That's right - feast your eyes.  You're looking at the words of the proud owner of a brand new Buddipole mast.  If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably already know that I use my Buddipole pretty often.  In case you don't believe me, here's some of the evidence, from since the beginning of the year only, that has appeared in other places on my blog (it's easier to see in some pics than others):

     So, why a new mast?  If you read my post on my attempted Mt. Rainier activation for NPOTA, you can see the headaches my old one caused.  Basically, it broke.  Not like snapped in two broke, but more like won't stay up broke (no snickering allowed...)  Luckily, my YL, having midnight visions of me driving off a mountain, had decided to check the NPOTA Facebook group to make sure I didn't, in fact, fall off the mountain.  This meant that when I got home, she wasn't surprised to hear me say "is it cool if I buy a new mast?"  

    When the new mast came, I was pumped, because Buddipole has changed the design since my version, and it is a LOT better.  What made the old design wear out?  Basically, the old design used a threaded ring that would squeeze a plastic ring to loosen or tighten the fit between the mast sections - the exact same way the drain on your bathroom sink connects all those trap pieces together!
     While this isn't a bad design, it's easy to see how after hundreds of trips up and down, the metal would grind away at that plastic ring, causing some parts to stick, others to never get tight, etc.  Here's what tightens each section on my old mast:

    Another thing I learned with the old design, was that if something was just a little loose, and the wind spun the dipole, it would loosen and tighten the threads on these sections - I only had it happen enough to make a section drop down once, but I'm sure it caused unnecessary wear on these parts. 

     Before you think I'm busting on the design - don't!  It gave me a lot of faithful service, and part of portable operations is accepting that fact that when you thread things on and off, put things up and down, and otherwise move things that were really intended to be sitting still, things will wear out.  Based on the pictures from the buddipole web site, I thought the new design looked better - when it arrived and I had it in my hands, I was like - oh yeah baby, that's the good stuff.

     The new clamping mechanism is much sturdier, and it uses a big thumb screw which is waaaay easier to tighten and loosen.  Also, because this is a clamp that is external to the mast, rotational forces from wind, etc. on the mast won't act to loosen them - awesome!

     So, side by side comparison?  Other than the much improved clamping mechanism, the new mast is just slightly longer when collapsed, because of the larger clamps, but that's not a big deal because it still fits in the original bag. 

     As an interesting note, even though it's longer collapsed, the new mast is actually slightly shorter when extended, than the old one (but only by a couple inches):

     Considering how short the mast is when compared to something on a tower or in a tree, I don't think these couple inches will make or break the deal for any of my contacts.  
     Technically, there is also now a longer mast available from Buddipole that extends to 18', which I really contemplated.  If you've seen how I pack my bags however, you could see that the longer mast doesn't fit my packing arrangement.  For trips where I am driving however, (which are actually more often than the trips where I fly.) It would be nice to have a longer mast.

     That thought rolls right into my next scheme.  My original mast is now in the metal recycling except for one part - the little threaded adapter for the tip.  That part actually just had a small set screw, and it fits over something that is 3/4" in diameter.  I'm now eyeballing some masts from a specific supplier (I won't name names unless I actually buy one and can vouch for it) because they have a 3/4" top section that I could put this part on, and they have models that are as tall as 50'.  I probably wouldn't go with one quite that big, because fully collapsed I'm not sure it would fit in my car.  they do have models that would fit nicely however, that are still in the range of 40'.  I start to drool when I think about the potential to actually get a portable antenna that high in the air when there are no trees around...

     Final thought - If you don't currently use a Buddipole and you're thinking about getting one, I do strongly recommend using an analyzer to tune it.  The Buddipole does come with a "cheat sheet" for how to set it up, but because of the variables involved, you're rarely going to hit the sweet spot by just using the tuning chart - in fact sometimes it can be off significantly, especially on 40 meters where a short antenna with loading coils is very narrow banded.  If you don't have an analyzer, I can strongly recommend the RigExpert AA-54 because it is the one I use.  You can get it from Amazon, or you can also now get it from my newly created affiliate store which is always available from the menu - check it out!

     Okay okay....not that kind of flying ham.  I meant this guy (*N3VEM points both thumbs at himself*)  
     So, I quite regularly see folks asking questions about traveling with Ham Radio equipment on commercial flights.  Short answer - it's easy!  As much as we think people will get excited about our radio equipment, at the end of the day, TSA sees much weirder stuff than our radios and they don't get paid enough to care about our specific brand of geekiness (is that a word?) In fact, ham radios are so non-exciting to TSA that they specifically give them the greenlight for either checked baggage or carry-on.  They just give you the generic warning about being careful how you pack electronics so things don't get damaged.  Like any other large electronics you just have to take your radio out and send it through the x-ray machine on its own if you carry-on (from experience, the 857d is considered large, but the MFJ 30 amp switching power supplies and LDG tuners are not.)
     With that bit of information out of the way, I figured the easiest way to show how I generally travel with my gear, would be to do a photo-journal.  Depending on the trip, I can sometimes get everything I need into just my carry-on/personal item (see Packing the Bags that I wrote before a trip to southwestern Ohio) but often times for work, I'm taking other equipment, so I have to take a checked bag anyway.  I would imagine that when most people travel they are doing the standard 1 checked bag, 1 carry-on, 1 personal item arrangement.  Without further ado, here's how I fit my ham radio gear into that situation for a week-long trip (I am willing to re-wear things like pants, but I insist on clean socks and underwear....):

I start with this.  I use this because it's provided by my work, to move some of our equipment around in, but it's within the size limits of checked baggage, so you can do the same thing in any large suitcase:

     Next I put a layer of pick and pluck foam in the bottom of the case, followed by the first layer of my stuff:

Next Layer:

 And then.......

