This is my radio setup. It’s not the biggest or most expensive, but it is designed to balance cost vs portability to allow me to get out and use it as much as I can. Which I admit hasn’t been as much as I would like :(

Main Kit

• Xiegu x6100 - This is my main HF radio. It is HF only, but opted for something that included a battery and was portable. It has been great, easy to use. You can get a few $$ off at Radioddity if you use this referral link

• 15m RG58 BNC to BNC antenna cable.

• A Mad Dog Coils Mutt Classic which covers 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m bands.

• 12v 20Ah 18650 Lithium Ion Battery pack - This is very portable and I replaced the end plug with small anderson connectors to easily connect it to the Xiegu. This lets me transmit at 10w for at least a few hours before having to fall back to the internal battery @ 5w for another few hours.

• Tactix Tough Case - This was just a bunnings cheap case which protects gear in transit and is portable. It isn’t huge so I have to pick what I put in it, but there is enough room for the radio, antenna, cables and battery pack and it was a great price.

That makes up the main kit, it was designed to be portable and cost effective. I have also made a throw line using a cheap bunnings glove, some sinkers and 20m of utility cord. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but it should get me started.

Portable UHF/VHF

I have a few portable radios which I use for different reasons, but for the portable kit my pick would be:

• Baofeng UV-R5 mini for UHF/VHF comms. - This is portable and just such a nice radio and such a good price for the unit.

CW

I am only getting started in CW, but the Xiegu X6100 has support for it when I am ready. I have a Putikeeg green CW key. It is a straight key and small enough to fit in my tough case when I go out and about.

I managed to pick it up with the Morse Code Trainer to help me practice before I actually give it a try in real life.

Laptop

I have commandeered one of my kids old school laptops (They were finished with it) as a radio rig. It is small and not very powerful but plenty for what I need. It just runs Windows and has the following software on it.

• wfview - Open source ham radio interface for Icom and Kenwood. Also works with the X6100 over a network.

• WSJT - FT8 software

• GridTracker - Displays FT8 traffic on a map. Helpful when working FT8

• Direwolf - A Terminal Node Controller (TNC) to interface with my radios for APRS.

• PinPoint - APRS Software.

• MMSSTV - SSTV software for sending and receiving images.

• NanoVNA-Saver - Lets me control and view details from my nanoVNA on the laptop.

• CHIRP - Lets me manage the channels on my portable radios.

Given this laptop is pretty old, the battery life isn’t the best but it gets me started and is really portable. I also carry USB cables to connect to the X6100 for CAT control.

Other gear

I have a bit of other gear which I don’t need as often now.

• nanoVNA to allow me to tune the antenna, I used to use this a lot when I was using my vertical antenna, but not as much with the current setup.

• QRP 5.6M Antenna - This is what I got started with and for the price it is actually pretty good. Could hear (and they could hear me) as far away as Miami.