my plan right now is to run a KX3 or maybe borrow the clubs IC-7300 depending on whats available, and for HF i was going to throw up a linked dipole on a 31ft spiderpole, which has worked fine at field day. the part im not sure about is power. the site we're at has no shore power so its either a generator or battery based

i was leaning toward a 50ah lifepo4 battery with a 30a solar controller and a 100w panel, which should be more than enough for a low power setup running maybe 50w most of the time. but someone in the group keeps insisting we need a generator for "reliability" and honestly i get where hes coming from but dragging a genny out to a park for a 6 hour exercise seems like overkill to me

anyone run extended field ops purely on battery and solar without running into problems? the exercise runs from like 0800 to 1400 so about 6 hours, partly cloudy forecast

the obvious answer is a generator but man i really dont want to deal with fuel and noise especially at something like a served agency event where were literally inside a community center. a friend suggested i look at the honda eu2200i for the quiet factor but even that feels overkill and expensive just to charge batteries. the other option ive been mulling over is just adding another battery and calling it a day

also on the antenna side im currently using a buddistick for HF which works okay but ive had mixed results on 40m specifically. thinking about building a simple linked dipole for the NVIS work we do at our county ARES group but havent pulled the trigger. anyone running something similar and does it actually make a difference vs the buddistick for close-in comms

first problem was the generator. borrowed a honda eu2200i from a club member and it ran fine but i was getting a ton of RFI on 40m, like S7-S8 noise floor just garbage. i know the inverter generators are supposed to be cleaner than the old brush types but this thing was brutal. ended up having to run on battery only which was fine for the exercise duration but not a real solution if we're talking 12+ hour activations.

second thing was the antenna. i had a buddipole set up which i've used a bunch of times but the ground at the park was basically rock under about 2 inches of grass so i couldnt stake anything properly. the tripod kept wanting to tip in the wind and i was babysitting it half the time instead of actually operating. thinking about a more stable base or maybe going to a NVIS wire antenna on a couple of jackite poles instead.

anyone else dealt with the generator RFI thing? is it just about bonding and ferrites or is there something more fundamental going on. feels like there should be a cleaner solution than just not using the generator at all.

the alternative ive been messing with is a 100ah lifepo4 battery with a 200w panel but the panel is big and floppy and getting it positioned right at an unknown site is always kind of a crapshoot depending on trees and time of day. the battery alone does fine for a few hours but if were talking a 12+ hour activation i get nervous about running the ic-7300 plus a laptop plus maybe a 2m mobile that somehow always ends up in the kit even when i say its not going in the kit.

antenna side ive mostly sorted - got a 40/80m NVIS setup with a linked dipole and some surplus military masts that break down pretty small. the real question is whether anyone has done the math or just has real world experience on how long a 100ah lithium actually lasts running HF at moderate power with periodic tx and whether i should just suck it up and bring the generator anyway

current plan is to run my IC-7300 off a honda eu2200i with a 40ah lifepo4 battery as a buffer — the generator feeds a battery charger and the radio draws off the battery directly so i dont get that nasty ignition noise bleeding into the audio. worked okay at home testing it but i haven't actually tried it on the air yet.

antenna is where im less confident. thinking a linked dipole for 40/80 since those are the primary nets but the site is a parking lot next to a city building and i have no idea what the RF environment is going to look like or what i have to support the antenna with. was going to bring a couple of 20 ft painters poles and stake them out but that feels marginal for 80m. anyone run a setup like this in a parking lot situation and have thoughts on what actually works vs what sounds good at home?

also genuinely not sure how long to plan on running the generator vs just sitting on battery alone. exercise is supposed to be 6 hours but you know how those go.

