Okay I am reaching our to the Elecraft enthusiasts here for some feedback if anyone cares to chime in. I am just getting back on the air after years away from the hobby, so I am not that familiar with band conditions in general. It looks like the sunspot cycle is heading for the cellar (if it isn't already there).
Recently bought a KX3 and a Buddistick vertical (like, 2 weeks ago). Love the KX3 it is a great radio... however... so far my efforts to hear much of anything, much less make a contact with someone, has been frustrating to say the least. I live in an apartment and am surrounded by power lines for one thing. The background noise level on 40 is pretty bad varies but is s7-9 mostly. I took my setup to a nearby park and the bands were definitely quieter. So the local manmade noise level is an issue (and one reason I chose the KX3 was the hope that its rcvr and filtering could help with that.) Have yet to make a single contact, so I am just wondering if I just happened to choose a really lousy period of solar conditions for HF? Or is the base loaded vertical a joke? I would love to be able to find another ham even close by just to try and get some sort of an HF QSO even if it is with someone down the block. ...I can tune down to the AM broadcast band and was able to hear some local AM stations. :) Mike AB7RU (On a side note the tuner in the KX3 is great!. That thing was able to get a match for 80 meters on the Buddistick which was showing something like 25:1 swr. The KX3 tuner clicked and rattled for a while and found a match to <2:1. Not sure how much actual RF is going out, probably not much... but I was amazed it could tune to that high an SWR.) ______________________________________________________________ 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
