Last week I went Sailboat camping on an island in the Puget Sound. I went ultra-light and this is what I packed:
Tarp tent - Cord 6x9 ft nylon coated tarp, stake 3 corners and cord up last corner to a tree.
GoreTex bivy sack
15deg slumberjack sleeping bag
Self inflating mattress
Light jacket
Fleece vest
LED flashlight
Food

The place had plumbed bathrooms so no need for toilet paper.

My Yaesu FT411E 2meter handheld HAM radio failed during the trip, it turned out to be a solder joint inside the antenna which I fixed once I was home. This is a nice little radio which has both a Ni-Cad pack, a 6xAA battery pack, and a 12v car charge hi power pack. It transmits between 1 and 3 watts except with the 12v pack then at 5 watts. This radio passes the drop test better than my old Alinco DJ-580T although I miss having the 440 band. I think the Yaesu is a better radio. The Alinco has a very easy out of band Tx mod and a 900mhz and aircraft receive mod by cutting the mod wires inside the case.

I have finallyreceived the MFJ-902 tiny travel tuner. It covers 10-80 meters but misses 160 meters :^( this gadget is smaller than my hand and tunes nicely in its designed bands. See it at www.mfjenterprises.com
The new tuner has coax out the back but you can also attach a random wire with the provided banana plug.

TO conclude I bought a cheap code key while at Ham Radio Outlet along with the Gordon West WB6NOA Morse code trainer CD's, I hope this will get me past the general code exam so I don't need a babysitter to use HF frequencies.


  ¶ 8:29 PM