Had a ball with my nearly new KX3 and AX1 vertical. Set up portable at 7am Sunday in Bay View Park in Milwaukee (right next to Lake Michigan). Spent about 3 hours using only 3 watts and managed to work about 75 stations across 40, 20, 15 & 10. Thank goodness for 15 being open.
This was my first time using the AX1. Worked flawlessly out of the box. It does help to elevate the counterpoise wires so it helped to have a few bushes near my park bench. Spent the rest of FD before and after the park operation using a 35’ wire up maybe 7 feet at most, strung outside the window of our AirBNB. Overall 141 Qs in about 7 hours. No where near my best effort but for running 3 W in the park and 15 watts to a suboptimal wire antenna it was one of the most satisfying contests I have had in awhile. With QRP/suboptimal antennas (as with most other things in life - like waiting for a K4D) you have to be patient. QSOs take time but they can be more satisfying than rotating the beam and turning on the KPA500, thus blasting your competition out of the water ;-) - Yes, I do have a K4D on order but if it had arrived in early 2021 I would not have purchased the KX3. And BTW the KX3 works just fine with a KPA 500 - “only” 200 watts but works better for me that the old IC737. I find it amazing that you can re-invent your love of a hobby just by getting some new gear. (First new radio in 26 years). This FD reminded me of my first FD in 1979 using an HW8 and a 135’ wire and just how much fun it was (and still is) to have someone come back to your call. 73 Jay N9CIQ ______________________________________________________________ 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
