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Posts Tagged ‘KX3’

The best KX3 case

February 8th, 2014 |

When giving the video tour of my latest QRP pack I was asked by a few fellow KX3 owners what case it was that I was using.

Ive created another YouTube clip that shows off the Think Tank Strobe Stuff Pouch. Which was recommend to me by G4ILO on his blog.

If I wasn’t carrying the KX3 in a rucksack I would add some more padding to the case to protect the knobs and corners of the radio.

Anyway I hope the review shows you how the pack fairs up.

Double Red Letter Day!

February 1st, 2014 |

Author: Larry W2LJ

Wow! I received two of the best e-mails of the young year today!

The first was from Bruna Begali telling me that my Simplex Mono would be shipping within the next few days. From the e-mail, it became apparent that they keep a stockpile of keys located somewhere in the US, in order to keep delivery times down. Also, she asked me which aluminum finger pieces I would like as she would be sending those from Italy. I didn’t even realize that I was entitled to those! Unexpected bonus!

The second e-mail came this afternoon and it was “the” e-mail from Elecraft. My KXPA100 kit (with autotuner) is ready to ship within the next 1-5 business days. A pdf of my order was attached to review and confirm. I did that faster than you could say “Jack Robinson”. Wow, if I can get that next week, and then build it next weekend, I just might be able to have it up and running should I have to resort to QRO power to get FT5ZM in the log.

Definitely a “Happy Dance” day!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP – When you care to send the very least!

A warm day calls for mobile HF!

January 12th, 2014 |

Author: Mike VE9KK

Setup in the car

Early in the week the weather was forecasting a warm (+8C) day for Saturday....rain but warm. Over the past week the temp's have been around -22 C without the windchill so a day of +8 that had to be a day to take advantage of outdoor radio!! Seeing that it was supposed to rain and it sure did I decided to go stationary mobile using my Elecraft KX3 and mobile mono band whips. Before going out I checked the propagation conditions and to my surprise 20m was not really the band of choice it seemed to be 15m. I did bring all my whip antennas but choose to put up the 15m whip to start. I setup in a small parking lot right on Lake Ontario. I was operating 5 watts QRP calling CQ as well going up and down the band for those calling CQ as well. I ran across HB9TNW in Switzerland calling CQ. I gave him a call and he came back to me. He gave me a 429 but that was fine with me for a QRP signal from the mobile. There was lots of fading in

A shot from the car of the lake

and out on both our parts so the QSO did not last all that long but we were able to swap QSO details. I then moved over to 20m and was able to contact N4LTS who came back to my CQ call. Ray was in Florida operating QRP at 3 watts and I was still 5 watts. It was nice to have a QRPxQRP QSO. We had a good QSO for about 10 minutes and conditions started to change so we gave each other 72 and went on our way. That was more or less it for the contacts for the day but I was very pleased with the contacts that I had. I was also impressed while having a QSO with N4LTS there were some op's that came onto the frequency but noticing there was a QSO in progress they stopped transmitting and moved on.

Procrastination

January 12th, 2014 |

Author: Larry W2LJ

Sometimes I wonder if that’s truly my problem, or if I just have too many irons in the fire. I don’t LIKE to put things off – it’s just that sometimes I am forced to because something else comes up that has to be dealt with NOW. Then I lose my place and that’s how things go by the wayside for me. Maybe I need to take courses in multi-tasking – do they offer those? 😉

Another thing that I did today (besides finish printing the Skeeter certificates) was to finally do something with my Christmas present. That’s right – I haven’t written about my Christmas present, have I?

Marianne had no idea what to get me, so I made it simple for her. I made it super simple for her! I ordered a set of SideKX cover plates for my “portable” KX3, the one I take to work with me everyday, and I had them sent here to the house to her attention. I installed them today (super easy!) and instead of sticking my KX3 inside a ziploc bag inside my LowePro bag, it is now protected by the SideKX.

