OK...It looks like it's time to get down to the nut cuttin' on building my HF / Digital "station in a box". For those that don't know, here's what I'm planning to do. All future postings about it will be made here.
My goal is simple, to have a air/watertight container housing an HF radio, a VHF/UHF backup, power supply and a laptop to be able to maintain voice and digital comms with my all people from my retreat location or anywhere else I happen to be.
This is container I'll be using to store and transport everything.
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/RESlusher/Gear/MARS%20Station/MedicalChest1_zps2f155b05.jpg)
It's an army surplus medical instrument case. The one pictured about isn't the exact one that I bought...I found one in nearly new condition locally for $90. It has good seal all the way around and is completely air and watertight so it can go in the back of my vehicle as I head out for parts unknown.
I plan to build a rack out of aluminum angle and other materials with slide-out shelving for all components.
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/RESlusher/Gear/MARS%20Station/RackDesign_zps843be4c6.jpg)
The rack will be on the left side on the same end as the wheels to keep the load at least fairly stable. The right side will have a slide-out shelf with Dell Latitude D800 laptop that is just used for my radio activities (programming the two radios, using RMS Express or going digital with FL-Digi)
I've already built the shelf for the laptop. That was the easy part. I'll get a picture of it posted later.
Feel free to ask questions or offer any opinions / suggestions along the way.
That's going to be quite a station in a box. I see you've got it set up for 120v to the power supply. Any plans for battery backup of any kind?
BTW, PM sent.
Yes, right now I've only got two 10Ah SLA batteries; but I'm going to talk to a fellow ham at my club's meeting tomorrow night. He's built a 100Ah battery unit for his rig. I'm gonna see how he did it!
PM replied also!
Hello,
It seems like it is going to be quite heavy, especially with those batteries. I guess it all depends on intended use.. Personally I would not build anything I can't carry comfortably on my back.
If I was building a digital station I would use my KX3 with a small Asus EeePC (runs on 12V!). I have the signalink. The whole thing would fit in a medium size Pelican case, including a 4Ah Lipo pack. For VHF I'd use an HT with a ladder line Slim-Jim antenna that can be hoisted up a tree. Maybe I'd have a portable Arrow Yagi.. The antenna for the HF would be my wire end-fed of course. The case could be carried easily and for long periods of time without fatigue. A 4Ah Lipo battery with this setup would probably last a few days. I can recharge it with a solar panel.
Now, digital with 5W would not be as reliable as with 100W of course.. It's a tradeoff between portability and power. PSK-31 should do all right on 5W. Nothing beats CW of course. I've had trouble connecting to Winlink stations on 5W. The propagation has to be good.
For community emcom that would be a good box, assuming power is available. It's always recharging batteries that causes trouble. Maybe a small Honda generator would be your best bet... That opens a whole new can of worms though, with gasoline in the mix.
Great initiative to build something. Experimentation is what gets things moving forward.
Gil.
Gil,
You're right, it will be heavier than a backpack right. That's why I'm calling this one my "Mk II - Heavy". The original Mk I was my backpack portable FT-8900. The "heavy" will only be vehicle portable. I am either heading to my retreat location and will set up comms there or I'm mobilized to go out with RACES/ARES and set up in a shelter or somewhere else.
Using Lipo batteries would definitely save on the weight; but their price is prohibitive right now. Eventually I plan to replace the SLA with Lipos; but until then...
I do have a foldable solar panel to go along with the batteries.
As far as antennas go I've got a couple options. I've got an Inverted-V that I can run up on a camo-pole mast or an end-fed sloper that will do 40m - 6m. Take a look at the one for sale on KX3Helper.com. For VHF/UHF I've got an Arrow dual band J-pole.
One day I'd like to learn CW and key it old school; but I can also use FL-Digi to do CW. I know it's not the same as keying it yourself; but why not take advantage of the technology that's there? My hat's off to those of you smarter than me who do already know CW.
Thanks for the suggestions! 8)
Quotebut their price is prohibitive right now
Hobby King has all sorts of Lipo packs for fairly cheap. The advantage of course is the light weight and capacity. You do need to be careful charging them though, I would not leave them unattended. When the smart charger says they're full, you need to disconnect them right away. Also, if one cell goes below about 2.85V, your pack is toast. You need to monitor voltage constantly. They have small voltage alarms that cost a few bucks, worth their price in Gold. Lipos do recharge quickly, another advantage...
Gil.
I'll definitely keep those in mind as I look at improvements to make.
I'm sure it's no secret that I'd have to agree with Gil; that thing would be HUGE for my purposes. Of course portable is a relative term with a different meanings for different hams. In any case it looks like a cool project, make sure to post some photos of your progress.
