Radio Loadout

There's a terrible problem in ham radio, prevalent among older hams, and it paralyzes many when getting ready for a radio outing. 

It's called Too Many Choices.

I'm sitting here trying to get ready for an upcoming week long camping trip, and I've spent the last hour trying to decide just what radio(s) to take along. I need to keep the radio footprint as small as possible because this trip isn't about playing with ham radios - that will be a side activity. So no big batteries, no monster antennas, no heavy cable, no complex setups. And yet, I don't want the outing to be a frustrating experience - I want to make sure I bring along enough ham radio 'oomph' to make contacts and have fun. 

My radio needs also span more than just ham radio. Here's the requirements list:

• Weather radio. This is a real life-safety issue, not something to have along for fun. If you go into the woods (even to a well prepared state campground) without a dedicated over-the-air weather radio, you are a fool.
• Shortwave. When I'm not playing ham radio, I'm often scanning the shortwave bands listening for interesting stuff. A good compact shortwave and AM/FM radio needs to come along.
• UHF/VHF. My wife is also a ham, and we occasionally use HTs to keep in contact around the campsite and campground. A set of good quality, rugged HTs comes along by default.
• HF with strong digital capabilities. This is the heart of my in-the-field radio fun. It needs to be a setup that offers a small footprint and is easy to set up and take down.

It's the HF part of this loadout that's causing all the indecision. I've got too many good choices, and it's tough to make up my mind. Do I go with a QRP rig, with a light footprint, but limit myself to just 10 or 20 watts, or do I go with a full sized 100 watt rig, and just dial it down to 50 watts or so to limit battery consumption?

Here's why the QRP choices, for me, are tough. I've got an Icom IC-705, an Elecraft KX2 and an Elecraft KX3. The IC-705 is almost everyone's default choice, for good reason. It is the most flexible radio on this list - it can do it all. If it has a drawback it's that it only puts out 10 watts. 

The KX2 is automatically eliminated, simply because it too is only 10 watts. It is a remarkable radio, and that's why Elecraft still makes them, and there can still be a wait to get one, after over 10 years in production. But for a camping trip like I'm taking it doesn't offer any real advantages over the IC-705.

The KX3 is a different story. This radio is essentially a 20 watt version of Elecraft's venerable K3 table top radio. The receiver on this radio is so good that for over a decade it ranked in the top five on Sherwood Engineering's receiver listing. My KX3 is 'maxed out'; it has the roofing filters, internal tuner, internal battery charger and the 2 meter transverter. I even have the PX3 outboard pan adapter for it. While it's not as easy to run on digital modes as the IC-705, it can be done with a simple USB soundcard dongle.

If I want to go 'big game hunting', I have an Icom IC-7300 I can take along. The footprint of the 7300 is remarkably small. Everything is contained in the single box - receiver, transmitter, panadapter display, tuner, digital interface, and more. When you add these capabilities for many of the QRP rigs, achieved by external devices like tuners or panadapters, along with the associated cables, the picnic bench footprint often matches or exceeds that of the 7300. The drawback of the 7300, however, is the battery. Ideally you really need a 12 volt 50 amp hour or larger battery to run the rig for any length of time, even on reduced power. If the focus of any of my trips is on ham radio, then I'd take the 7300 and the necessary batteries. 

My decision on the HF rig will come later, after I publish this post. Honestly, I probably won't make up my mind until a few hours before we pull out of the driveway. I'll report back in a week on what I chose. The other radios, however, I have set in my mind.

• The weather radio is easy - a C. Crane wind-up emergency radio with weather radio channels built in. I've carried this particular radio for years, and it's well proven. Not the best sounding radio on AM or FM, but it does have good sensitivity.
• Shortwave. My favorite is the Sangean ATS-909X2. I tested this radio against several others back in 2023, and it came in dead last for shortwave reception on the built-in whip antenna. Not horrible performance, but clearly not as good as the others. However, it is a known performer when used with an external wire antenna, and that's how I use it when camping. Plus, it's the easiest to use, and has the best sound, of any of my portable SW receivers. So it makes it into the loadout.
• The HTs are an easy pick. The well proven Yaesu FT-60. These radios have been around for a long time and are a favorite of preppers, campers and others who need a rugged radio. I carry two in an ammo can along with spare battery packs, a AA battery pack for each, extra SignalStick antennas, manuals and a charger stand. I also bring along an external ground plane antenna and 50' of RG8 coax if I need to extend the range of the radios.

But as I said, my mind is still not made up regarding the HF rig. As so often happens, when I write things down, like in this blog, it helps me think through things. I'm starting to work out my choice, but I'll wait until after my camping trip (and after I have some pictures) to let you know what made it into my loadout.

W8BYH out