Linda Rodriguez

so we've got a county ARES exercise coming up in about 6 weeks and i've been tasked with putting together a portable HF/VHF station that can run for roughly 18 hours without resupply. this is basically a standalone comms node at a remote site, no shore power, maybe a picnic shelter if we're lucky.
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.

nice work on the direct battery run, a lot of people skip that and then wonder why everything sounds terrible. i made that mistake with my first mobile install and the noise was awful.
one thing i'd add -- if you haven't already, make sure your coax shield is grounded well at the antenna mount. on a roof mount sometimes people forget that the NMO body needs good contact with the vehicle body or you lose efficiency and can get noise issues. i had a similar setup on my jeep and a loose ground there was causing me all kinds of grief before i figured it out. tightened it up and the difference was noticeable.

so we've got a county ARES exercise coming up in about 6 weeks and i've been tasked with putting together a portable HF/VHF station that can run for roughly 18 hours without resupply. this is basically a standalone comms node at a remote site, no shore power, maybe a picnic shelter if we're lucky.
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.