A "field station" is any amateur radio station that you can take from location to location and set up quickly. Transceivers mounted in vehicles are not considered to be field stations. Most of the time you will not have the luxury of being able to park right at the communications post. By and large a field station is like any other amateur radio station in that it consists of -

1. a transceiver
2. an antenna system
3. power

What makes a field station unique is that all of these elements must be portable and easy to set up.

You do not need to spend a huge amount of money on your field station. You probably already have most of the materials that you need, including the radio. The very simplest field station would consist of a modest hand held transceiver, and perhaps an extended antenna and some spare batteries. Throw it all into a carrying case and you have your deployable station.

Ed Harris, KC0UKR is a field station wizard. He insists that field stations should be simple and easily transported. For that matter, the transceiver that you use in your shack, if properly mounted, could quickly convert to a deployable station. Ed has designed and built a number of clever station containers out of ammo boxes, toolboxes, coolers, and pretty much anything else that can be easily carried.

There is no "one size fits all" field station configuration. We believe that it is important for you to feel comfortable with your equipment, especially in a stress situation like a deployment. Just put together your field station from elements that you prefer to use. We do, however, encourage you to select a mobile transceiver rather than a hand held because the former can output more power and can handle more duty cycles.

More information about assembling your field station

• Recommended basics
• Some examples of field stations you can build
• Pictures from the Field Station Demonstration October 13, 2007

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