The KX3 before surgery:

And the KX3 after surgery – now fully protected:

The silkscreening on the SideKX plates is virtually identical to the silkscreening on the original Elecraft side plates. It would take an expert with a lot keener eye than mine to be able to see any differences. The price was very reasonale for the extra protection that you get. Of course, I had to put the radio on the air after its operation, just to make sure I didn’t screw anything up. A couple of quick NAQP contacts on 20 Meters confirmed that I hadn’t!

Oh, one other thing that I got to see today. At this morning’s VE session that I attended and helped at, fellow Volunteer Examiner Bob KB2VMG brought along his KXPA100 that had just arrived yesterday. He ordered his as a pre-built unit in June. I ordered mine as a kit in October. I was hoping to have mine by the end of January, but if Bob just got his, which he ordered four months earlier than I did, I am now hoping to see mine by Easter. Anyway, I got to see one live and up close and personal and got to drool for a little while!

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

Getting old and ham radio……….

January 4th, 2014 |

Author: Mike VE9KK

Keeping it simple

I'm only 54 years old but over the past few years it's either my age or the growing of the hobby both technically and gadget wise that has given me some senior moments!! I really can't blame just the hobby as I have had times when heading to the car to only stop and wondering where is was I was heading too and for what! I'm comforted from online reading that says this is from having lots on the go and nothing to do with loosing your memory. How does this relate to ham radio you say...........The rigs I have are the Elecraft K3 and KX3 both are menu driven as are many other rigs on the market are. I find myself going to the user manual or as I call it sometimes the "useless manual" to relearn a function that was just used the week before. I have had my ego get the best of me at times and refused to hit the books as I "knew" how to do this silly function command!! After going through several unknown menu's and not knowing how I got there, what I have done to the rig and better yet how to get the hell out! Oh and don't get me started on passwords that a whole other blog post!

3x5 life savers

For those of you who have the same memory melt downs at times as I do here are some helps that I use. In high school and University the good old 3x5 cards helped me learn (notice I said learn and not memorize very big difference) and pass many a test. The 3x5 helped me in the past and is doing so today, I write down step by step instructions for anything ham related items so I can refer to the card and not the Advil bottle. I cover over the card with clear tape so it will last for some time and the only thing I have to do is keep the cards in a place I can remember.....but maybe there is a card for that...:)). Just today I wanted to charge an external battery for my KX3 as I was going to do some hamming this weekend. I pulled out the battery and for the life of me I could not remember the setup to charge this darn battery. Thanks to a fellow blogger Larry W2LJ who has the same battery set me on the right path with an email. Now the instructions (simple as they may be) are taped on the side of the battery.

It’s now between two antennas……….and some last minute exciting news!!!!

December 17th, 2013 |

Author: Mike VE9KK

The weather here has sure cooled down and had 20cm of snow on Saturday this will at least make the ground white. At the old place there is a pile of snow but here in the city not so much.....speaking of not so much that has been the progress with my antenna situation in the condo. I have not really had all that much time to try anymore idea out. My next plan of attack will be to place the Alexloop on the balcony in the horizontal position (in the cover of darkness of coarse) and see how that does for both receiving and transmitting. I have now narrowed my antenna selection down to two antennas, the MFJ 1788 loop or the MFJ 1780 fan box loop. I contacted MFJ and asked their opinion and was told the 1788 was a better construction and the 1780 was more portable but both are good antennas! Well that really didn't help much. I called the local ham dealer and they do not stock the fan box loop and the 1788 has been on back order since October!!
I am tending to lean towards the fan box loop as it looks nothing like an antenna as the last thing I want are the condo cops coming after me. This unit is not really made for rain and is "portable" meaning I will have to take it in and out when using it. As for the 1788 it sure is more money but it covers more bands and is built better and I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for! So my delema is which antenna to go for.......
The 1780 fan box
1. It is cheaper but that may not be a good thing
2. It looks nothing like an antenna.
3. Very portable so small footprint.
BUT
1. Only covers from 14-30 meters
2. Not good in bad weather due to housing construction.
3. Has to be taken in and out.

