondering why I was standing there staring up into the trees.

The intersection of the Mount Misery and Horseshoe trails.

My biggest challenge of the day was getting my antenna up in the trees. I continued to hike looking for something that resembled a clearing. The woods up there are dense and there is a lot of brush just waiting to snag my antenna wire. After about 20 minutes, I managed to get my LNR EFT-10/20/40 EFHW antenna up. I set up my trusty YouKits HB-1B and got on the air.

I called CQ on 20 meters and AF5BA answered from Arkansas. After that, I got a call from fellow QRP Polar Bear, WA8REI. Ken was also QRP portable, operating from his trailer in a deer camp in Michigan. Next up was VE1BA in Nova Scotia. John’s 5-watt signal was booming into Pennsylvania.

I moved down to 40 meters, but I didn’t hear a lot of activity. I tuned around and heard NM1I calling CQ from Massachusetts. I gave him a call and we had a nice chat.

I took a break to stretch my legs and take a few pictures before heading back to 20 meters. I worked the VE9CRM club station in New Brunswick. The operator was VE9BEL. Their club station was putting out a very strong signal.

WB3GCK operating on Mount Misery in Valley Forge, PA

I was getting ready to shut down when I heard KG0YR calling me from Missouri. Dave was running 1 watt and had a nice signal. On his heels was K4AKC from Alabama. Tom was running 5 watts. I hated to cut our QSO short, but I needed to pack up and hike back down the hill.

All in all, it was a productive 2 hours.

I did have one take away from today’s outing. I have been using 20 lb. test monofilament line with a 2-ounce lead sinker to get my antenna up. It works great, but the line becomes completely invisible in the woods. I need to get some high-visibility line and paint the sinker.

Across from Mount Misery is another mount named… Wait for it… Mount Joy! That’s on my list for a future outing.

73/72, Craig WB3GCK

Tilt Stand for the YouKits HB-1B

This is another one of those projects that took longer to write up than to build.

The top facing controls on “trail-friendly” radios like the YouKits HB-1B and others are very convenient when you’re sitting on the ground out in the middle of nowhere. When operating “picnic-table-portable,” however, the display can sometimes be a little hard to read. For those situations, I came up with a little tilt stand using some stuff I had on hand.

tiltstand-1 — Magnet applied to the corner brace.

The tilt stand I came up with has a grand total of two parts. First is a steel inside corner brace. You can find these at any hardware store. The one I used is 3/4-inch on each side and 1.5 inches long. You can use whatever size gives you the amount of tilt you’re looking for. The other item is a small but powerful magnet. The one I used is about the size of a nickel. I secured it to the corner brace using some Goop adhesive. To use the tilt stand, just use the magnet to put it on the bottom of the HB-1B, as shown in the pictures.

tiltstand-2 — Tilt stand attached to the radio

This tilt stand works best when you have rubber feet on the bottom of the radio, as I have on mine. In fact, I added those the first time I used the radio, to keep it from sliding around on my desk.

This little gizmo will a permanent part of my HB-1B portable station for those “picnic-table-portable” operations.

73, Craig WB3GCK