If you have an amateur radio operator in your life who is passionate about going portable, we’ve got some great gift suggestions for the holiday season available at DX Engineering.
The Gift of Patience
Remember that shiny new banana-seat bicycle that had to sit dormant through the winter because it was no fun pretending to be Evel Knievel while dressed like Admiral Byrd? Anyone who has ever received a bicycle or baseball glove for the holidays will understand that a portable-operating gift may be a matter of delayed gratification—a test of one’s patience as you dream of setting up your station on a sun-drenched picnic table after the thaw. No worries, though. Talk with those who live for Field Day and POTA® and you’ll know you’ve given something that was worth the wait.
Disclaimer: We could probably fill the rest of our gift series with high-performance portable operating gear, so we had to narrow down our choices to a handful of the products that make POTA®, SOTA, IOTA, and any other OTA activities easier and more fun. You’ll find many more portable possibilities—in a range of prices—at DXEngineering.com.
And remember, there’s no reason to wait until late December to be the world’s champion gift-giver. By giving portable equipment now (or gifting yourself…you deserve it, right?), you’ll have more time to enjoy ideal weather conditions before ice and snow make things more challenging. Know someone who can’t wait for Winter Field Day (Jan. 24-25, 2026)? This list is for you.
Finally, if you’re just not sure what to give your ham friends and relatives, you can make it easy on yourself with a DX Engineering Gift Card in denominations from $25 to $500—a perfect choice regardless of the weather.
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Let’s start Part Two of our annual Amateur Radio Holiday Gift Guide with portable antennas from REZ Antenna Systems, sold exclusively through DX Engineering.
REZ offers several complete antenna systems that make operating outdoors simple and effective. REZ’s Ranger 80 II™ HF Portable Antenna System is a high-quality, fast-deploy portable antenna that is easily tuned for 80 through 15 meter operations. It comes with a Ranger 80 II™ HF coil assembly, heavy-duty military whip, radial kit, ground spike or aluminum tri-pod mount, and large MOLLE backpack in your choice of four colors.
Also choose from these REZ options:
- Recon 40 2 HF Portable Antenna Systems (40-10M)
- SCOUT Vertical Antenna System Combos (20-6M)
- Portable Delta Loop Kit Combo (40-6M)
- 4-Band Linked Dipole Kit
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Chameleon Antenna boasts more than 90 portable antennas and accessories available at DX Engineering, including its popular MPAS 2.0 Portable HF Antenna:
Here are a few other portable gift choices from Chameleon:
- Basic Limited Edition HF Antennas
- WARC-D Dipole Antennas (30/17/12M)
- F-LOOP 3.0 Total Portable HF Loop Antenna (3.5-29.7 MHz)
- Lightweight 8010 End-Fed Half-Wave Sloper (80-10M)
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You’ll also find a nice selection of DX Engineering portable equipment that will make rugged, long-lasting gifts for outdoor operators. This includes DX Engineering Nomad Portable Fiberglass Telescopic Masts. One customer raved about the Nomad in his five-star review:
“I purchased the Nomad 19-foot mast for POTA. It’s only 22 inches when closed. I pre-measured guys (thin nylon cord) so I can raise the mast by myself. With a lightweight 40/20 center-fed trap dipole at the top fed with RG-314 coax, the mast easily holds the antenna with no bending. Excellent! It’s a strong mast that won’t break easily. Should last for years.”
Also choose from other DX Engineering portable options:
- Low Power Portable Dipole and Winder Kits
- DX Engineering TW Antennas
- HF Portable Operation Gear Packages, which include transceivers, antennas, power supplies, solar panels, and more (contents vary per kit)
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The Carlson Heavy-Duty Portable Antenna Mast Trailer Hitch Mount provides an easy solution for securely mounting your antenna mast to a standard two-inch trailer hitch receiver. Constructed from heavy-duty steel and finished in gloss black for durability, the mount is designed to handle demanding conditions.
Also find Carlson Drive-On Mast Mount Car Stands at DX Engineering.
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The compact and lightweight Spooltenna™ Parks End-Fed Half-Wave 40-10M Portable Wire Antenna makes a great gift for fans of POTA®, SOTA, and Field Day. Its innovative spool design ensures rapid deployment and teardown, providing a worry-free operating experience that doesn’t compromise performance.
“This is a great antenna that just WORKS,” said one user who posted at DXEngineering.com. “Using a 25-foot portable mast in my backyard, I had this antenna deployed quickly and had great SWR on all advertised bands without a tuner.”
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In September 2025, Sierra Radio Systems, a manufacturer of portable wire antennas and station control modules for amateur radio operators, named DX Engineering as a worldwide dealer of its products. Among those are its PackTenna Wire Antennas. These compact, lightweight, trail-ready HF antenna systems make an ideal solution for POTA®/SOTA activations; Field Day; camping and backpacking excursions; and vacation operating. Choose from two models:
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Sold exclusively in North America through DX Engineering, DX Commander antennas like the Expedition Portable HF Multi-Band Vertical Antenna (40-6M) is a gift that will mean more QSOs, worry-free deployment, and hours of fun on the air for any fortunate recipient.
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If you don’t want to spring for an antenna, give the gift of outdoor operating knowledge! ARRL’s “The Parks on the Air Book” gives you a look at the setups and processes of 14 operators from a variety of skill levels and backgrounds and offers advice and motivation for taking your radio out to a park.
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DX Engineering currently carries 19 models of portable antennas from Alpha Antenna, including its HF/VHF/UHF MagLoop EmComm Antenna and HexTenna Deluxe Multiband Rigid Dipole and Vertical Antenna, which one user called “the best remote antenna made in the world today.”
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You’ll find a range of proven antenna performers from Chelegance at DX Engineering, including its MC-750 Portable 40-6M Vertical model.
As we mentioned above, we’ve only scratched the surface of gifts that any portable operator would love to pack up and take to the great outdoors. Check out other options from Bushcomm, Comet, Moonraker, and more.
