ROCKMITE STATION

 In trying to shrink a normal amateur radio station into something that can be carried on a trip or into the field easily, I started buying the Rockmite kits put out by Small Wonders Labs. My goal was to be able to fit a complete traveling amateur radios station and all accessories needed to operate it into a 1 gallon ziploc plastic bag that could be thrown into a brief case, suitcase, or backpack. It had to have all the stuff to operate and be dependable enough to use.

The above picture all fits into a 1 gallon ziploc plastic bag and contains the following :
Rockmite transceivers for 80, 40 and 20 meters (I still have to buy the 30 meter one)
The KD1JV Altoids End Fed Antenna Tuner (sold by Doug Hendrix)
A 8 cell AA Battery pack that provides a handy 12VDC power supply
A pair of Walkman style Ear Buds with a inline volume control.
A PC Board CW Paddle (Plans for this key came from KD1JV's website)
A End Fed 1/2 wavelength antennas for 40 and 20 meters made out of #20 hookup wire
(still have to make the 80 meter one)

I am still working with this station and it does have it's drawbacks in that the radios only operate on a single frequency. I also have KD1JV's ATS-3 all band transceiver and when I want to use more power, I put it in along with the rockmites. The ziploc bag is fuller but it still holds it all. Contacts are coming along as it is different than operating a normal QRO station and I am learning to be a better operator. This is a work in progress and will probably never be finished, but it does work and it is small and handy.