The 1788
1. Covers from 15-40 meters
2. Solid construction
3. Able to be left outdoors year around.
BUT
1. The cost is more.
2. It looks like an antenna
3. May be hard to hide and hiding it may affect it's preformance.

Some exciting news regarding my signal getting out in this concrete jungle!
I was able to get the loop out and in the horizontal position and it worked great! The receive was very good and I was able to finally get spotted on the RBN. This are only U.S spots but with 5 watts and up to this point batting ZERO in the spot dept I am thrilled to see that my signal is getting out. Now I just have to fine tune things. At this point I have not tried WSPR but now that the horizontal position seems to work that is my next step to see how I do using WSPR.

rows to show: showing spots for DX call: VE3WDM search spot by callsign search callsign: DX DE wildcard * allowed
de	dx	freq	cq/dx	snr	speed	time
W8WWV	VE3WDM	7016.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	7 dB	23 wpm	2305z 13 Dec
NY3A	VE3WDM	7016.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	9 dB	23 wpm	2305z 13 Dec
WZ7I	VE3WDM	7016.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	10 dB	23 wpm	2304z 13 Dec
W2MKM	VE3WDM	7016.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	11 dB	23 wpm	2304z 13 Dec
K1TTT	VE3WDM	7016.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	10 dB	23 wpm	2304z 13 Dec
W3LPL	VE3WDM	7031.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	1 dB	23 wpm	2255z 13 Dec
K1TTT	VE3WDM	7032.0	CW CQ [LoTW]	8 dB	23 wpm	2255z 13 Dec
WZ7I	VE3WDM	7031.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	8 dB	23 wpm	2255z 13 Dec
WE9V	VE3WDM	7031.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	6 dB	23 wpm	2255z 13 Dec
W8WWV	VE3WDM	7032.0	CW CQ [LoTW]	8 dB	23 wpm	2255z 13 Dec
W4KKN	VE3WDM	7031.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	4 dB	23 wpm	2254z 13 Dec
NY3A	VE3WDM	7031.9	CW CQ [LoTW]	9 dB	23 wpm	2254z 13 Dec

I am addicted

December 5th, 2013 |

Author: Larry W2LJ

Hello …. my name is Larry and I am a pileup addict.

Or at least that’s the way it seems lately! For the past few days, everytime I have gotten on the air and worked a station, I had to bust a pileup in order to do it. Of course, the Fox hunts are nothing but a big QRP pileup and I snared both Lee AA4GA and Johnny ACØBQ on 40 Meters last night. OK, there really wasn’t much of a pileup on Lee, I have to confess – but there was for a while. By the time I was able to hear him well enough to work him, his pileup had dwindled.

But after the Fox hunts, I swung down to the low end of 40 Meters and busted the pileup to work Jim J6/W4QO, one of the QRP guys who is on DXpedition to St. Lucia. Then, I beat two pileups at lunchtime today. The first was to work another good QRP friend on St. Lucia. This time it was Jerry J6/N9AW on 17 Meters. That was a full blown pileup and Jerry was working them fast and fierce, in a manner that would make any grizzly hardened DXpedition veteran proud. And lest I slight him, Jim’s performance last evening was every bit as good as Jerry’s. Two top notch QRPers and all-around ops in Jim and Jerry.

See, participating in those Fox hunts DOES help! We actually learn a thing or two – not only how to navigate pileups, but also how to manage them.

Later at lunchtime, I busted a pileup to work ZD8UW on 12 Meters – Ascension Island. At 5 Watts out from my end, that came out to just a smidge more than 1000 Miles per Watt.

Working a pileup can sometimes make you want to bang your head against the wall. You’re in there, sending out your call in what seems like a hopeless battle, ala` Don Quixote. But then, you hear your call coming back to you and you complete the exchange for another rare one in the books, and all thoughts of bloodying yourself disappear in the breeze!

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

PS: I am working on the finishing touches to a new Christmas story. Look for it here as we get closer to the Holiday.