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The QRP-ARCI Spring QSO Party is today and tomorrow. I’ve been on for a bit today and so far band conditions seem to be downright horrible.  It seems I have an S5 noise level on just about every band except for 10 Meters, and there’s not much in the way of activity.  I’ve worked three stations so far, including EA2LU on 10 Meters. Jorge is very active in just about all the QRP-ARCI contests.

I nailed it as far as guessing what the new KX3 product would be – the PX3! A small companion panadapter for the KX3.

No idea when it will ship and the asking price for the kit is $499.95. ($569.95 assembled) It looks really nice and I just might consider it for the shack KX3.  Time will tell. I’m not ordering it this weekend, even though Elecraft is taking orders already.  I’ll let the guys who have to have every single piece of Elecraft gear there is jump in line ahead of me.

The downside is that now until the darn thing is being shipped, there will probably be nothing else discussed on the KX3 reflector.

Let the whining and peeing and moaning begin!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

From the KX3 e-mail reflector:

Today, after completing a few chores, I finally got a chance to assemble my KXPA100. For the record, I did not pre-download the assembly or instruction manuals. Maybe I should have, but I didn’t. I decided to just wing it and go with the flow after opening the box.

A few guys on the KX3 e-mail reflector claimed an assembly time of two hours. I completed mine in just a little over one hour. Basically, all you’re doing is securing the autotuner board to the amplifier, and then putting the housing on. Not much work, easy as pie to do, and you end up saving a couple hundred dollars.

I learned a few things the hard way:

1) Don’t assume you have the latest firmware in your KX3 just because you normally upgrade often.  I thought I had the latest version, only to discover I didn’t. When I couldn’t get my KX3 to go above the 12 Watt level, I knew something was wrong. A firmware update took care of that.

2) Keep the KXPA tuned “off”. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? There is an “On/Off” switch on the KXPA100, but it is meant for when you are using the amp with a radio other than a KX3.  If you use a KX3, it totally controls the amp.  Turning on the KX3 turns on the KXPA100. Turning off the KX3 turns off the KXPA100. If you have the “On/Off” switch turned on while using the KXPA100 with a KX3, the LED indicators don’t work properly. You may set the KX3 for, say 75 Watts – but the LED indicators won’t light up properly. Turnng the switch off remedies that.

Item 1 was prominently mentioned in the manual. I had assumed something, and you know what happens when you assume.  I didn’t see anything about the “On/Off” switch in the manual, but admittedly, I glossed through it and did not read it as carefully as I should have – again, my fault.

It is working properly, and I did give it a trial run my making some ARRL DX Contest QSOs at higher power just because I could – not because I needed to. I think in most cases, QRP would have worked. Tomorrow, however, I want to take the amp on a “shake down cruise” and really give it a go – just to see how these boots feel and break them in a bit.

Not that I am abandoning QRP – by no means. For 95 to 99% of the time, my KX3 will continue to purr along at the 5 Watt or less level.  But having this amp sure would have been handy a week ago for adding FT5ZM to my log. I’m enough of a DXer to regret having missed that opportunity.

73 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

One KXPA100 kit from Aptos, California.  It will be assembled this coming weekend. Tonight, I am listening for FT5ZM, and they are nowhere to be found, that I can hear them (of course). They seem to be concentrating on 17 Meters tonight, and all I can hear is their pileup – not them. Crud buckets!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

And that seems to be my story regarding FT5ZM, and I’m sticking to it. Last night, I heard them well and couldn’t work them. Tonight, I’ve gone back to not being able to hear them. According to the DXCluster, they are active on 14.023 MHz. They might as well be on the other side of Jupiter, for all that I can hear. I’m not hearing any activity on 30 Meters, either.

Ironically, tomorrow is their last full day of activity before going QRT. And tomorrow is the day my KXPA100 kit is due to arrive from Elecraft. What a coincidence, eh?

I am fairly confident that if I had 100 Watts last night, I would have been able to break through the pileup. There’s no way that I can be 100% certain of that, but you can’t be in this hobby for 35 years without building up an innate sense of these things.

No use crying over spilled milk. Keep your ears open on the bands every day this coming week, QRPers. Next weekend is the big ARRL DX Contest, CW portion. I am already hearing some familiar calls in some familiar places as folks set up and gear up for the big event. Working these stations as they get ready, and then working the contest itself is a great way to earn yourself a QRP DXCC Certificate.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Addendum: I went back to the basement to find that FT5ZM came up nicely on 20 Meters. I heard them work my buddy, Bob W3BBO, and fellow blogger and QRPer, Chris KQ2RP. Still no joy for W2LJ, though. I guess tomorrow night will be my last shot, if they’re even on the air at that point.

I got curious and sent an e-mail to Elecraft asking them when I might expect my KXPA100 kit, that I ordered in October.

Good news! Only about another month or so!

To be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting such a quick response. I got my e-mail answer in less than 24 hours. Kudos to Dean and the Elecraft Sales Team.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!