> At 50 my goal is to buy the last HF rig I'll need (hopefully).
At 50, you are part of the youth crowd in this hobby. In 2004, I returned to ham radio after a 37 year absence since my Novice days in the mid 1960s. I was 57 years old in 2004. Since returning to the hobby 11 years ago, I have bought many rigs but my main at home station rig were: Icom 756 (non-pro) used, new Icom 756 Pro III, new Elecraft K3, new Elecraft KX3 (for portable work and as a backup rig). At 68, I am pretty sure that my current K3 is not my last rig — I am still waiting for the K4 or maybe K5. 73, phil, K7PEH P.S. About CW and returning to the code — when I returned to the hobby in 2004 I operated SSB only for 3 years. In 2007, I got interested in CW again. It had been 40 years since the last time I even heard a CW signal. If you had asked me for the CW code of the letter F or G or whatever, I probably couldn’t tell you. But, within a week’s time of listening to CW, I was copying again at about 13 to 15 wpm. My speed I obtained as a novice 40 years prior was about 20 wpm and I was the most surprised guy that it came back so quickly. Two weeks after the decision to get back to CW I made my first straight key CW contact. And, I flubbed it. I had not done any practice with the key on sending thinking that it was automatic and easy. Today, I am armchair at 20 wpm and during contests I can copy in the 30 to 35 wpm range (easy as contest exchanges are very easy to copy). My key of choice is my Begali Magnetic Classic Paddle. So, good luck on the CW — it represents better than 95 percent of all my contacts these days. I haven’t called CQ in SSB for maybe 3 or 4 years. > On Jul 28, 2015, at 8:49 AM, ae...@carolinaheli.com wrote: > > Good points all around so far. > My goal is DXCC/WAS then work DXCC for each band/mode. I aspire to primarily > do CW but am currently re-learning the code with the goal to be armchair copy > over 20wpm (we'll see how that goes). > The opportunities I have are limited antennas currently and we may yet move > in the next 1-5 years. Currently running a buckmaster 7 band OCF 300w version > directed towards EU. The short term plan is to construct some better > receiving antennas (vertical loop perhaps? Not enough room for proper > beverages). Long term plan is a crankup/foldover tower with two or more > elements on 40/20/15 as high as I can get it. > > At 50 my goal is to buy the last HF rig I'll need (hopefully). > > If I had a K3 and a K3S side by side with the same antenna, properly adjusted > and tuned, could I hear a difference in signal quality, noise....etc.. ? > > Thanks in advance. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Phil Hystad [mailto:phys...@mac.com] > Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 11:32 AM > To: ae...@carolinaheli.com > Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Is there a good reason to buy a K3S instead of a used > K3 ? > > No brainer — buy the K3S if money is not too much of a problem! > > But, if you use your brain and maybe factor in the difference in cost, a K3 > is a great radio too. However, if it were me in the same situation I would > go for latest and greatest equipment. > > 73, phil, K7PEH > > > >> On Jul 28, 2015, at 8:02 AM, ae...@carolinaheli.com wrote: >> >> Is there a good reason to get a K3s instead of a preowned K3? I'm >> returning to the hobby and looking hard at the K3S. So much has >> changed that I'm trying to catch up. >> Thanks in advance. >> >> >> >> Jerry Moore >> >> AE4PB >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email >> list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to >> phys...@mac.com > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