Get ready for it.....

But wait, there's more:

There's still room in the box...

Is he done yet?  Nope....

Will you just close the lid already?  Okay, but this was only the checked bag - I still have my carry-on and personal item!

  
So, there's the checked bag.  You might have noticed that there was no radio in there....that's because I prefer to carry that on so that I can keep my eye on it.  I use an old, hard, laptop case as my "personal item."  The specific one I use isn't available anymore (I bought it with a laptop about 100 years ago...) but there are similar models out there.  This is another case where I put the stuff in, and then just pad as needed with foam.

Finally, done packing.  Here's the goods, ready to roll out the door:

     But wait, you say, you didn't tell us what was in the backpack, or where you got that awesome backpack with your callsign on it (L.L. Bean.  It was an anniversary gift from the YL, and I love it!)  
     I didn't show you the inside of that, because the backpack is whatever other random stuff I happen to take along.  It usually includes my toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, comb (I rely on the hotel to provide any other needed toiletries), an issue or 2 of QST, whatever book I happen to be reading at the time, my Samsung Tablet, my Laptop, and an HT and it's charger.  Sometimes even a spare set of clothes or extra pair of shoes.  
     The last recommendation I have is the headphones you see hanging through the bag.  I love them, because they communicate wirelessly (bluetooth) with my cell phone and tablet for making calls, watching videos on the plane, etc.  but they also have a wire that you can plug in and use in an analog fashion, so I use the same set of headphones to plug into my radio if I don't want to rely on the built in speaker in the 857d (I still use the hand mic for transmit audio.)  They are the Skullcandy Hesh 2 headphones - I don't go anywhere without them because it's one set that will do it all!

     Now that you've seen how I pack, and you've gotten some of my recommendations for the gear I use, do you have any questions?  Are you ready to grab your gear and zip across the country?  Are you confident that all those folks who talk about the scary TSA people and all the weird things they will do to you and your radio probably aren't speaking from personal experience, now that you've seen what someone who actually flies multiple times a month takes with them?  I took all these pictures while packing for last weeks trip to LA, when I activated the Santa Monica Mountains for NPOTA, so check out my post called Pop Culture Central to see how I set this stuff all up on the other end.   

N3VEM out.

     So, knowing the demographic of most of my fellow hams, I'm sure Weezer isn't at the top of many of your playlists, but when they declare "Beverly Hills, that's where I want to be" they're only one of many groups in the entertainment world that make reference to the area I traveled to for work last week.  Sherryl Crow claims that when she's there she just wants to "...have some fun, till the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard" (which happens about 3 hours after this East Coaster's body clock gets him out of bed...)
    Not to be left out, the TV producers have based a ridiculous number of storylines in the area - The Beverly Hillbillies, Melrose Place, The O.C., and some of The Real Housewives all happened in the area, along with a LOT of other shows (just check the Google machine and you can see how long the list is).  Lastly, there are just as many movies that took place in the area - Blade Runner, the Terminator Series, Demolition Man, Blue Streak, Crank, and Hancock are just some of the ones that are set in and around LA.

     If you're like me however, you're in LA for business.  This means that the majority of your time is spent on less glamorous things, in less glamorous places, like these:

     Luckily, I came prepared, and I did find time to sneak off one evening and get in about an hour of radio time in the Santa Monica Mountains, otherwise known as NPOTA unit RC17!  
     For this trip, I had packed along my standard HF gear.  While in the park I used the rental car and it's battery as my power supply, using this fancy arrangement that travels with me:

     I also have several short lengths of extension cable made up so that I have some flexibility where I set my equipment.  In this case that ended up being on the ground in front of my parked car.

    The rental car also provided me with something else - a counterweight to anchor my Buddipole antenna.  Thank you un-named rental company, for so kindly letting me use the spare tire in your car in this manner:

     As I mentioned, I was on a short timeframe for this activation.  I only had about an hour between the time I arrived and sunset, when the park closed.  This meant that between setup and teardown, I only had about 20 minutes of actual on-air time, but I managed to hand out this park to 21 chasers in  that window!  Also, because of the short time I had, I didn't get many pictures other than the ones above.  I did manage 2 quick shots from the parking area around the visitors center, and one GPS screenshot to prove I was actually there however!  
     Oh, and I might have fibbed about only getting to see the less glamorous places - I also got to poke around a place that many folks visit with their little ones because they are a customer of ours. Unfortunately, that visit was for work so I couldn't put that park on the air....

     73 till next around!