My gear is :
FT-857D, normally operating with 20 watt’s
Fuchs-Antenna (for 14 MHz) with a 6 meter telescopic pole
LiFePo 15 Ah Battery (1.8 kg)
73, Peter
Its always better to keep the gain to absolute minimum before the final stages of the receiver, that way you preserve as much of the dynamic range available.
I do like these small radios. They deliver an enormous sense of satisfaction and surprising reliability for what they are. All brought about because of the need in India to have a inexpensive transceiver for the ham bands.
Keep building 
Adam-
I used this homebrew 20M rig on a successful SOTA activation yesterday. 5W output, and the impetus for this project was my desire for an analog CW speed control. The rest of the setup consisted of a pair of earbuds, a 1300mAH 11.1V battery and a set of PicoPaddles.
The antenna is a tuned 20M EFHW with an SWR of 1.2:1 across the low end of 20M- no tuner needed. It connects to the rig with a 6-foot (2m) length of RG-174- BNCs at both ends.
73- Dave, K1SWL
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My equipment:
3om30 3b: 3 band home made CW TRX - 7, 10, 14 MHz
Ext. home made DDS VFO
Fuchs ant 20 m, 15 m, 10 m
LiPo battery 3.7 V / 5 Ah
DC/DC converter to 12 V
RF field meter
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This is a picture of my military PRC319 on top of Pikes Peak, W0C/FR-004.
It runs 50W to a backpack mounted 10 foot whip.
ps: I have one for sale, shipping only to the USA, $2000.
See cool PRC319 Action Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McNku5YOvCg.
Paul w0rw
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I finally got myself a lightweight rig now, a Xiegu X108G outdoor version, and I’ve been testing it over the last three weeks.
Xiegu X108G in LAFF-0014 Dovre
I know that many frown upon this as it’s a “cheap chinese rig from an unknown manufacturer”, and I was also just as sceptical myself. Luckily a HAM operator close to me bought this and tested it, and I was able to get a few QSO’s with him on it before purchasing it.
During these weeks I’ve had around 600 QSO’s with this rig, all on 20m SSB. It has a few issues where it’s clear that this is a cheaper rig than the “normal” brands, but still the audio quality is very good. I saw no noticeable difference between the sent and received reports on this vs my “old” Kenwood TS480SAT. For a battery I use a 10Ah LiPo car booster pack, which lasts for at least 3 hours / 160 QSO’s (the most I tested with).
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I was looking hard at those little X108 radios… Glad to hear they’re working out for you! How is your power consumption with that rig?
I’ve got two possible rigs I can run:
This is my FT-817 setup (non-ND)
I have a homemade linked dipole for 40/30/20m on top. Sotabeams 125W balun at the center, drilled PVC pipe for insulators, Powerpoles for links. I’ve got 75ft of poly rope with a small carabiner on one end and a padlock on the other - The padlock is my throwing weight and the carabiner clips to my balun to hoist it.
I’ve got 2 accessories for the FT-817 - A DYC-8x7 speech processor for SSB and a Wolphilink for PSK31 with my Android (though I haven’t had a chance to really use it yet and I think it needs some tuning)
50ft of RG-58A/U coax with adapters for BNC and UHF
I usually use the black battery pack (6AH, 3A max) but I can go down to the 3 cell 18650 pack if I want (3AH 10A max).
The little breathmint pack holds a USB charger that takes 6-40VDC, and I made a little Powerpole splitter so I can charge my phone and run my rig at the same time - My phone has terrible battery life and might need life support if I run PSK31.
Alternately, I can go with my TJ5A for 20W of power with an internal 4AH battery, ditch the phone charger, battery, cables, Wolphilink, and speech processor.
I’m still super green at this, so I’ve got a lot of development left to do I think. I’ve got a 20ft fishing pole in the mail for a mast, and my setup will probably change as I get experience.
Here you are you setups.
817 for ssb/cw and lipo 3s battery, for standard Sota
Tentec R4030 with 3x18650 battery for high mountains with a long path.
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Hi SOTA om’s
here is my humble equipment.
40m homemade qrp 2W
and more than 20 years old FT-817
Always using 2,5w on 817. Antenna is homemade 4 band end-feed with traps and 3S LiIon with solar charging.
Portable mast is from dx-wire with top two sections removed.
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You kits HB-1B has become the primary with homebrew linked dipole the Mouse is a backup CW Key. I still use the 817 on occasion but the HB1B is light and I can also pack it with me when I go to work and do an impromptu SOTA when I have a long enough overnight
Hi Adam -
Fun post - thanks for the idea.
Here’s a rig that I used on Tiirismaa, Finland a few years back. About one kilo total (w/o GPS and FM rig). MTR two band (40m & 20m) with 8 AAA batteries and EFHW tuner plus SWR indicator in a bento box. Waterproof logbook with a micro paddle. Everything fits inside the HP bag (well, except the FM rig and GPS). Antenna gets thrown into a tree - one corner of antenna winder can be seen under the bag.
Etienne-K7ATN
1 Like
I photographed the kit I used on my most recent activation, and posted the photo there:
Here’s a small sample of my SOTA rigs -
Small Wonder Labs SW-40+, SW-20+, MTR-5B, 1st and 2nd edition MTRs, KD1JV Soda Pop ‘Coaster’ and K1SWL Hilltop 20.
I also have a very early FT817 dating from 2001 which is still providing good service, about 10 RockMites, a home brew BITX20 SSB rig and MKARS80 80m SSB rig.
Another SODA Pop is awaiting a case and I’m hoping that a QRP Labs QCX will come along in the near future. QCX 5W CW transceiver kit
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Here’s my KX3 setup on San Benito Mountain.
Here’s the MTR 3B on Peak 1180
The MTR setup is much lighter, and much more pleasant to carry long distances. Maybe I need to get a MTR 5B so I can get the higher bands without the weight of a KX3.
I’m in the process of assembling a VHF setup based on the KX3 and the Ukrainian transverters. I can post a picture once I’ve done some VHF+ activations.
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I use a UK/RT320 at 30 w PEP and built in tuner. SSB or CW. Not a light setup but lots of fun. Carries in it’s own backpack and 2 pouches hold antenna, headset, CW gear etc.
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Hi Kjetil,
My X108G has now taken over from my FT817 plus vastly modified ramsey amplifier as my main SOTA rig. I’m still getting used to it and having to go to a different level of menu to where I normally leave it to change mode from USB to LSB or vice versa is not ideal but I’ve just realised I can leave one VFO on 40m and use tyhe other for the other bands as the VFO A or B remembers not only the Frequency but also the mode and power out settings. the SWR scan feature is really nice when using antennas without an ATU.
73 Ed.
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Congratulations on the new toy 
I’m still very pleased with mine. I have a slightly older edition though.
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