In the early days of radio, the U.S. Army Signal Corps was always looking for ways to get the wireless equipment in the field, and one method is shown in this August 1914 article in Popular Mechanics.

This set could be transported with two mules and quickly set up wherever needed. The electronics were contained “in a case the size and shape of an ordinary suitcase,” and the mast for the antenna were made in “short sections that fit together like the sections of a fishing rod.”

Electric current was supplied by a generator run by hand. The operators must have had very strong arms, since the generator was reported to supply 500 watts. The setup was capable of transmitting 40 miles.