In the last week of May 2024, my wife and I were tasked with taking care of grandkids (6 months and 2 years old) while their parents were at a conference/holiday in Colorado. My wife was kind enough to allow me to set up a portable ham station that helped keep me out of her way except when needed. Here are the results.

Station Set Up

Initially, I had planned to bring both 6 and 2 meters along. However, I decided to focus on 6 meters only. With a painter pole and a 3-element Yagi, supported by a drive-over base, roof rack support, and guy wires for extra stability. To my surprise, the guy wires were only needed for a couple of days, a rarity in the Texas Panhandle, renowned for its high, if not constant, winds.

The rig was a recently acquired IC-746PRO supported with a MacBook Air laptop, WSJT-X improved, and MacLoggerDX with a 24-inch Acer Monitor. DC power came from the car battery via BuddiePole PowerPlus. AC power came from a small inverter. I had hoped to run 100 watts but was typically at 60 watts due to the low DC voltage making it to the rig.

The only real challenge was the time sync being out of whack each time I turned on the system. A reboot usually brought it into alignment. Another challenge was that WSJT-X improved crashed whenever I tried MSK. To resolve that I downloaded the regular version of WSJT-X, and it worked fine.

QSOs and Grids

I managed to get 49 stations, 36 grids, and 21 states into the log. My operating time was somewhat limited, with most afternoons and early evenings available. The band conditions were great the first day, terrible the second day, and so-so after that. I worked hard to get a few grid chasers into the log using Q65 and MSK, but all too often, I could hear them great, but they couldn’t hear my puny signal.

It was good to get on the air and help out those who needed this grid. Plus, it was right in my daughter’s front yard. Still, portable stations aren’t for the weak and aged, like me. That’s why I stopped VHF roving. But we’ll see if I can do this again.

Thanks for the QSOs. I’ll upload all contacts to Logbook of the World just as soon as it’s back up and running.