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 Previous: Utah Governor Signs Amateur Radio Antenna Bill |  Next: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending March 22, 2003 |
By Bob Mauro, KZ2G March 25, 2003
Bob Mauro, KZ2G, has taken mobile HF operating to a new level. Combining his main form of mobility -- a motorized wheelchair -- with an HF/VHF/UHF transceiver, Mauro has come up with an antenna system and power supply that allows him to get on 10 amateur bands anywhere, anytime.
Mauro's ready to operate anywhere with a full HF/VHF/UHF Amateur Radio station mounted onto his motorized Xcaliber wheelchair. |
Physical disability has never presented a single on-air barrier to me since becoming an Amateur Radio operator in 1964. In fact, using CW, AM, FM and SSB, my radio waves have touched hams as far away as Australia. Through the years I've had many different station configurations--mobile, base and portable--but none of them has been as much fun as my motorized wheelchair mobile setup.
Every hour of every day, I use a respirator to breathe as a result of childhood polio; my ventilator is similar to actor Christopher Reeve's. It's run off a deep cycle gel cell, located in a battery box just under the seat of my wheelchair. That battery is capable of running my respirator all day, so I figured I could also use the gel cell to power my Yaesu FT-100D transceiver. If I kept the power of my rig down to 17 watts, I'd have enough charge in the battery to run both the transceiver and my breathing machine. [Considering the respirator's important function, it would be advisable to install a second battery dedicated to the transceiver and isolated from the main gel cell. -- Editor]
Using heavy-duty tie-wraps, I mounted the small FT-100D on the right
armrest of my wheelchair. That was pretty easy, but what was I going to use
for antennas? I couldn't assemble a portable HF antenna every time I wanted
to work below 2 meters--it's just too fatiguing for me. Moreover, I take
the handicapped accessible Paratransit service all over Nassau County on
Long Island, New York, so any tall whip towering over the top of my
wheelchair simply would not fit inside the Paratransit buses. Nevertheless,
I still wanted to be able to use HF, VHF and UHF from the chair. I'd need
two antennas and settled on the Miracle Whip antenna (designed for the
FT-817 portable backpacker rig) for HF and a Premier AL-800 dual band
antenna for VHF and UHF.
The Yaesu FT-100D is mounted on the right side of Mauro's chair, the side opposite from the control circuitry of the Xcaliber. |
Then came the problem of mounting the antennas on my wheelchair. I found a simple solution in two Diamond K540-KM luggage rack mounts. These attached very nicely onto the push handles of my motorized chair. I then routed the coax cables along the right side of the chair and tie-wrapped them into place. I was ready to roll!
With 1 watt on VHF and UHF--using either the Premier's 34-inch screw-in
whip or the compact 8-inch flexible antenna--I was able to hit my club's
repeater to nearly full quieting, and it's located about 12 miles from my
Levittown home. UHF circuits worked just as well. The SWR on the FT-100D
readout was nearly 1:1.
The antennas (Miracle Whip in the foreground) are mounted on adjustable luggage rack mounts. An external speaker mounted on top of the chair's seat provides a little more audio for Mauro's demanding mobile/portable environment. |
Next came HF. The Miracle Whip only takes me five seconds to extend and just a few more seconds to tune. On 17 meters, I have a nearly perfect SWR, as well, with no additional tuner required. I quickly began hearing stations in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and even Norfolk Island off the coast of Australia--all at least 5 by 5.
So far from my home on Long Island, I've worked Florida, South Carolina and Texas. From a local park I've worked states on the West Coast, in the Southwest and Midwest. I was even able to contact a ham in Slovenia and another station in The Netherlands--both in pile-ups!
And all this with just 17 watts. I have never had as much fun on ham radio as I'm having now. Now, wherever I go, my ham station goes with me.
Bob Mauro, KZ2G, has been a ham since 1965, when he was first licensed as WN2UHY, and soon thereafter, as WB2UHY. From his Web site: "The seeds of amateur radio were planted in me back in the Fifties. As a kid, I watched Captain Midnight on TV. I always wanted to make a communicator like he did out of a piece of wire, a spoon and some tape." In 1960, at age 13, he bought a National NC-60 communication receiver to tune in on the world. After a bout of childhood polio and two spinal fusions in 1961, he got involved with CB radio and later Amateur Radio. In the early 1970s, he helped start the Hofstra University disability advocacy group, People United in Support of the Handicapped. Mauro is an author and painter living in Levittown, New York. He can be reached at kz2g@optonline.net.
| Previous: Utah Governor Signs Amateur Radio Antenna Bill | Next: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending March 22, 2003 |
