Scotty's Funk Werks

Executive Summary After building the G90 Manpack a few posts ago, I realized that there were use cases for something lighter and more adaptable. This blog entry describes a revised orange and black bag - rev.1 - that improves on the original coyote bag rev.0. You probably won't want to build this particular bag, but hopefully there are some learnings here that will help you develop a bespoke bag or manpack for your use case. I’m a big fan of chest rigs when I hike, and decided I could adapt an existing harness to a new bespoke bag created for the G90. By providing appropriate attachment points, the bag can be configured as a chest rig, or used as a general carry bag, or even as a backpack in a pinch. PALS webbing on the front panel allows removable attachment of any number of cheap  pouches for batteries and accessories, letting you dial the bag to the mission.  This results in a nicely integrated grab and go rig. Cable channels on the bottom and both sides allow routing of ca...

Executive Summary Yes, I've lost it.  Again. But portable operation has taught me that if you can operate your radio while holding it, even if it's a bit heavy, you can operate places that you can't set up an antenna. The G90 is small enough, and if you set its bottom against a fence or a table, you CAN operate it for quite a while as a handheld, and get on and off the air quickly. As in before you get caught. So I'll outline the generic steps for making a G90 antenna bracket. Short and sweet for once. How to Make the G90 Antenna Bracket Yep, it's a wee bit bigger than a KX2.  But it's 20 watts, and with the great tuner in the G90, you can put out a very respectable signal on 20 through 10 with nothing more than an 8 foot tall 3/8-24 whip screwed into this bracket. If you have to operate handheld on 30, 40 and 60, you can try the MFJ-1889 pictured here, as it tunes through 60 meters.  It won't be very efficient, but I have made contacts. With the whip, just ...

Executive Summary Many thanks to Thomas, K4SWL, for posting this description of my IC-705 shock box in April 2022.   Most of this blog entry comes from that original writing, but this blog entry supplements that and shares a few learnings I picked up along the way. There's not much to summarize for you busy execs other than to say this provides a couple inexpensive options for hauling your IC-705 out in the wild. 😎   There are three versions of the box, differing in lid and height.  1) Rev.0 is a short, pretty version but not watertight. 2) Rev.1 is water-tight and uses the ammo box without modification, except to add the internal components. 3) Rev.2 is a shortened water-tight version of Rev. 1, that saves a couple inches of height. Why a Shock Box? Pictured above is the Shock Box Rev. 0., pretty but less functional, hence Revs 1 and 2.  And pictured below is Shock Box Rev. 2. Why not a padded bag or a cage? Not to throw shade on a cage or a bag. But what...