This worklight has been around the last few years. I picked it up because it’s super bright and can tuck away into a corner when not in use. I also has the ability to light things from the side, as well as from overhead. Very handy.
When I bought it, it had this crack on the hinge cover piece. It had loosened a few times, so I tightened it via the screw on the opposite side of the hinge (not pictured). I went to use it a few months back and the plastic seemed to have let go a bit since my last use. The crack was now a hole. As a result, the hinge bit wouldn’t remain in place.
I pulled it apart to see what could be done about the issue. Upon doing so, the hinge cover fell apart. That’s some pretty crappy plastic you used Ryobi! I had a syringe of Plastic Bonder for another project laying around, so I went about repairing the thing.
The damage
It took me a few minutes to get the pieces lined back up the way they should be, then I filled most of the hinge cover with the Plastic Bonder (I probably should’ve used more, but it can be messy stuff).
The fix
I let the cover sit overnight to thoroughly cure. Gave it a few taps on the table, seemed solid enough!
Could look prettier
I then remounted the cover to the hinge and tightened the bolt up. Haven’t had any issues with it since!
The manpack radio setup is complete (and honestly has been for some time now)! The remaining bits that I needed were a shorter length of coax to connect the remote antenna connector and a LiFEPO battery. I opted for a 1 foot length of LMR-195 (slightly less loss and more rigid than RG58) and a 9Ah Bioenno battery. I did also opt for a N9TAX SlimJim antenna for this kit. An in-line power meter was also added to the setup. For some reason Yaesu decided not to have the voltage be available on the radio’s screen for some reason, despite it being available on rigs of the same age and class as this one. Bit of a failure there, IMO.
Thanks Yaesu. I appreciate the extra bulk
I managed to get out for some testing at various points throughout the summer in its mobile configuration (just the radio sitting in the shotgun position in the car) with some good results. I also ended up taking it with me while I camped at Ferris Provincial Park in September to see what kind of range was possible with this rig. I chose Ferris because the campground is on top of a drumlin and would have better line of sight to distant stations
The antenna used for testing was the Arrow II. I did have the SlimJim on hand, but wanted the best range possible this time around. The SlimJim has been tested previously and was found to work decently in an urban environment with stations fairly close.
Nerding out in the dark. Yep, this is my life
The results of my testing are below:
Day 01 – 25W Output:
VE3PBO (Peterborough) – S9+. Contact made during net.
VE3CKL (Lindsay) – S1. No QSO.
VA3FOY (Bancroft) – S2. No QSO.
VE3BNI (Gilmour) – S4. No QSO.
VA3LTX (Dysart) – S1, heavy scratch. Unable to open repeater, but able to listen.
W2RUI (Lockport, NY)- S0-S7. Tropospheric ducting. Attempted contact up to 50W but not heard.
VE3KFR (Campbellford) – S9+. PROCOMM net in progress, listened only.
VE3RTR (Rice Lake) – S9+. PROCOMM net in progress, listened only.
VE3QAR (Belleville) – S2. PROCOMM net in progress, listened only.
VA3JWO (Picton Wide Area) – S9. No QSO.
VE3TJU (Picton Airport) – S5. PROCOMM net in progress, listened only.
Day 02 – 25W Output
VE3KFR (Campbellford) – S9+. Contact made, participated in the Professional Loafers Net.
VE3TOR (Scarborough) – S5. No QSO.
VA3ROG (Collingwood) – S0-S4. Tropospheric ducting. Station ID’d numerous times as WRQROC, and had a VE3 net controller, but not able to find any info on what this is, so assuming it’s VA3ROG due to its large footprint. No QSO.
VA3JWO (Picton Wide Area) – S9+. Contact made.
After 3 days out running at 25W, including 2 days at camp and 1 day operating mobile from the car, this rig only used 5.78 Ah of juice from the battery’s 9Ah capacity. This was with APRS firing away every 60 seconds on the second VFO while driving and sporadically (likely every 10 min or so) while at camp, and with voice being used as well.
APRS track for the return trip home
The weekend prior to the above outing, I was out and about with the manpack. A single packet was received in Pennsylvania on its first hop by station N3TJJ-7, a total of 257.7 km away. To date, this is the furthest simplex contact I’ve been able to make (automatically sent, but I still count that) and was very likely due to tropospheric ducting and also helped by the elevation of both the transmit and receive sites.
Furthest contact to date!
All results from my testing have been added to the page for each respective repeater on Repeaterbook.com.
Took this magical thing out camping with me a few weeks ago. Did as it was supposed to do during the 10 degree mornings without any issues, nice and hot!
