Posts Tagged ‘KX3’
QRP portable at Luther Marsh
July 6th, 2013 | 
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| QRP at Luther Marsh... note one of Julies cameras |
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| A view from below |
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| Julie's shot of the day an Osprey |
I took with me my Elecraft KX3, Alexloop, tripod and a spare battery. It was great, there was no noise level at all on the KX3 and one would wonder if the rig had a receive problem. I started to call CQ and it was not long before VE1AB in Nova Scotia came back to me. John gave me an RST of 559 and we had a nice long CW chat it seemed that John had been to Luther Marsh several times when in Ontario. I did have to say 72 to him as my batteries had to be changed in the KX3. I then called CQ again on 20m and WW2SUB came back to me.......hey guess where he was???? This was the first time EVER I had contacted a Submarine . He was on the USS batfish. I thought my CW was off and it was supposed to be copied as battleship. When I got home and did a QRZ.COM search....it was in fact called the USS Batfish!
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| Camera and ham gear stroller (mainly camera gear) |
QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint
Is this coming Sunday from 20:00 to 24:00 UTC. That’s from 4:00 to 8:00 PM EDT for those of us here on the East Coast. I will have to participate as W2LJ/2 (technically), as I won’t be home. Tomorrow we’re leaving for our yearly sojourn to Lake George, NY.
Of course, the KX3, Buddistick, and PAR ENDFEDZ 40/20/10 will be accompanying me. Not sure if I’ll operate from near the cabin with the Buddistick, or perhaps from a park, or even from a nearby mountaintop with the PAR.
In any event, I am looking forward to some well deserved R&R. I anticipate a lot of reading, and a lot of radio in addition to all the fresh mountain air and cool lake breezes.
I have some good books loaded on my kindle, including James Rollins’ new one, “The Eye of God”. If this Sigma Force novel is as good as his others, I should burn through it in two or three days. For the past several years, I have been able to read two books during our time up north. In addition to Rollins’ new one, I also have several of David Baldacci’s novels loaded on the kindle.
FYI, any requests for Skeeter numbers will be processed when I return. So if you send me an e-mail, I will acknowledge it, and I may even issue you a number. However, I won’t be able to update the online roster until I return.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
My first ever field day is over…………
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| The Saturday afternoon sky |
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| Saturdays operating position |
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| Sundays spot...lunch time |
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| Sundays weather |
A day at the beach…….with HF……it doesn’t get any better!!
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| Busy making contacts |
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| back on the beach |
I was calling CQ at the 20m QRP watering hole and I first had N0FKC come back to me Piether was just outside Minneapolis I gave him a 559 report but once I gave it back to him the conditions had drastically changed. He was in at the noise floor and I must had been the same to him. He was in the process of sending me 73's. So that QSO did not last long at all.
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| View from the patio |
Strangeness
While the rest of the blogosphere and Amateur Radio world seems to be having a spit-feckled nutty about Heathkit zombies, I decided to get on the air tonight (only after replacing the towel rack in the XYL’s bathroom, mind you).
On 40 Meters, I had a pleasant, but rather taxing QSO with Bruce W1CVE from Providence, RI. Summertime conditions were the rule for 40 Meters with lots of band noise, QRM, QRN and QSB. Despite it all, Bruce and I had a pleasant chat. He was 579 here and I received a 559 in return – not terrible.
On 20 Meters, I had a brief QSO with EW1DJ in Belarus. Alex was 599 here, and I received an honest report of 579 in return (not the automatic 599 DX report that you usually get). For this one instance, the haul from NJ to Belarus was far easier than the haul from NJ to RI. Go figure.
A word about last night’s post regarding the tuner and amp for the KX3. In no way did I mean to disparage anyone who has already ordered, or is considering ordering these pieces for their KX3s. If the KX3 is your only radio and you have the funds to afford these, then I am heel clicking, somersault tumbling, high fiving happy for you! I was commenting on my own situation and was not attempting to cast sour grapes upon the Amateur Radio landscape.
73 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
I don’t think so
In my e-mail box was a special announcement from Elecraft. Today they announced they were taking orders for the KXPA100 amplifier for the KX3, and the KXAT100, the auto tuner for the amp.
The amp is $700 and the tuner is another $300.
At this point, I don’t think these are in the cards for me, for a couple of reasons.
1) Price – I just don’t have an extra thousand bucks laying around. Of course, I could always part ways with something, like my K3, but I’m not too crazy with that idea. I bought it soon after my Mom passed, so it holds a lot of sentimental value.
2) Practicality – I like the idea of having two rigs. My K3 and my KX3 are mutual backups. If something were to happen to one, I still have the other. If I were to sell the K3 in order purchase the KXPA100 and the KXAT100, I would no longer have a backup. I also like having a main station rig and a dedicated portable rig.
3) Personal – I need to be happy with what I have and not always be on the lookout for “more”. I am very fortunate to have what I already own, and while it may be less than some, it’s still a lot more than even others. I need to enjoy what I have and get off the “consumer hamster wheel” of always wanting more.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
20m from the car….and snagged nothing!
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| My portable mobile by the river. |
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| A view down the river |
On a side note.......last night I did make contact with a new DXCC 7Z1HL from Saudi Arabia!
