Set yourself free!

This morning, I was out and about in the car, when I decided there was some time to do a little operating near the sea, simply by pulling up at the roadside.

Now, I know I've written about this before.  But it is worth reminding those new, or not so new to the hobby that, if operating from home is difficult or impossible due to bad neighbours, housing association rules or, as so many of us now face, increasing RFI, then all is not lost.

Not lost at all, in fact.  Some years ago, I remember the ARRL's magazine, 'QST', expressing some surprise and perhaps rather suggesting it was a very second-rate thing to be, when a survey found a good proportion of operators only ever operated away from the home.

About three quick cycles of 1W WSPR at 14MHz, during very poor propagation, from the car - brilliant!

Well, I have never forgotten the old saying: 'never put all your eggs in one basket'.  Investing heavily in radio equipment based at home is almost inevitably going to lead to anger and disappointment when, one day, something causes RFI that you can't overcome.  In domestic and urban settings, it's simply going to happen, sooner or later, and no regulator I know of is going to help you much.

Far better to keep a few whips in your car, together with a rig in the boot, and a Raspberry Pi for digital modes.  I only need to switch the rig on and plug the Pi into 12V, and I'm up and running in a minute or so.  It really is a great feeling of freedom, even if you don't have any imminent RFI problems back home.

Better still, if you can access the coast, there's a good 10dB extra gain to be had by operating from near the sea, which in my book is a much easier way to get a better signal than investing in an expensive tower, Yagi and all the maintenance those things need. 

If you can't get to the sea, then anywhere with a less cluttered, open horizon than one typically gets at home is likely to be a big improvement.

So, if you have a thousand Chinese switch mode PSUs buzzing away, don't worry.  Just get in the car and escape it all!