Pretty much the same thing as during testing, just outside this time!
And here’s a bonus pic of what I use to make the go-juice happen. Nothing fancy, and just works.
And that coffee scoop is a bloody wonderful thing to have!
Time for some new gear. I found this little wonder about a month ago while investigating some options for making go-juice in the field.
It is similar to the standard pour-over coffee solutions that are out there, but it channels all of the hot water into a small perforated cup containing the coffee grounds. Thereby (in theory anyways) making the coffee stronger than what the other pour-over setups can produce. It also has the added benefit of coming apart and fitting inside a GSI Infinity mug.
And yes, I’ve found it to make a stronger cup of coffee, but with one major flaw.
Look at all that space!
All that space where the top of the cup and the bottom of the rocket meet allows for cooler air to get in and cool the coffee down quite a bit before it hits the bottom of the cup, resulting in some cold coffee! While I do hate boiling hot coffee, I still prefer it to be quite warm while drinking it. I’m planning on using this during the colder months, and if it can’t keep up with the air temperature of an air-conditioned apartment, it definitely won’t be able to hold up to the cooler outside air during the autumn and winter months.
I found a cheap solution to this issue. The top of the mug will fit the lid from a cream cheese container, with the lid being slightly wider than the cup. I cut a hole in the lid just a bit larger than the coffee pod on the Rocket. This allows the pod to sit in the cup, but not for the heat from the coffee to escape while waiting for the full drip to complete (which is usually a few minutes). Works like a charm and takes up a negligible amount of extra space in my camp kitchen setup.
Heat retention is key
I managed to find a smaller lid from a Starfucks cup I had kicking around with a straw cutout which also sits perfectly on top of the Rockets water reservoir and allows the snorkel to still do its thing. This allows for even more heat to be retained.
Taken one step further
I’ll be fielding this during my usual autumn excursions coming up and will provide an update on this, should one be required.
My main goal with amateur radio (at this time) is to push standard VHF and UHF (non-SSB) comms to their limits, but there is only so much you can do with a handheld yagi antenna attached to a 5W handie-talkie. I had experimented with long range stuff during my voyage to Main Duck Island in August 2022 and had some good results. The thing is, this was over mostly open water and shoreline, likely bolstered by some tropospheric ducting over such terrain. This was handy, but I normally don’t operate in that type of environment. According to K0NR’s website and book (VHF, Summits and More: Having Fun with Ham Radio), more range is usually possible with a better antenna (which I already have) and with applying more power.
There is also a chap on the Tube of You that goes by the handle “The Tech Prepper” who has come up with a modern take on manpack field radios used by the military. A concept that I had been thinking about for some time, but without any decent idea of how to make it work properly. He has a series of mobile and HF radios fitted with custom rail kits that allow mobile-style radios (those you would normally mount inside a vehicle) to be taken anywhere and used similarly to how an HT would be used. This gives the ability to use more power than you normally would be able to for a VHF/UHF field deployment.
I purchased a Yaesu FTM-200D in September 2022 in preparation for this project. I snipped the power connector off a week after I received it and fitted it with some powerpole connectors (there’s no going back now!)
Powerpole-equipped
It took me a few months to get around to it, but I finally ordered a set of rails from Armoloq and fitted them to the radio. The basic rail kit consists of an aluminum rail for each side of the radio and an antenna relocation mount. I chose this radio as I wanted to use it in the field, as well as my vehicle, and wanted to have APRS capability built-in to reduce the amount of extra stuff I’d need to carry. I do use APRS on the reg. If I need to do any other fancy-crazy digital modes, there is a data port on the rear of the radio. The radio so far has only been powered by the solar box I built and I plan on upgrading to a LiFEPO battery setup sometime in the near future to reduce the size and weight. The radio is capable of transmitting with 50W of power, but will only be used in manpack configuration at either the 5W or 25W settings (I’d like to not die from RF exposure anytime soon).
Rail kit attached with antenna relocation mount up top (cable not included)
A new antenna will need to be procured to make this setup more compact. I’m looking at picking up a Slim Jim antenna and running it up a collapsible carbon fishing rod. This will be way lighter and more compact than the Arrow II mounted to a tripod. The goal is to be as efficient as possible, while not dying after sliding down a slope and being buried by my gear.
Fits in my Maxpedition Colossus with some space on the sides. Just need to remove the antenna to zip up
The antenna relocation mount can be attached anywhere on the frame kit and is currently setup with a coiled up 3 foot section of RG58 until a shorter length arrives at a later date.
maltosekincaid.com 