True, but in this case I'm more concerned with protecting the gear inside than trying to hump it around. If I'm heading for the hills and have to ditch the vehicle never to return, the radio(s) can come out of the case along with a battery or two and a long-wire antenna.
Also, rack itself is going to be able to be taken out of the case all in one piece and used from a tabletop or truck tailgate without having to dis/re-connect everything. There's going to be a USB hub so all I have to do is unplug one USB cable then pull the rack out. I think it will be easier to describe once I've got some pictures. Then you guys can see what my thought processes are working towards.
K5RFI -
Nicely done! Yes, different tools fit different jobs. I've built the ultra-light, yet armored and the vehicle transportable systems. Yours is designed to be the latter. I do like the way that you've done this and the lay-out seems operator friendly, in that the radios are centered around eye level and the sound is front firing. Both of these are aspects I like.
Batteries and fingers are what limit the size of our radios, computers and etc. ha ha
73 de RadioRay ..._ ._
I tried to make it as functional as possible. If I'm using it "in the field" then I want to have everything I need within easy reach...including a spare hard drive for the laptop and a Ghost image of the current hard drive on a bootable thumb drive.
Hello,
If you are going to run the radios inside the box, a PC type fan might be a good idea, even though you have air gaps. You could even have it on a thermostat :o !
Gil.
Great minds, Gil! I'm already planning on either two small (2"?) or one big (4"?) muffin fans on the back blowing forward. :)
Yea, I'm on Spring Break this week and have cleared off the Honey-Do's...or at least am ignoring them!
Here's the sliding shelf for the laptop on my digital station-in-a-box.
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/RESlusher/Gear/MARS%20Station/LaptopShelf_zps9f967b71.jpg)
I'm using an older Dell D800 laptop running Windows XP. It's sole purpose is to program my radios and to run stuff like FLDigi and RMS Express.
It does slide out about 2" to allow the laptop to fully open.
More to follow...
Looks good so far, keep the pics coming.
OK. The guide rails for the radio rack have been put in.
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/RESlusher/Gear/MARS%20Station/LaptopShelfandRails_zpsd29bb6f1.jpg)
Weather has been uncooperative with me and a few forced Honey-Do's have combined to hamper my progress. :(
But now that I'm onto building the rack, I'm thinking things might speed up some. Hopefully I'll get to work on it more today and over the weekend.
The adamantium skeleton of the Mk II - Heavy "Wolverine" is coming together!
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/RESlusher/Gear/MARS%20Station/8542e703e4b76753bb389353aa473e43_zps31dcfeea.jpg)
OK. As soon as I got the skeleton for the rack put together I discovered that the complex machinery that is a tape measure was too much for me. I had to drill out the pop-rivets and cut down the verticals on the rack.
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/RESlusher/Gear/MARS%20Station/SkeletonTwo_zps0813fe92.jpg)
I spent most of the day cutting, drilling and re-riveting the rack so it would fit within the guide rails.
I also have the bottom shelf where the power supply is going to be cut to fit. I'm using plastic cutting boards as my shelves and panel faces. They are non-conductive and won't expand and contract the way plywood will. I was able to find cutting boards for about $5 a piece. I'm able to get all four face panels out of two and each shelf is one board. All of them but the one the power supply sits on will be able to slide out so I can access the component and work on as necessary.
Looking good.
I also occasionally suffer from the measure once / cut twice syndrome. "I cut the damn thing three times and it's still too short!!" LOL
I'm working on one myself. The first difference I see is I don't have a backup radio. The second is I'm planning to use a Samsung 3 Series Chromebook running Ubuntu for the front end. Everything else is pretty much the way I specked it out. Signalink USB, Anderson power poles, PowerWerx switchable power supply. Batteries will be external. I'm sure I'll need an antenna tuner in there as well.
My 8U gator case is in, and as I'm new to HF digital as well, I'll be following your progress.
I looked at the Gator-boxes; but they were a little outside my price range. The medical supply case I bought for this was $90; but I can put "everything" I need to operate in the field in this case.
I like the Z-11 Pro II tuner. I highly recommend it! Do yourself a favor, go to Radio Shack and buy three (two double-A battery boxes...giving you 6 batteries) for it. You can hook them up in series to give you the 6-9 volts the tuner needs. Make sure that you combine them in one layer. Two layers of three batteries are too thick for the cover to fit. I'll take a picture of the inside of mine so you can see what I mean.
I'm still working on how to have an external battery pack that I can plug in (most likely thru a PowerPole connection) or from the battery in my truck if I'm operating tailgate-mobile. I've got an Elmer in my radio club that has 100 Ah worth of battery in some sort of configuration; but I haven't seen it yet to copy it.
