so ive been meaning to put together a proper go-kit for probably two years now and i finally just sat down last weekend and did it. threw everything into a pelican 1510 and figured id share what i ended up with and maybe get some feedback because im honestly not sure i thought of everything.

i went with my FT-891 as the main radio since it covers HF and i figured that was more useful than just a handheld for actual emergency ops. packed a SignaLink for digital modes because our county ARES group does a lot of Winlink traffic. got a small 20ah lithium battery from Bioenno, a 10m telescoping mast, and a 40/20m linked dipole that i can throw up pretty quick. charger, coax, a handful of adapters, logbook, pencils. i also threw in a cheap handheld as backup just in case.

what i keep second-guessing myself on is the power situation. like is 20ah actually enough for a deployment that might go longer than a few hours? i was also trying to figure out if i should add a small solar panel to the kit or just keep it simple and pack a second battery. the whole thing already weighs more than i expected and im trying to keep it manageable enough that i could actually grab it and go without hurting myself.

anyway curious what other peoples kits look like and whether im overthinking the power thing or not thinking about it enough

your power concern is legit and worth thinking through. 20ah is decent for a few hours of operating at moderate power levels but if you're running the 891 at like 50-100w on HF it can eat through that faster than you'd expect, especially if you're also running a laptop for Winlink. i usually figure roughly 20-25ah per 8 hour shift as a rough ballpark when im doing voice and digital mixed, but that really depends on your duty cycle.

i'd honestly lean toward the solar panel over a second battery just for longer deployments. a 50 or 100 watt panel folds up pretty flat and gives you the ability to sustain ops indefinitely if the sun cooperates. i've got a Renogy 100w foldable that lives in a separate bag and i only grab it if i think we're gonna be out more than a day. keeps the go-kit itself lighter for the quick activations.

the FT-891 plus SignaLink combo is solid by the way, thats basically what our net control station runs for Winlink. one thing i'd double-check is whether your coax connectors are all properly weatherproofed if the kit might sit in a car for months between uses. i learned that one the hard way at a drill where my PL-259 had corroded just enough to cause problems.

honestly just having a kit at all puts you ahead of a lot of people who keep saying theyre gonna do it. ive seen guys show up to activations with stuff in a grocery bag so pelican case is already winning.

the thing nobody told me when i built mine was to actually deploy it at home first and time yourself. like set it up in the backyard and see how long it takes to get on the air from scratch. i was really humbled the first time i did that, took me like 45 minutes to get everything sorted and i thought i knew what i was doing. now i do a practice setup every few months and have it down to under 15 minutes which feels a lot better for a real emergency situation.