running an IC-7300 in the field which i know some people think is overkill for portable work but its what i have and it does the job fine. antenna wise im using a Chameleon MPAS 2.0 which has been solid on 40 and 20, kind of mediocre on 80 but whatever. i set it up on a 17ft telescoping mast last weekend for a RACES exercise and it held up even with some wind

the problem is power. i started with a 100ah lithium (actually a Battleborn) and that works okay for a few hours at low power but when im running 100 watts for any length of time it drains faster than id like for an all day deployment. so i picked up a cheap 2000 watt inverter generator from harbor freight and honestly it runs the battery charger fine but its SO loud. like embarrassingly loud. like people at the exercise kept looking over at me

has anyone found a good middle ground here? i dont want to spend honda eu2200 money right now but the predator is just too loud for any kind of real deployment near other operators or in a residential area. and before anyone says it -- i know i could just bring a second battery but id rather have a charging solution running

my current thinking is to run a pair of 100ah lifepo4 batteries through a 30a RIGrunner for the main station — IC-7300 plus a laptop for logging and maybe a packet TNC — and only fire up the generator if we're going to be there past like hour six or seven. the generator would charge the batts and run the bigger stuff. does this sound sane or am i underestimating how fast that 7300 will chew through 200ah if we're doing a lot of transmitting

also the antenna situation is still kind of unresolved. we have a buddipole but honestly i've never loved it for HF, it works but feels like youre always fighting the tuning. someone suggested just throwing up an EFHW with a 9:1 unun and using a random length of wire, which i've done at home but never portable in a field with no trees nearby. we might have to use a tripod and push-up mast situation which i've not really done before. anyone have a go-to setup for that kind of thing that doesn't take 45 minutes to assemble

this time around i want to try running the HF station off a lifepo4 pack instead, got a 100ah battleborn that i use for portable ops, and just keep the generator for the VHF/UHF stuff and the laptop. but im not sure if 100ah is going to cut it for a full 8 hour deployment if were running an ic-7300 at maybe 50-75w most of the time. i did some rough math and it seems like it should be okay but i never trust my own math on this stuff.

also the antenna situation — last drill we threw up a linked dipole on a 31ft jackite pole and it worked okay but takedown took forever when we had to move. anyone running something faster to deploy for HF field work? ive been eyeing those EFHW matchbox setups but not sure if the performance tradeoff is worth it for emergency use. want reliable not just convenient

my current thinking is to bring my IC-7300 with a Chameleon MPAS Lite vertical and either run off my 40ah LiFePO4 battery or rent a small inverter generator. the exercise is supposed to be 8 hours continuous and there may be some periods of high traffic where im keying up a lot on SSB, so im not sure the battery alone is gonna cut it.

the other issue is antenna placement. the site is a county fairgrounds and theres a lot of chain link fencing and metal buildings around. i scouted it last week and theres maybe a 30 foot clearing on the south side away from most of the junk but i dont know if thats gonna be good enough for 40m work. was thinking about throwing a wire up between two masts if i can get permission but logistics of that get complicated fast.

anyone run an 8 hour field exercise with a 7300 before and have a realistic read on battery draw? ive seen the numbers on paper but real world duty cycle at an exercise is different than what the spec sheet tells you

my question is really about whether to bring a generator or just go heavy on battery. i've got a 30ah lithium pack and i can borrow another one that's similar so maybe 60ah total. at 100w output on HF the 7300 pulls like 20-22 amps transmitting and maybe 2-3 amps on receive so if we're doing a typical 20-25% duty cycle over the day it might work out. but then the laptop adds another couple amps and honestly these exercises always run longer than planned.

the other option is our club has a Honda EU2200i that's whisper quiet and would handle everything no problem. but dragging a generator to an EOC parking lot feels a little overkill and we'd need fuel, exhaust considerations, all that. i know some guys just run inverter gens for exactly this reason but i dunno.

also separately — anyone have thoughts on portable HF antennas for this kind of setup? we'll probably have a few hours to get set up before the exercise starts. i was thinking either a simple EFHW for 40/80 or maybe just throwing up a dipole. space isn't super constrained, it's a big parking area with some trees around the perimeter.