I've got the z-11 pro for my 857 and I just use the 12v plug with some powerpole connections to my powerwerx rig runner
The one thing I wish the PowerWerx power supply had was a set of PowerPole connectors on the back! Aside from that it's great!
I haven't determined which one of these setups to go with for power supply with battery backup,
Duracomm EH-30 - AC/DC Desk Top Power Supply ($285)
or
Powerwerx 30 Amp Desktop DC Switching Power Supply with Powerpoles ($119.99)
and
Super PWRgate PG40S ($139.95)
or
Duracomm LPBC-25 Battery Back-Up Module ($82.50)
I'm leaning toward the Duracomm EH-30 which can be had for around $240. It's environmentally hardened, hence the EH. Has a built in battery failover and float charger. Roughly the same cost for the same functions, $200 - $240, in one versus two pieces of hardware. Gil mentioned a problem with continuously recharging?
OK, I found this article on Wikipedia which explains not compensating for temperature will cause shortened battery life by undercharging or overcharging the battery, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Float_voltage.
Still going to go with a rig runner. Once it's built out, I'll need to get backup replacement hardware. But that's a ways off. Learning HF digital at the same time. My daughter cracked the screen on one of the chromebooks, so until the replacement screen arrives, I don't have exclusive use of my Linux front end.
I'll post up some pics as it comes together.
Look at the iPortable Pro case. I have an Icom 706, QJE 30 amp supply and an IT-100 tuck nicely on the one I have.
My 8U gator case, drawer, and shelves came in, and so began assembly.
(http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k429/awb69420/IMG_20140411_092747_zps289b1546.jpg)
Assembly complete, and this,
(http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k429/awb69420/IMG_20140411_093950_zps720383e4.jpg)
became this,
(http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k429/awb69420/IMG_20140412_164902_zpsbf24c071.jpg)
A few lessons learned; this setup is quite heavy at ~ 50 lbs, more when fully outfitted. It will require a cart to carry any distance. There's plenty of room in an 8U case. The drawer is 3U, again, plenty of room, but heavy. The power supply is a RS 18A. I secured it with some velcro one wrap, and strips of adhesive backed velcro. It's plenty secure.
Next step will be to add power distribution with a rigrunner, but this is ready to go with my available gear.
I looked into the AC/DC failover swith, battery charger. Duracomm advertised a float charger in their literature, but when I inquired whether there was tempature compensation, the prompt reply was the switches I was interested in were trickle chargers, but they have higher end chargers which perform float charging with temp comp.
I have a Clore emergency 12V starter for each vehicle. They pay for themselves the first time you need it. The owners manual says an inverter up to 400 watts can be used with the DC power accesory, and has a 12 amp circuit breaker. I was considering using this to power the radios in the field. Also looking at a 1000W inverter generator.
Gil has a point about the limited portability of this kind of setup. I'm going to get something like a pelican case for the handhelds, FMRS/GRS and dual band HT's with spare batteries. Portable solar power is something I've been looking into, as well. One thing at a time, and the 2m radio in a field case is first step.
I got the bottom drawer on my rack where I plan to put the power supply put together and painted. I'm gonna coat it with polyurethane tomorrow before final fitting/mounting. This one won't slide the way the rest will.
I'll get a picture posted tomorrow.
I'm digging yours to though, NCGunDude. Very nice work.
Yes!! "Wolverine" has a heartbeat!!
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/RESlusher/Gear/MARS%20Station/Power%20Section/Power3_zps98359592.jpg)
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/RESlusher/Gear/MARS%20Station/Power%20Section/Power4_zps4cbe7fc1.jpg)
I ran a test with the Clore JNC660 with a DC accessory outlet, and an Enercell 350W A/C inverter. The Clore is rated for a 400W inverter and has a 12 amp circuit breaker. After powering up with the power supply connected to the inverter running from the DC accessory outlet on the backup starter, transmitted with high power (75W) to a local repeater on the edge of my 2m transmit range. Stayed powered up for a minute or so on transmit, with no issues. Retransmitted a couple of times, and ended the test. The inverter has a power cable with clamps to connect to battery terminals, so there's a couple of options.
(http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k429/awb69420/49efdf8d-3f58-4b53-8381-c81649d1ec42_zps7c77c187.jpg)
It would be nice to have an inline DC power meter to view Amps and Volts. I'm going to add a metal sheet to the inside of one of the removable covers to attach a 2m mag mount antenna. Also need to add some 3' adapter cable for BNC and PL-259 radio connections. Trying to connect LMR400 coax to the back a rack mounted radio requires some patience! Mission accomplished for the moment. Hope to catch up with you guys on HF. I've got plenty of rack space and the Linux box is coming along. Anyone else using Linux and FLDIGI for digital HF?
