BATC Forum

I'm almost ready to box my Portsdown which I will use mostly for portable activities.
the activity will be limited to two bands: 23 and 13 cm at low power.

does anyone want to share photographs of their creations?

I'm looking for ideas and suggestions...

best 73
de
i2NDT Claudio

Here's mine, one USB on the side for band viewer etc...
Pluto, sound dongle and Arduino mouse emulator built in, (so its Langstone capable too), audio amp and speaker, Morse key, lick sockets VBatt and V RPi also RPI camera and on the back I/O for amp control and other add-ons like Power meter.
Gareth

thanks Gareth!
I followed the development of your "set-up" since the beginning!
as well as the Martin's (G4FKK) one.

i2NDT Claudio

A kind of sunshade helps a lot with the light outside an could also help in case of rain. For the rain I also have a large transparent plastic bag to cover the whole station.

It is also worth to minimise the number of functions.
Switching from transmit to receive and/or band and/or mode should be made possible with as less as possible actions.
Sooner or later you forget to plug that cable or push that button. In best case you receive nothing, in worst case you damage your station.
Some LEDs showing the status could help but sometimes hard to see if they are on or off and they empties your battery…

An other issue is identification of the individual functions.
Radiogareth did the front panel screening all by hand, for better visibility you can also use a dymo label printer or so to make clear labels.

I made a small instruction movie showing an easy way to make screening on the front of your equipment.
https://youtu.be/coUkLfbU8dk

In case you do not want to remove buttons and knobs, another movie:
https://youtu.be/TIo98s1BJZg

Enjoy!

Chris PA3CRX

thanks Chris for your hints!
I enjoyed the 2 videos and I will try the "tone transfer" with acetone for my next PCB.
usually I do "tone transfer" heating the paper...

i2NDT Claudio

Other small ideas (maybe obvious):
make kind of belt on the equipment that it makes it possible to carry the station an easy way. Eventual even with your hands free. Even when the distance between the car and the location is small. I cannibalized some backpack for that. Or ensure at least some handgrip.
I also use some Velcro, for example to attach the TFT monitor to the station. Makes it possible to do an easy switch between the stations (but not very handy in case wool gloves are used ).

thanks Chris!
that's a good idea: I have a couple of flat antennas I can use (instead of a dish) for 6 cm portable!

i2NDT Claudio