HQ 30 gets a full trial run in the field

Lake Perry campgrounds are very nice, but I haven’t seen the equine area until recently. It lacks the lake view but it very shady with large primitive camping areas. We took horses so that everyone would have something to do on this trip. I have taken the M35 out for a day trip, but this is the first full weekend run of the setup. Being able to just set up an antenna and power and just go is very nice, I am glad to not have to lug the batteries and radio into a tent anymore. I found an old military electonics case that fits everything perfectly and is shock mounted in the interior.

I set up an inverted v antenna since its marginally easier to set up vs DX commander, but signal reports were not as good as with the DX Commander. May just be conditions this particular weekend, but ill have to do a deliberate comparison at some point. It worked though, so its nice to have some options for various environments.

The shelter has black out lights (red light for reduced visibility) which of course isn’t really necessary in this environment, but it did cut down on the number of bugs flying around vs white light.

Not completely done with the setup yet, I need a better method of anchoring down the radio enclosure and probably some air flow. It didn’t get particularly hot this trip, but the radio and power supply is surrounded by cushioning and may warm up on a busy activation or using digital modes.