Off Grid Ham Radio in a storm

Off grid ham radio camping in a storm. Equipment QRP with the lab599 tx500, data modes with the Icom ic-705, Nortent Gamme 4 for shelter, titanium wood storm for food and heating.

Hello Operator.
Today on OH8STN Ham Radio we discuss portable ham radio in a storm. During a camping trip with OH8HUB, we found ourselves hot tent camping during a severe wind storm. Bei g off-grid with limited battery power for our HF radios, the importance of energy efficient QRP rigs like the Icom IC-705 and Lab599 TX-500 became apparent. Here's the story.

Our portable ham radio station was located at KP24IX. The place was perfect for a WWFF radio camp in the World Wide Flora and Fauna activation area: OHFF-0970 on Hailuoto island Finland, in the Gulf of Bothnia.
The storm brought in winds which made it impossible to deploy the powerfilm solar panels, leaving us with finite battery power for the excursion. Luckily we had the Icom IC-705 and Lab599 TX-500 QRP radios with us. Having an energy effiencent radios was critical to the portable ham radio activation. It was also excellent practice for understanding the basics of a real grid down event.

I was operating data modes Winlink and JS8Call with the Icom IC-705, while OH8HUB worked SSB on the TX-500 radio.We both powered our stations with LiFePo4 battery packs

The Nortent Gamme 4 is a lightweight hottent and foldable titanium wood stove combination. It was recently reviewed by Joe Robinet for his solo winter camp in a blizzard video.

All camping gear, portable ham radio setup, HF antenna and portable power strategies are all outlined in this video.

73
Julian #oh8stn
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Equipment used:
Icom IC-705:
GigaParts USA: https://oh8stn.net/32Emj8w
PileupDX EU: https://oh8stn.net/3l8Ar0b

Lab599 Discoovery TX500: https://oh8stn.net/3xsVu2k

Chamelon MPAS 2.0:
GigaParts USA: https://oh8stn.net/3cRY3BJ
PileupDX EU: https://oh8stn.net/3D6Lmxi

Super Antenna MP1: https://oh8stn.net/3phe7Tf

Nortent Gamme 4
Nortent EU: https://oh8stn.net/3lfxWJy
Canadian Preparedness North America: https://oh8stn.net/3FUhPsJ

Nortent titanium tent stove:
Nortent: https://oh8stn.net/3p6RPnh

Titanium Coffee Press: https://oh8stn.net/3xEN8F2

Finnish MO5 Sleeping bag
Varusteleka: https://oh8stn.net/3CUZxFO
- Camping chair: https://oh8stn.net/3FYRDNw
- Sleeping cot: https://oh8stn.net/3d4Ng7k

OH8HUB Blog: http://oh8stn.net/3piMBoy

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Portable power recap
01:14 Riding out the storm
02:00 The importance of heat
02:33 Logistical failure!
02:56 Energy efficient comms
05:03 Basecamp equipment
07:09 Radio Gear
09:12 Success or failure?
10:00 Deployment 101
12:00 Chit chat with a couple of steaks


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