Inspired by OH8STN (http://oh8stn.org/), and in anticipation of Winter Field Day (https://www.winterfieldday.com/) I decided to make a portable station. For the most part, it is my normal home setup on a cart. It is heavy but it works, refinements will be reducing weight. When put together for travel it looks like:

The items aren’t ideal, but this was made from scrap and items I had on hand. The only items I purchased for portable use was the cart, a Rambo Bikes cart made for a fatbike but can double as a hand cart, and a GPS dongle for time which is required for some digital modes. Additionally, a 100w solar panel from Rockpals provides recharging capability, which I got on sale.

The batteries are the same as my home station, I got a fresh set and used the older ones for portable. They add the most weight at 100lb of Gel lead acid battery, but I get 140Ah from it. The box is weatherproofed, but ill need to refine how I cover and load the cart for rain. The box lid doubles as a tabletop when it is inside the shelter. I added an IC7200 to the setup since its made to take out in the field and less delicate than the IC7300. A couple of old tablets provide VNC (remote desktop) access to the Raspberry Pi, which handles digital modes. Antenna is a multiband Windom dipole that uses trees for height in an inverted v configuration.

Moving the station is workable, but weight reduction will help make this easier. difficult terrain will be a challenge in its current state.

It works in testing, I get the same reach as my home setup, so I am happy with it. The next step will be to find some local campgrounds, hike in, and set up there to see how far I can pack this and what can be done to improve its portability.