Cockpitbob has a good point. These days most hams put too much emphasis on their transceiver because that part of their station is plug and play. In the old days the rule was spend 60% of your budget in the radio gear and 40% on the antenna. HOA and antenna restrictions cause problems for hams in newer subdivisions. You have to consider younger hams and the limitations they have living in apartments.
     When you talk about the Voyager, consider the gain of the earth antennas. NASA used the VLA system to complete the mission. The VLA system has about 200Db of gain. With the VLA you can hear a cell phone on Jupiter.
     Portable opps makes for a totally different conditions. When you consider the VHF and UHF bands where portable opps goes you can do just about anything, handheld antennas, rover stations, that kind of thing.
     The Hf bands just require so much more antenna due to the wavelengths involved. When you compact the antennas you lose bandwidth. I sum up antennas with this statement, most antennas longer that 1/4 wavelength can have gain, any antenna smaller than 1/4 wavelength loses signal and bandwith.
     You are right hams think they need too much power and because of that are "polluting their own world". I just don't see the need for any ham to use an amp over 500 watts. If the band is open, make the contact per the rules, with minimum power needed.
     When I use my Icom 703 or Tentec Argosy people are so amazed I can make a contact at all. QRP CW stations are kind'a common, but low power SSB stations are a real minority.

Gil has a good point. At 40 meters use one set of sticks trimmed for CW and one set trimmed for SSB. When you compress an antenna that short, you lose bandwidth. If you want to work 40 or 80 meter mobile, you need a much larger antenna, like the bug catcher type HF antennas. They have big coils and extra cap plates to increase the bandwidth. The hamsticks work much better at 20 or 15 meters. Hamsticks work great mobile, very tough and can take the knocks.
I use a 20 meter inverted Vee, or sloper antenna for portable opps. I trim the antenna to be perfect match at 14.300MHZ. Then I can cover all the 20 meters SSB freq. I don't do much CW work. I hope this helps out. Do you have a club around? Go see what other hams are doing, no need to re-invent the wheel. 73'S KA5SIW

Gil, Thank the people of France for their prayers and concern.
This kind of monster goes where there is the least chance someone will be armed. There is no stopping this type of LONE WOLF attack. This guy was on the radar, he had been interviewed by the FBI twice.
This guy had been checked out, no gun control would have stopped this KILLER.
People need to realize the police can't be everywhere. 73'S  KA5SIW

Gil, this is a neat idea.
My SHTF radio is a Youkits 4 bander. Now if you could put that radio is a splash-proof rugged case you could get pretty close but CW only. That radio does have wide enough bandwidth you can copy SSB real good. My other portable radio is an Icom 703 but it is not as portable as the Youkits.
My Icom 703 backpack contains: earphones, log clipboard, pencils, key, mic, extra 25ft coax, 6 mt. dipole, 20 mt. dipole, 40 mt. end-fed antenna, 24hr. clock, paracord to hoist antennas, trotline cord to hoist antennas. In a lunchpail I carry 2 12V 7 AH batteries, powerpole ex. cord, cigar plug charger wiring, multimeter. In addition I have a 30W solar panel to tag along with. I spray the backpack with Camp-Dri to give the equipment some moisture protection. I could also carry several large trash bags to cover the backpack with. Someday when I get off my lazy ass I will take a photo of this set-up and post it. This is not a SOTA station, more a picnic table portable station. I should hide all my microphones and use only CW, force myself to re-gain that skill.

Bob, what does your ground system look like? Apartments can be real difficult. Are you only running one band? If you are only running one band you might try a stub line on your ground. Back when I first got my novice, I could only use 15meters. The antennas needed for the 40,80 bands were just too big. Sounds like you started right, double checking power first. 73'S  KA5SIW

     I can see a drone used for observation, maybe 1/2 mile out. During field day, every time we have tried to use a helium balloon to lift an antenna the wind has created major problems. With SHTF, considering the priorities involved, I don't see drones anything except a luxury toy. Kind'a like tracers, someone can follow them back to the source. Maybe my thoughts would be different if I lived in a major city.

Cockpitbob, that is a good one about google after the SHTF.
Well, the show was an OK gun show, the prepper part was lame. One person there was selling nice first aid/ trama kits, MREs and food packs. They had someone giving talks on prepper topics. Over all just a gun show. I did not buy anything.
A lady had some good jerky, about $20/lb, I told her I was from the DEA and her jerky was habit forming and I would need to take it away from the show, she laughed.

This weekend there is a combined gunshow/perppershow. I have been to 100's of gun shows and one prepper show. This will be an interesting mix of people as these groups don't always follow the same path. At the prepper show I attended there was one vender selling amateur radio gear, I pretty sure most of his sales were to non-hams. If these people follow through and get their license, that is OK. Some people have the idea that there are no license once the government falls. That means they will not have the skill to operate the radios they bought or understand repeaters. Maybe is 3 to 5 years we will see lots of cheap HT at garage sales? This could be very interesting.

