The FT-817 Travel Kit is a small but complete low-power HF station in a rugged and waterproof Pelican case. The station, which is heavier than some of my other field stations, is designed for picnic-table operations.

The FT-817 Travel Kit is currently under development. Photos may not represent the current state of the station. This page will change as various ideas are tested and accepted or rejected.

(click images to enlarge)

The heart of the FT-817 Mini Travel Kit is a Yaesu FT-817ND low-power, transceiver equipped with Portable Zero 817 Escort rails, a W4RT 500Hz CW filter, and an N0WL Powerpole adapter. (I've removed the FingerDimple FT-817 Kranker spinner-knob that can be seen in the photo because it extended beyond the Portable Zero 817 Escort rails, putting the rig's rotary encoder at risk in a drop.)

The tiny FT-817ND's all-band (160m-70cm) coverage, all-mode (CW/SSB/AM/FM/data) capability, excellent receiver, truly generous feature-mix, small size, and low weight make the FT-817ND an excellent field-radio.

The FT-817ND can operate over a voltage range of 8vdc to 16vdc. I currently do not keep an internal battery installed in my FT-817ND and I power the radio with an external 4.5Ah Bioenno LiFePO4 battery (link) through a fused cable. The FT-817ND itself is fitted with an N0WL Powerpole adapter and I've made a "Y" power cable with a Powerpole connector for the transceiver and a coaxial power plug for an LDG Z-11 antenna tuner.

Bioenno 4.5Ah LiFePO4 battery.

I have been considering the purchase of a Windcamp 3,000mAh internal LiPO battery (info) for installation in the FT-817ND.

The FT-817 Travel Kit includes the proven 28½' end-fed random wire (EFRW) with three 17' counterpoise wires. This EFRW is the same design I've used successfully with my Elecraft KX3, KX2, and K1 for hundreds of National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) and Parks on the Air (POTA) activations. This antenna is not resonant on any ham band and must be used with an antenna tuner.

The 28½' EFRW antenna and LDG 4:1 unun.

The The FT-817ND lacks an internal antenna tuner so the FT-817 Travel Kit includes an LDG Z-11 automatic antenna tuner QRP automatic antenna tuner and an LDG 4:1 unun. I strap the FT-817ND, the Z-11, and an Ultra PicoKeyer together as a single unit using a nylon strap. I feed the 28½' EFRW, without feedline, through the LDG 4:1 unun and the LDG Z-11 ATU easily finds a good match on all the bands of interest.

FT-817ND + Z-11 + Ultra PicoKeyer.

I will soon be adding to the FT-817 Travel Kit a linked end-fed halfwave (EFHW) antenna to provide no-tuner coverage of 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, and 10m.

If I don't want to fuss with throwing a line through trees to hang my antenna, I use a 31' Jackite telescoping fiberglass mast or an MFJ-1910 33' telescoping fiberglass mast to support the 28½' end-fed wire as a vertical.

For emergency use, the FT-817 Travel Kit includes the Yaesu YHA-63 three-part 6m/2m/70cm rubber-duck antenna.

For my CW key, I use a lovely American Morse Equipment Mini-B (link) single-lever paddle mounted on a heavy Porta-Paddle Base.

American Morse Equipment Mini-B
paddle on a Porta-Paddle Base.

The FT-817ND has a fine built-in keyer but this keyer lacks memories, so the FT-817 Travel Kit includes a tiny HamGadgets Ultra PicoKeyer (link).

The FT-817ND has an excellent built-in speaker but for occasions when I want to minimize my acoustic footprint, FT-817 Travel Kit includes a pair of Radio Shack ear-buds.

For CW copy and logging, the FT-817 Travel Kit includes a Rite in the Rain No. 373 All-Weather Universal notebook (link), a Rite in the Rain 1.3mm pencil (link), spare leads, and a Pentel ZEH10 eraser.

For emergency antenna repairs, the FT-817 Travel Kit includes a pair of flush-cutters and a small screwdriver.

For voice-mode operations, the FT-817 Travel Kit includes the standard Yaesu MH-31 microphone .

The FT-817 Travel Kit includes the FT-817ND Operating Manual, an FT-817 Nifty! Mini-Manual, the Ultra PicoKeyer manual, and the LDG Z-11 manual.

The carrying case for the FT-817 Travel Kit is a Pelican 1500 waterproof hard-case (info) I found for a great price at a Goodwill store.

The Pelican 1500 case, closed (left) and open (right).

I've configured the Pelican 1500's pick-apart foam to allow me to take out the FT-817ND+Z11+PicoKeyer bundle and replace it with my Elecraft K2. Since my K2 includes the internal ATU, many of the rest of the items carried as part of the FT-817 Travel Kit can be used with the K2.

---