thinking about going full battery this time, ive got two 100ah lifepo4 batteries from battleborn that i use for camping and they hold up really well. the main station would be running an IC-7300 plus a signalink for digital, maybe 100w on SSB during busy periods but mostly 50w or less. my rough math says i could run most of the day on one battery with smart power management but id feel better with both wired in parallel just in case the exercise runs long or someone wants to fire up a second rig.

antenna wise i was planning on putting up a linked dipole — the one i built last fall for 40/80 — on a 31ft spiderbeam pole. worked fine in the backyard but ive never deployed it under actual field conditions with wind and people walking around. anyone have opinions on whether a non-resonant EFHW with a 9:1 unun might be faster to deploy even if its not quite as clean? i can tune through the 7300's internal tuner on most bands but 80 seems finicky sometimes.

anyway mostly asking about the generator vs battery tradeoff and whether anyone has done a full day exercise on lifepo4 alone without running out. the exercise is supposed to be 0800 to 1800 local so roughly 10 hours.

the plan is to run an IC-7300 as the primary HF rig, maybe a 2m/70cm mobile unit for local nets, and i need to keep everything going for potentially 8-10 hours. the exercise site has a parking lot and a small shelter but no shore power, so its either generator or battery and ive been going back and forth on this for a while.

for antennas i was thinking an end-fed halfwave on a 31ft jackite pole for HF and just a mag mount on the car for VHF/UHF. the EFHW with a decent tuner should cover 40 through 10 okay i think. my main hangup is the power side — a small Honda 2200i runs clean enough for the radios but its another thing to haul, needs fuel, makes noise which the served agency isnt thrilled about. on the other hand a 100ah lithium battery is expensive and i dont totally trust my math on how long it would actually last under real operating conditions.

anyone run similar setups for extended exercises? curious how people handle the generator vs battery tradeoff when you actually need the station to stay up reliably

my question is basically whether its worth dragging out the generator or just going full battery/solar. last exercise we used a Honda EU2200i and it was fine but it was also kind of annoying — noise, the fuel logistics, someone had to babysit it. i've been looking at running a couple of 100ah LiFePO4 batteries with a 200w folding panel and a decent MPPT controller but i honestly dont know if that's enough sustained current for two HF rigs both potentially running 100w for like 8 hours.

on the antenna side we're planning a linked dipole for 40/80m hung between two telescoping poles, and probably a vertical for 15/20m. the site is kind of a big open field which is good but we have basically no trees so everything needs to be self-supporting. anyone done something similar and have thoughts on the power math or what's actually worked for you in the field?

this time we're talking about a longer operational period, maybe 12-14 hours, possibly overnight if they extend the scenario. the EC wants us to demonstrate sustained HF capability on 40 and 80 meters, voice and digital. so im weighing whether to drag out a generator versus just stacking batteries or doing a solar hybrid thing.

the site is a county park, semi-open field, they're allowing generators but have to be 50 feet from the operating position which is actually kind of annoying with extension cords. anyone run a similar setup and have opinions on the honda eu2200 vs the yamaha ef2000is for this kind of use? or is there a better way to do this without going full generator. antenna-wise im probably going with my buddipole or maybe just an end fed halfwave on a fiberglass mast, havent decided yet.

anyway im trying to figure out whether to just get a proper inverter generator this time or go with a bigger battery bank. a guy in our group has a honda eu2200i he said we can borrow and that would obviously solve the runtime problem but then you've got noise, fuel, the whole thing. i've been looking at some of the larger lifepo4 options, something in the 100ah range, and wondering if that's enough headroom for a full 8 hour deployment.

also on the antenna side we've been using a homebrew NVIS dipole cut for 40m which works okay locally but the county wanted us to demonstrate some 80m capability this time too. thinking about just making it a fan dipole or maybe an OCF. anybody run an OCF portable, like actually portable not just in a fixed location? curious how the feedline situation works when you're in a field.