The 817 is a good radio, I used to have one but decided the Icom 703 fit my skills better. With the Icom 703 you gain an internal antenna tunner. You can add the CW filter to the 703. If you wanted a only CW rig, I would consider the Youkits 4 bander.
I have used the New England QRP clubs switched capacitor filter kit and it improves the RX audio from every radio I tried. Most of the time I only work 40 and 20 meters SSB. I also have an Oak Hills dual bander. Pretty good radio but the chassis is real boxy. You could move the guts to a more compact chassis and you would have a great little radio. Good Luck, 73'S  KA5SIW

Gil, I sent you a bit. Sorry for what happened. I have been a boat owner for the last 50 years. There are no words to express the joy of being on a boat. Once I was involved on a boat search and I found the boat, but it was stripped. I hope everything works out. Heck, 2016 has to be better than the last 2 weeks of 2015. 73'S  KA5SIW

NASA used the VLA to receive signals from Voyager when it outflew the NASA network. The VLA can hear a cell phone placed on Jupiter. In the old days amateurs used to say "spend 60% of your station budget on radio gear and 40% of your budget on antenna system". These days many hams don't follow that advice as it is much easier to buy the newest radio, than do work on their antennas (IF they even have the real estate to put up more or larger antennas).
On my station I am happy to use a 30year old radio. It has taken 5 years to find the equipment but this Spring I hope to put up my tower and 3 element yagi. Amateur radio takes both a radio and an antenna.

Years ago I ask this question to a instructor at Los Alamos National Lab. This guy was a ham and taught a bonding and grounding class at LANL. We are talking about a hard-core PHD, he wrote the standards for the lab. He said to short all the inputs and outputs on the radio, wrap it in an ESDS bag and enclose it in a grounded metal container. After EMP SHTF, open the container, un-plug the shorting plugs from the unit and get on the air. Good question what you will use for power. Any and every solid state junction device will be KAPUT. Maybe an old WWII generator would still work. Most small gas motors use solid state ignition. Solar systems and regulators will be inop unless they were protected and so enclosed.

An EMP event would push mankind right back into the 1870. Talk about the ultimate bug-out conditions. Without power or hope to regain power, in just hours cities would be smoking wastlands with total mob rule. In about 3 to 5 days everyone would start to leave the cities in search of food and water. In the winter the effects of this would be much worst as people try to burn stuff and keep warm. In the US the one year survival rate would be about 10%, my best guess.

Alaska had back-county radio also. Gil, you are right, HF will almost always get the message through. Too bad we are scattered all over the county. Man if we could arrange a meeting somewhere what a great event that would be.
Talking about Mountain Men, for years I went to Rondevou and entered different events. What fun to throw knives and hawks. I still keep a target set-up and  practice. Neat thing about blackpowder rifles you can ship them around the country without all that legal mess. That .490 lead ball will still take lots of meat. Talk about a time when skill and stealth was more important than a .300magnum and a 12 power scope.
One of the best campers I have known would only carry a sleeping bag, a foam sleeping pad, a 10x10 painters tarp, canteen and a skillet. Those were the days. When skill and smarts outperformed technology.
73'S  KA5SIW

Here in New Mexico every year people die in the wilderness. They step out of their "known" world and enter a hostile environment. Even with the hostile wildlife, many times they die just yards from a known trail or almost in sight of their car. People have become so dependent on technology they lack the most basic survivor skills. Cell phones have lead they to think help is always just moments away. Large parts of this state don't have cell phone coverage. If you can make a distress phone call, the response time may well be over 30min.
Yes, amateur radio can help out in some of these areas, but amateur radio can't fix stupid. That wizz-bang GPS unit is real nice until the batteries go dead, then it is just a door stop. A compass and map will always get you home, if you have the most basic outdoor skills. This is much like the "prepper" shows that sell all kinds of gimicks. What they should be doing is teaching outdoor and survivor skills. If you honker-down in the city "cammo" may be a basic gray sweatshirt. 73'S  KA5SIW

     Greywolf, Welcome to the group. Gil runs a good show, lots of ideas are exchanged and we all come to the table with different issues. Myself, I work at the VLA and live in the badlands of New Mexico, that must be the total opposite from your  environment. Do you have "Prepper Shows" in the UK? Most of the shows in the USA just try to sell food and gear, when they should be teaching bushcraft. I think too many US preppers think they will solve all their problems with firearms. When SHTF, a preppers ability to blend-it and pass unnoticed will be a major factor.
     Besides the US Army survivor manuals I also have a 1970's Boy Scout handbook, lots of good basic info. An prepper should have a good scanner and a short wave receiver. The scanner tells you what is going on local, the shortwave gives you info from a 2nd source. There are times I just don't trust the major US news groups.
     I have worked in electronics for over 38 years. Working in electronics sure ruins a good hobby, sometimes when I get home in the evening the last thing I want to go is work on radios. I buy and repair HF radios. I really like the older TenTec rigs. My comm backpack has a Icom 703 and antennas. I use 2 12v 7AH gel cells to power the rig. I also carry an Icom V-80 2meter HT.