“Ham it up” doesn’t have to mean a fixed station at home. A huge — and growing — part of the hobby happens from a rucksack, a car boot, or a park bench, thanks to modern handhelds, efficient low-power (QRP) radios, and antennas that pack down small.
Handhelds (HTs)
A dual-band VHF/UHF handheld is usually the first radio most licensees own, and it’s still the easiest way to operate portable or mobile. Budget imports such as the Baofeng UV-5R remain popular as a cheap way in, though many operators move on to a name-brand set once they’ve settled on the features they actually use. The Yaesu FT-70D and FT5D, and the Icom ID-52, are common choices with solid receive performance and digital-voice support (C4FM/D-STAR respectively); the AnyTone AT-D878UV is a favourite for DMR. Whatever you choose, a spare battery and a decent aftermarket antenna (a simple whip upgrade over the stock “rubber duck”) make a bigger difference to your range than most people expect.
QRP: doing more with less
QRP conventionally means operating at 5 watts or less on HF (sometimes defined even lower for CW). It sounds like a limitation, but with an efficient antenna and a good mode choice — CW and digital modes like FT8 in particular — QRP stations routinely work DX that would surprise a newcomer. The appeal is practical too: low-power rigs are small, sip battery power, and let you carry a full HF station in a small bag. Popular QRP radios include the Elecraft KX2 and KX3 (compact, well regarded, general coverage), the Icom IC-705 (QRP with a touchscreen and SDR receiver, good for portable digital modes), the Xiegu G90 (budget-friendly with a built-in antenna tuner), and kit/DIY options like the (tr)uSDX for the more adventurous builder. Foundation licensees in the UK are already power-limited, which makes QRP technique — good antennas, clean operating, patient timing — directly useful rather than optional.
Mobile and portable antennas
The antenna usually matters more than the radio for portable work. Common setups:
- Mag-mount whip: the standard for VHF/UHF mobile — a magnetic base on the car roof and a quarter-wave or 5/8-wave whip, quick to fit and remove, no drilling required.
- HF mobile whip: a loaded, resonant whip (Hustler- or Diamond-style, among others) mounted on a bracket or mag-mount, tuned per band with resonators or a screwdriver-style continuously-tunable mast for multi-band use.
- End-fed half-wave (EFHW): the go-to portable HF antenna — a single length of wire fed at one end through a small matching transformer, thrown over a tree branch or hoisted on a lightweight fibreglass mast. Fast to deploy, reasonably efficient, and needs no radial field.
- Random/end-fed wire with a tuner: the simplest option of all if you’re carrying an ATU — any convenient length of wire and a counterpoise will get you on the air, even if it’s not perfectly matched to one band.
Power on the move
Lightweight LiFePO4 packs have largely replaced lead-acid for portable HF work — smaller, lighter, and safe to leave partially charged. For longer activations or field days, a small folding solar panel paired with a charge controller keeps a battery topped up through the day.
Getting started
If you’re new to portable operating, start simple: a handheld and the nearest repeater is a five-minute setup with almost no learning curve. When you’re ready for HF, a QRP rig plus an EFHW in a local park is the same combination most SOTA and POTA activators use — see our SOTA & POTA guide for how those programmes work. Remember your callsign suffix on the air: /P for portable, /M for mobile, so other stations know your setup.