Ham on a Bike: POTA and Bicycle Touring

-

 



N4JAW - Ham on a Bike
Bicycle Touring Setup


 Recently I made a Twitter, Instagram and Mastodon post stating I had purchased a new radio after saying I wasn't going to buy another radio. I just couldn't let this radio go to someone else.  Before revealing what radio it is let me briefly explain why I purchased this radio. 

Many are aware I do all of my Parks on the Air activations via one of  my bicycles. But few know that I'm a bicycle tourist and have done some ham radio operating during most of my bicycle tours. For almost 10 years my bike touring rig has been the FT 817, Key, mic, Z817 Auto-tuner, 12V 3A LiFePO battery, 80-10 meter Random Length (9:1) unun, plus throw weight and paracord.  Excellent radio for bicycle touring. However, I'm always trying to find ways to cut weight and space while bike touring. Since I'm a diabetic, I generally burn about 3000 daily calories on my multi day bike tours, I eat a lot, a whole lot while riding, so food takes up a lot of space in my panniers. So I decided to create more space for next year's bike tours. 

             My choice is a YouKits HB-1B (MK3 version) covering 40, 30, 20, 17 and 15 meters. 


YouKits HB-1B Transceiver 

This super rig along with a 40,30,20,17,and 15 meter linked dipole I'm constructing from 26 AWG HOT PINK wire for dipole with RG174 coax, Weaver Leather Arborist throw line weight and the SP4 POTA/SOTA Mini Morse Code Paddle along with a LiFePo 12v 3 Ah battery will fit very snug in one of my panniers.

So the suspense is over. Happy Holidays and thanks to all of the wonderful people of  PARKS on the Air and POTA hunters who make my Ham on a Bike POTA activations possible.  


                                                       ðŸŽ„
  


Comments

Post a Comment

What Everyone Else is Reading

Ten with 9 using James Watt

-
Image
  WITH using James Watt As some of you know I do some QRPp Parks on the Air activations using the QRP Labs QCX Mini. For the past couple of years I've had GREAT results using my 40 and 20 meter QCX Mini with what I call, "My Smoke Detector Battery" setup This spring and so far this summer I've used both 40 and 20 meter QCX minis with a 9 volt/200mW battery for WSPR operations.  And most recently I've used the 9 volt/200mW battery with my 40 meter QCX Mini for for early morning CW Parks on the Air activations. While using my YouKits HB-1B during a POTA activation on April 29th, 2024, I set up another vertical antenna with my 20 meter QCX Mini to use as a WSPR station with a 9 volt/200mW battery. I ran this setup for almost an hour and was amazed with the distance and how many beacons picked up my less than a watt signal from Kentucky, USA.  QRP Labs QCXX Mini 20 Meters   A few days later on May 1, 2024; I decided to give it another try but this time on 40 meters wh
Read more

Return of a Wanna-Be-Jedi !

-
Image
  Its been awhile since my last blog post and even more so posting on any social media platform. I would like to thank all for their inquiries and concerns and apologize to all for not responding . Some of you may know I've battled some health issues over the past several years. In 2008, I had what I call the "Humpty Dumpty" surgery. That surgery involved a bikini incision across my abdomen, where they removed half my stomach,12 feet of my intestine, Gall Bladder, Bile Duct, and Pancreas as part of my Pancreatic Cancer surgery. (They also removed five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, and two turtle doves ) Lucky for me, my oncology surgeon was not part of the King's Men and was able to put me (Humpty Dumpty) back together again.    My successful recovery in part, was due to what I call my mostly mental with some physical therapeutic remedies of participating in triathlons, bicycle touring and ham radio.  As noted by my oncologist there was a possib
Read more

My Lifelong Morse Code "KEYS" Journey to the WORLD!

-
Image
  In my previous post I touched on my Lifelong Morse Code Journey. This time I'll touch on some of the keys that have helped me on my journey to the WORLD! As I mentioned in my earlier posts the key below was my first REAL telegraph key I used in my journey. . This key is over 60 years old and has been mounted on presswood, plywood, tables, plastic and currently this piece of granite.  I cannot recall the number of QSOs I've hammered with this key but it has seen me through Novice, General, Advanced and Extra code exams.  As I look back on my journey, not only is this my first piece of ham radio equipment but this instrument is my most PRIZED piece of ham radio equipment.  When I decided to reacquaint myself with Morse Code, this was the key I used to re-start my journey. In 1983 when I decided to get relicensed as a Novice I purchased a Morse Code Practice Oscillator Kit from Heathkit.  I brought this out of mothballs to continue my Morse Code journey after a 30 year absence. 
Read more