the antenna situation is manageable but the power thing is where it gets complicated. i have a 100ah lifepo4 battery that handles the radio fine for receive-heavy ops but the moment im doing any serious transmitting on 100w it drains faster than id like, especially on a multi-hour deployment. ive been looking at generators — specifically the honda eu2200i — but honestly i dont know if thats overkill or if i should just go with a bigger solar panel setup and a second battery. the weight tradeoff is real because im sometimes hauling this stuff on foot to a site.

also my current antenna situation for 40m is a linked dipole thrown up in whatever tree i can find and while it works im wondering if an EFHW would be easier to deploy in a hurry. anybody done a comparison between the two in actual field conditions not just on a picnic table in their backyard

my current thinking is running an IC-7300 for HF and a separate 2m/70cm mobile rig for local nets. the HF antenna situation is what's killing me — we've got a site with decent tree coverage so i was thinking a linked dipole hung as an inverted V, maybe covering 80/40/20. the 2m side would just be a roll-up J-pole or maybe the slim jim i've got sitting in a drawer somewhere.

the power question is where i keep going back and forth. i've run a honda eu2200i before and it's quiet enough that you can actually have a conversation next to it. but lugging that thing plus fuel out to a remote site is a pain, and the logistics of fuel resupply over 18 hours is its own headache. the other option is going heavy on lifepo4 — i've got a 100ah battle born and was thinking of adding a second one. at the draw these rigs put out i think i can make it work but havent fully done the math yet.

anyone done something similar for a longer deployment? curious what bit you in the backside when you actually got to the field versus what you planned at home.

the math works out fine on paper, the 7300 draws maybe 20-22 amps on transmit at full power but i never run it full power in the field anyway, usually 50-75 watts is plenty. laptop is whatever, 60 watts maybe. the problem is i also want to keep a pair of deep cycle batteries on a tender while everything else is running and i dont know if the eu2200i is going to get grumpy about that.

the antenna situation is actually pretty sorted - ive been running a Buddipole on a painters pole lashed to whatever is available and it works well enough for 40/20/15, sometimes 10 if the band is doing anything interesting. been thinking about a chameleon MPAS lite as an alternative but thats a different thread i guess.

anyone running a similar generator setup for extended field ops, like more than a few hours? curious how much fuel the honda actually burns at like 25% load which is probably where id be sitting most of the time.

my current plan is running my IC-7300 off a Honda eu2200i with a 50ft run of extension cord to keep the generator noise away from the antenna area. been testing this at home and the RFI from the generator is manageable on HF as long as its at least 30ft away, though i still get some hash on 40m if the loading is light. anyone dealt with this — is it a grounding thing or just the nature of these inverter gennies?

for antennas i'm thinking either my buddipole or just throwing up an EFHW with a 9:1 unun against a few radials. the site is a county park with decent tree cover so i should be able to get the wire up reasonably high. the buddipole is faster to deploy but the EFHW tends to just work better once its up, at least in my experience.

also debating whether to bring the LiFePO4 battery as a backup or primary and run the generator as backup. battery is a 100ah bioenno and theoretically i could run the radio at 50-60% power for most of the day without touching the generator at all. but if something goes wrong with the battery mid-exercise that's a problem. what would you guys do for the power setup?

Setup: FT-991A → Z-11 Pro II → 130ft EFHW with 9:1 unun, 25ft of RG-8X. Most tuners are less efficient at low impedances - could this be the issue? SWR analyzer shows 8+j45 ohms at 3.8MHz. Any suggestions before I try a different matching strategy?

the issue is we're running two rigs simultaneously most of the time — an IC-7300 for HF and a TM-D710 for local VHF/UHF coordination, plus a small laptop for winlink and occasionally a second laptop. rough estimate puts us somewhere around 30-35 amps draw at moderate TX duty cycle. i did the math and even a 100ah lifepo4 gets you maybe 2-3 hours of real use at that load before you're babysitting the voltage. obviously you could chain batteries but that adds weight pretty fast.

