This was a test run for the re-created AFVN-FM station for the 2019 AFVN reunion in Minneapolis on 29 August 2019. https://www.afvnvets.us/afvn-re-2019.html The test was conducted at the Port Huron, Michigan amateur radio "hamfest" swapmeet on 11 August 2019.
The first pic shows my "PortaSite" instant radio site and tower built from a 50-year-old Apache tent camper trailer. The tall mast at the left extends up 40 feet, but telescopes down to only 4 feet. It can support multiple HF-VHF-UHF antennas. 110 AH of 12V sealed AGM batteries inside the trailer can power the radios, computers and other gear for the typical 5-6 hour swapmeet. If needed, they can be recharged by idling the diesel engine of the VW Jetta TDI tow vehicle.
I use the antenna farm to demonstrate radios and related equipment I am selling at these swaps. The box on the mast at the left of the trailer is a home-made sunshade for a 19" LCD monitor used to demo ham software.
At this event, I had the FM-stereo
broadcast
transmitter and antenna for the AFVN reunion actually setup and operating. It
caused quite a stir -- a large percentage of hams are of our (Vietnam era)
generation. The lower pic shows the details.
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SECOND PIC
Closer-up view of the AFVN station setup. The Behringer 1002b mixer is my "studio console". It provides two mic inputs and four line inputs for a CD player, two computer sound card inputs and a Bluetooth receiver. The Acer "netbook" mini-laptop at the left serves as the music library and virtual "cart machine" for the huge collection of AFVN IDs, PSAs, stingers and hour-long aircheck recordings. The small grey-&-blue box at the right is the 1/2-watt FM-stereo transmitter. The antenna on the white pipe mast is a Chinese knock-off of the Jampro Penetrator circular-polarized FM broadcast transmit antenna.
