The HCMTA is a loosely affiliated gathering of Amateur Radio operators who have an interest in portable operations from remote locations. Locations are normally in remote areas of Texas that allow overnight operations and/or camping. Last year, the HCMTA visited around 7 Texas State Parks and operated HF and VHF radios. One of the cornerstone of the organization is to perfect portable ops so it is a common mode of operations. This means using latest technologies, alternate energy power sources, battery operations, and low & normal power (5 to 100 W output). Radios in the inventory include the Kenwood TS-450SAT, ICOM IC-735, and Yaesu FT-817.
The HCMTA assembled a portable station at Lake Buchanan, Texas on Field Day 2003. This was the last full weekend in June. The class was 1B and we used two ham operators with one transmitter.
The goal of this field day for HCMTA was to operate an HF station at 100 W SSB using only lead acid batteries with a solar panel charging circuit. Here are the particulars:
| Transceiver | Kenwood TS-450SAT with automatic tuner built-in |
| Antenna 1 | Buddipole with tripod and 18' mast |
| Antenna 2 | Linear array of 3/2 wavelength at 20 M. See CQ Magazine July 2003 |
| Matching Network | LDG Electronics RT-11 Automatic Antenna Tuner |
| Logging | Software program on notebook computer |
| DC-AC Conversion | 400 W psuedo sine wave |
Our location as at the East side of Lake Buchanan (West of Burnet, TX) just North of Casey. Here are the GPS coordinates.
Below are photographs of our station. Note the location was about 2 feet above the lake level.
Note the tripod mounted mast with Buddipole antenna for 40M-10M ops.
Picture to right shows a better view of the 3/2 wavelength phased array.
Two members of the HCMTA. YL Carolyn, AD5HP and OM Gene, K5PA.