Most of my /P operations to date have been "guerrilla" affairs stealing
the odd hour here and there whilst on family trips but they have been very
enjoyable though rather amateurish.
I have used my FT897 but on reduced power of 50 watts owing to the restricted rating of the dc outlet in the family car. As an aerial I have used the ever faithful fibreglass fishing pole - 5 metres in length with 6 metres of wire loosely wound around it and fed via an un:un balun and a length of coax. I hold the pole vertical either using a screw in ground peg (sold for holding parasols etc. purchased from Ebay) or using luggage bungies strapping it to a convenient fence post.
Using this set up, with no counterpoise, vswr measures less than 2:1 on all bands 40 to 10 metres.
I
have not, as yet, operated /P on any VHF band but, again, this is on the list
to try. To this end I have managed to acquire a tripod mounted 4 metre mast
and am experimenting with lightweight, collapsible beams. I also have been
gifted a netbook portable computer running Linux and am busy sourcing software
to assist with /P operations.