On The Go? You Need A "Go Bag"....

by Tom Swisher WA8PYR
© 2005 - reprinted courtesy of National Communications Magazine

George Carlin said it best. We all need a place for our stuff, so that we can get more stuff. While this is certainly true (especially in the radio hobby), in my case I needed a place for my stuff so it would be easier to carry and prevent it flying all over the truck while out and about. If you've ever tried to carry a bunch of handheld radios and their ancillary gadgetry in a collection of plastic grocery bags, you know what I mean. So if you're on the go with your radios a lot, you need a "go bag" to carry them in. I certainly did.

Over the years, I've experimented with a variety of "go bags," which are loosely defined as cases full of stuff, ready to go at (or almost at) a moment's notice. My first trials started several years ago, when a flirtation began with fishing tackle boxes. I started out with a small plastic one I'd had for many years, and found it to be nice, with a lower section for a handheld radio and several little compartments in the tray for holding little bits of stuff. Unfortunately it just wasn't the right size to carry enough stuff. So I bought a bigger one. Better, but still not quite there. Then I saw a Plano model being lugged about by a friend, and promptly bought one. It was perfect, having an upper section with a clear lid, just right for carrying antennas, adapters, batteries and other bits; and a deeper bottom section with larger compartments suitable for holding a small extension speaker, scanners and other small radios, and a variety of cables and power packs.

That Plano case served me well for a few years. However, it was just too large and unwieldy to be a proper go bag, not to mention that it was really heavy when fully loaded, and rather difficult to get into without getting it out of the car and onto a flat surface. So, I reluctantly began the search for a new go bag.

At this point, I began a new flirtation with soft-sided bags made of ballistic nylon. I started with a Plano tackle bag; designed to hang from the handlebars of a bike or motorcycle, it was small enough to be convenient, but large enough to carry the stuff I needed. However, I discovered after a short time that it just wasn't right, having no internal dividers to keep things from banging into each other. So I moved up to an Eddie Bauer gear bag. It's not divided inside, but it's just the right size to hold three radios without their banging into each other. It also has two front pockets and a rear pocket; batteries, earphones, speaker mikes and other odd bits fit nicely in the front pockets, while the rear pocket holds antennas, pens, a notepad and other like items. I still use this one for quick day trips, but it still wasn't quite right for general use.

Finally one day, I happened to be out on a freelance photo job, and started looking at my camera bag. Hmmmmmm.... divided into padded internal compartments to protect things; has web pockets inside for this and that, and a variety of outside pockets for small fiddly bits. Perfect. So, I started haunting the area camera shops looking for a suitable camera bag. After quite a while looking for something suitable (most of the bags I found were either too large, too small, or too expensive), I finally found one. It's a nice, mid-sized Nikon bag with adjustable interior dividers, a sizable front pocket and a webbing zipper pocket inside the lid. The price was very nice; on closeout, it cost me the princely sum of $20. Photo 1 shows the empty Nikon bag.

The next step was to figure out what to put in the bag and where to put it. I started with the basics: a couple of scanners with different capabilities, a handheld ham radio, batteries and chargers. With this in mind, I chose my Radio Shack Pro-96 (APCO-25 capability) and Pro-92B (easy to use LTR capability); Uniden BC250D (lots of channels); and my Yaesu VX-5R tri-band handheld. Also included were spare batteries and battery holders for these radios.

Next on the list are external antennas and mounts. I first fabricated a dual-band J-pole antenna for the Yaesu; this is a very simple antenna made from TV twinlead antenna wire. It is easy to make, can be rolled up and stored in very little space, and makes a big improvement in coverage with a handheld radio. The fact that it works very well for scanners is an added bonus. I also included a couple of suction-cup antenna mounts from Radio Shack. These are little gadgets with suction cups and 6-foot antenna cables; they can be affixed to most flat surfaces (typically a window), a BNC antenna attached and the other end of the cable connected to the radio. This improves coverage not only by getting the antenna up higher, but also by allowing one to put the antenna at the window where the signal will be less affected by building materials. To go with these mounts I selected telescoping aluminum BNC antennas, as well as a few other spare BNC antennas just in case.

Finally I selected power packs and other necessary accessories. The power packs I chose are the Radio Shack "Adaptaplug" selectable-voltage models. These feature selectable voltages ranging from 3 to 12 volts, as well as a variety of available interchangable, selectable-polarity tips. This means I can use two power packs to charge all of the radios in the bag simply by selecting the proper voltage and connecting the proper tip. I also have a few packs of rechargeable Nickel-metal Hydride (NiMh) batteries, as well as dry-cell packs for the Radio Shack scanners, and several alkaline batteries. Other necessary accessories include antenna and audio adapters. I carry all of the adapters in a small plastic compartment case I picked up at Big Lots for fifty cents.

A note of safety: if you carry loose batteries in your Go Bag, please be careful. Batteries (especially NiCd and NiMh types) can heat up rapidly if shorted, and might set your Go Bag on fire, which would be a very bad thing. For safety, keep your batteries in their original packaging until you're ready to use them. If they did not come in packages (such as the NiMh batteries I purchased at a hamfest), bundle them together with a rubber band and store them in a plastic bag. An even better alternative would be the small 4-cell storage cases visible in Photo 2; these can be obtained from battery distributors such as Batteries America (http://www.batteriesamerica.com). Remember, be careful with these batteries.

Now that all of the stuff is together, it's a good idea to lay it out and inspect it to make sure you are not missing anything and that everything is in good shape. In Photo 2, you can see all of the stuff, ready to go. In the rear (L-R) are the Pro-96, VX-5R, BC-250D, and the Pro-92b. In front of the scanners are the two Radio Shack variable voltage "Adaptaplug" power packs. In the middle you can see the coiled dual-band "twinlead J-Pole" antenna, Yaesu speaker mike, and the compartment box containing Adaptaplug connectors and antenna adapters. Finally in the front are a Radio Shack scanner cloning cable; the two Radio Shack suction-cup antenna mounts, coiled with an extra 6-foot BNC extension cable; 3 packs of NiMh rechargable batteries; and a selection of BNC antennas.

Finally we come to putting it all together. I started by arranging the padded dividers inside the bag to combine maximum usable space with the best possible protection. Photo 3 shows the loaded Go Bag. The radios are at the corners, each in it's own padded compartment. In the two center compartments are the coiled antenna cables and suction-cup mounts (left) and the Adaptaplug power packs (right). There is additional space atop the power packs for more batteries or a handheld GPS unit as needed. The NiMh batteries in their little plastic cases are underneath the Yaesu VX-5R, which is a very small radio. In the front pocket of the bag are the speaker mike and an over-the-ear earphone; pens; the compartment case full of adapters; and the dry-cell holders for the Radio Shack scanners. Inside the webbing pocket on the case lid can be seen the antennas.

How has it worked out? Absolutely great! It's the right size to hold a great deal of necessary stuff, but also small enough to be easy to grab and go in a hurry. In fact, it worked out so well I decided to put together another, larger bag for longer trips. To that end I picked up a small suitcase at a local discount store (for $15). Intended as a kid's suitcase, it's a bit more than twice the size of the Nikon bag. I fitted it out with padded dividers, which allows me to carry all the above stuff, as well as a portable Sangean ATS-505 shortwave receiver, a Sony AN-LP1 active shortwave antenna, a long-wire antenna, more chargers and a six-outlet power strip. I can even slip my small QRP+ transceiver and it's acccessories in there as well if the mood strikes me.

So there you have it, the Go Bag in a nutshell.

Now, if I could just figure out what to do with all those empty tackle boxes.....

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