73's
Quote from: KF5RHI on April 13, 2014, 12:25:19 PM
Yes!! "Wolverine" has a heartbeat!!
Very nice! I'm assuming the radios will mount over the power supply? Any idea what your total amp draw is going to be?
I wasn't sure my setup was going to run on the battery jump starter, but it was all good to go. You posted your project at the same time as I had my stuff coming in. Glad we got to compare notes. Looking forward to seeing pics of your radios.
The radio, tuner and speakers will all be mounted on sliding shelves. The bottom rack where the power is doesn't slide; but is removable.
I still want to put an Anderson PowerPole plug between the power supply and the AC plug so I can run off battery or the truck power. I've also got two 10 Ah SLA batteries.
The FT-857D draws 22 amps on transmit and .5 amps on receive (I think).
More progress on the digital workstation in a box.
I did a function check of the power supply with the radio. Tomorrow I'll put in the Z-11 antenna tuner and speakers
http://youtu.be/J-5eKnlhc-A (http://youtu.be/J-5eKnlhc-A)
I'm coming up on 90% complete!
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu126/RESlusher/Gear/MARS%20Station/MkII-Heavy_zps736c20da.jpg)
The two gray spots are where the paint and primer came off while I was beating on it with a hammer. I bought a stamping kit from Harbor Freight over the weekend and stamped "HF" and "VHF" on the top and bottom antenna jacks respectively. I connected the SignaLink to the radio and ran the cables for programming the radio as well as using FL-Digi. The programming software worked great; but I haven't tested FL-Digi yet. I just installed the most recent version last night.
I've only got a couple things left to do before declaring EndEx on this project. I've got to install the top guide rails inside the case. I also want to put in a set of power-pole connectors so I can run off battery power when AC isn't available. Once that's done I'll touch up the paint job.
I was wondering about putting in some snap-on RF chokes. I was thinking about putting them on the patch cables coming from the antenna jacks going to the tuner and to the radio (VHF); also one on each of the cables coming off the SignaLink. Anyone got any thoughts on this? I've never used RF chokes before so I'm kinda unsure about their placement.
That looks sweet. You do nice work.
Regarding the chokes, they sure couldn't hurt. They always go at one end. Either close to what you think will radiate noise into the box so it has no antenna to radiate with, or if there's no way to keep the box quiet, put them close to what you are worried about receiving the noise so the receive antenna length is as short as possible. Or overkill it and put 'em at both ends.
Hey!
That's beginning to look OFFICIAL!
Thanks for posting.
de RadioRay ..._ ._
Thanks guys! It's definitely been an adventure. One other thing I want to do before touching up the paint is to take either some strip styrene or possibly some balsa wood and frame the speakers and maybe the power supply just to clean up the edges.
I've already field tested the radio itself and it passed with flying colors. I even put the case through a weather test on my way back from my BOL when I got caught in a brief thundershower.
The chokes aren't all that much so I'm thinking about going for overkill on those and put one on each end. As Bob said, "...they sure couldn't hurt..."
Has anyone got any experience with FL-Digi?
I use FLDigi frequently. It is pretty easy to use. I haven't even read the documentation. The only issue is that some features related to macros and sending are not intuitive, but again, it's an RTFM problem.. It's a good program for the price ;)
Gil.
Yeah, it's hard to argue with "free". :)
I'm hoping to get to play with it some this weekend after getting the Honey-Do's done.
Hello, Some good ideas here and some good suggestions also. I think I would set the box up for an external battery or power supply. That box is going to be heavy enough with just the radios and computer. Another deal about an external battery, you can change the battery at a later date depending on what conditions you are looking at. Good work, 73'S KA5SIW
Yeah, Jim I want to have options when it comes to power. If I'm set up somewhere that still has electricity I'll run off the power supply. If I'm out in the sticks or it's some sort of grid down situation I want to be able to run off battery power either from a separate battery pack or even from a pigtail connected to my truck battery.
Right now I've only got two 10Ah SLAs connected in parallel; but I want to work my way up to about 100 Ah. I've also got a 35W solar panel and charge controller to keep the batteries topped off.
With Field Day coming up I want to look at building some sort of table that I can clamp onto the bed of my truck so I can operate from there. It has to be able to hold up 54 lbs though. That's how much my station-in-a-box weighs fully loaded. I've already got a folding camp chair and one of those EZ-Up canopies so I'd side I'm pretty close to being battle-ready.
We'll see!