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OR ON MY WAY AND TO CALL FOR HELP.  NOW IF THE EMERGENCY REQUIRES US TO
EVACUATE OUR HOME, AS WAS THE CASE IN COASTAL JAPAN, THEN I WILL NEED AN
AMATEUR RADIO GO KIT.  SO, GIVEN MY NEEDS, I WANT A GO KIT THAT IS A FULLY
FUNCTIONING, SELF CONTAINED AMATEUR RADIO STATION THAT IS SMALL ENOUGH THAT
MY WIFE ROSALIND, KD7BTR, OR I CAN GRAB IT AND GO.  THE RESULT IS A RADIO
IN A BAG.  SO WHY USE A BAG?  THE ANSWER IS A MEDIUM SIZE CLOTH TOOL BAG
THAT IS RUGGED, FLEXIBLE, EASY TO STORE, EASY TO CARRY AND INEXPENSIVE.
THE SIZE AND TYPE OF BAG IS THE RESULT OF THE FOUR ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS THE
BAG MUST HOLD.  I WILL TALK MORE ABOUT THE BAG LATER.  THE ESSENTIAL
COMPONENTS FOR A COMPLETE RADIO STATION ARE A RADIO TRANSCEIVER, A POWER
SOURCE, A CHARGING SYSTEM AND AN ANTENNA.  THE TRANSCEIVER LOCAL EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATIONS IN OUR AREA ARE ON VHF/UHF.  THAT MEANS 2 METER AND 70 CM
FM, SO I LIMITED THE TRANSCEIVER SEARCH TO THOSE THAT COVER THOSE BANDS.
MY NEXT CONSIDERATIONS WERE THE RADIOS SIZE, WEIGHT, POWER CONSUMPTION AND
RUGGEDNESS.  REMEMBERING THAT EVERYTHING HAS TO FIT IN A BAG, I SELECTED A
SMALL DUAL BAND RADIO FROM YAESU, THE FTM 10R, BUT RADIOS FROM OTHER
‰  END OF 30 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