It all started at Hamvention in 2025. I was looking through the list of presenters, and I noticed that Vince, VE6LK, was in the last slot on the last day. Not an enviable position for any presenter. I’m a fan of Ham Radio Workbench, so I decided to attend just to help put some numbers in the room.
As it turned out, he didn’t need my “help.” The room was adequately filled with enthusiastic people who were interested in his approach for A Fresh Approach to Go-Kit Design. In what I have come to know through the podcast as his typical, well-thought-out approach, Vince passed on what he described as cornerstone principles for building a go-kit. At the top level they are:
- What’s Your Purpose? Set your goals. Build towards them.
- Define your electrical requirements. Include operating time.
- Define your mechanical requirements. How do you plan on transporting it?
Simple, right? Well, as the original saying goes, “God is in the details,” so let’s get to them.
My Purpose: My goal was to build something for HF POTA and as a go-kit to take on vacation. My transport is a car or truck, so the whole kit needs to be “luggable”, but not ultra-light. I want to operate both voice and FT8/FT4 with an output power of up to 50W. I plan on using an external antenna tuner when I use a non-resonant antenna. I don’t want to rely on the 3:1 tuner in my radio. Which brings me to my other requirement. One of my maxims is, “Use what you can, buy what you must.” I want to use my now-retired 1st generation IC-7300 as the radio.
Electrical Requirements: The power requirements are modest. I want to be able to operate for around 1 hour, which should be adequate time to get in a POTA activation. The IC-7300 consumes the most power with receive around 12W and transmit, operating at 50W, up to 180W maximum. The USB-C for recharging the battery in the antenna tuner and for an external light, charging my phone, etc., is specified at 78W maximum, but in operation it will be more like 35W. All of this looks something like the following:
| Device | Watts | Hours | Duty Cycle | Watt-Hours |
| IC-7300 | ||||
| Transmit | -180 | 1 | 50% | -90 |
| Receive | -12 | 1 | 50% | -6 |
| USB-C | -35 | 1 | 100% | -35 |
| Subtotal | -131 | |||
| Battery | ||||
| Bioenno BLF1215A | 180 | 1 | 180 | |
| Spare Capacity | 49 |
The Bioenno BLF-1215A looks ideal since it will easily cover my worst-case scenario, and it will give me much more headroom when most of the activation is via SSB. Also, most of the time I will operate on less than 50W, so even with demanding modes like FT8, I will not hit the battery capacity.
Mechanical Requirements: Since I will be transporting the radio and gear in the trunk of a car or the back of the truck, I want a ruggedized case for the sensitive electronics. I also want to be able to hand-transport the whole kit and caboodle in one trip for at least 100 yards. I chose a Harbor Freight Apache 3800 to transport the sensitive electronics and a simple over-the-shoulder camera tripod bag for the antenna and necessary cables.
The Final Go-Kit
You can see the final product below. I used a Powerpole distribution block to connect all of the 12VDC together. This makes it easy to plug and unplug the battery for charging. I also designed a battery fixture that I could 3D print to keep everything nice and tidy. Although I don’t leave the battery in the case when stored, it is nice to be able to open the case and make one connection to get everything going.
The components I chose are:
- Apache 3800 Waterproof Case. This holds all of the sensitive bits.
- Icom IC-7300. First generation, which works well for my purposes.
- 4-Port USB Charger. This is used to keep everything charged.
- ATU-100 Pro+ antenna tuner. This is permanently in-line. Even in bypass it shows SWR, power etc., on the its display.
- Powerwerx PD-5F PowerHub. Used to distribute all of the power via Anderson Powerpole connectors. Fully fused.
- Bioenno BLF-1215A. This powers the entire setup.
- Wolf River Coils “Take It Along” antenna. It is rated at 100W SSB and 20W digital. This is my primary antenna since it doesn’t require trees. I do live in Texas ….
- Tripod Carrying Case. Used to carry the antenna and all of the necessary cables.
Everything is mounted to a nylon cutting board, so I can easily slip the working bits out of the Apache case and easily access and use the radio.
The End Result
I am generally happy with the result. Setup is quick. Connect the battery, lay out the antenna, hook up the coaxial cable, and the microphone and I’m on the air. The one column I wish I had added to my spreadsheet is weight. The Apache 3800, with everything included is right around 22 lbs. Still luggable, even with the antenna and coax over my shoulder, but in retrospect my mental target for everything was under 20 lbs.
Still, a good first attempt. I am after all a ham, and we never leave things alone. I will be looking at other lighter radios, lighter, but still rugged carrying cases in the future to lighten my load but not dent my fun.
I will publish the design files (FreeCAD and .3MF) for the brackets at a later date. In the meantime, you can reach out to me at the email address on QRZ if you want them early.
I highly recommend you watch Vince’s video as I have only glossed over the surface of the gems he discusses in making your selections. Things like fresh socks, coffee, water, and all of the other essentials are discussed. Vince’s complete talk can be found here.
73, Greg, KM5GT