antenna side we're planning a homebrew NVIS for 40/80 using about 130 feet of wire in an inverted V off a 31 foot Jackite pole. worked okay in testing but we're on a site with a lot of trees and the feedline run is kind of awkward. anyone done a similar setup and had issues with the feedline picking up noise from a generator running nearby? that was another complaint last time, we had some RFI from the eu2200i that took a while to track down.

would love to hear what other groups are doing for sustained field ops, especially if youve found a power solution that doesn't require a forklift to set up

my gut says the EU2200i can probably handle it if we're smart about it but im wondering if anyone has actually pushed one of those generators with two HF rigs and misc accessories at the same time. the 2200 watts is peak, continuous is more like 1800 i think, and once you factor in the inverter efficiency and whatever else is pulling... i dont know, it feels tight. we also want to have a fallback battery setup in case the genny craps out or we need to go quiet for some reason (noise complaints have been an issue at this site before).

on the antenna side we're thinking two separate dipoles on separate feedlines, oriented about 90 degrees from each other to cut down on intermod between the two stations. spacing is gonna be whatever the site allows, probably 75-100ft apart if we're lucky. anyone done this at an exercise and had interference issues even with that separation? last exercise we had some nasty audio on the other station when both were transmitting near the same time and it was just one antenna shared with a switch. separate antennas should fix that right?

anyway open to any thoughts on the power side especially, that's the part keeping me up at night

my normal setup is a honda eu2200i paired with a 100ah lifepo4 battery as a buffer, running an ic-7300 and a buddipole for hf plus a dual band vertical for local stuff. usually works fine for 3-4 hour exercises but honestly i've never stress tested it for a full day. my concern is mostly the generator runtime and fuel — the eu2200i is rated for like 4-8 hours depending on load and i dont want to be making fuel runs mid-exercise.

thinking about either bringing a second jerry can of fuel or borrowing our EC's eu3000 which would obviously have more headroom but that thing is heavy and a pain to haul. also considering whether i should just lean harder on the battery and only run the genny to recharge it periodically rather than running it constant.

for the antenna side i'm probably doing the buddipole as a sloper off the shelter roof, maybe 25-30 feet at the high end. not ideal but it's what i've got. anyone run similar setups for extended ops and have thoughts on the generator strategy specifically?

currently thinking either i bring a small honda eu2200i and charge the battery while operating, or just go straight generator power through a good line filter and call it a day. the noise issue is what keeps making me hesitate on the generator route — last time i tried running my ic-7300 off a cheap inverter generator at a campout it was awful, s3 or s4 hash all over 40m. the honda is supposedly way cleaner but ive never personally tested it.

on the antenna side i have a buddipole and a resonant 40m inverted vee i can hang from a 31ft jackite pole. the vee is obviously better for 40 but setup time is longer. trying to figure out if its worth the extra 20 minutes on setup for what might be a mostly local net situation anyway. anyone done longer emcomm exercises with similar constraints and have thoughts on what actually matters vs what you think will matter beforehand

my current thinking is to run my IC-7300 for HF and a separate VHF/UHF station (probably just my 2m/70cm mobile rig pulled off the truck) and i need to keep both running for potentially 12-14 hours. i've done portable ops before but never this long without being able to plug in somewhere.

the debate i'm having with myself is whether to drag out the honda eu2200i or just go heavy on LiFePO4 batteries. the generator is obviously more capability but it's also noise, fuel, and the exhaust situation is a little awkward in a parking lot depending on wind direction. last time i ran it at a public site somebody complained about the fumes even though i had it positioned reasonably well.

for the antenna side i'm thinking a trapped vertical for HF since we'll probably need 40 and maybe 80 for regional nets, and then a j-pole or small yagi up on a mast for the VHF work. site is pretty flat with some trees to the south which is slightly annoying for takeoff angle but probably not a dealbreaker for emcomm purposes.

anybody done long duration portable setups like this and have strong opinions either way on the power question? also curious if anyone has used the bioenno or power films batteries for something this demanding, i see them recommended a lot but havent actually seen one run a 100w HF rig for 8+ hours in practice