(changed the subject: was Service, overhead and the future A/K...)
Barry,
I did a lot of reading in the past day and I believe you are right.
The KX3 is exactly the radio I described. PERFECT.
Unfortunately it's beyond my budget.
The basic KX3 costs $1500 here in DL.
Add in a tuner and roofing filter and paddle and it's over $2K for a 10w
radio that I might use 5 or 6 times per year on a mountain top. The ROI
just isn't worth it.
For home use, say as my 2nd radio, I would need an amplifier.
Bottom Line: It's a champagne dream on a Budweiser budget.
For that money -(at this point in my life)- I would get more bangs for my
buck out of playing with something else, such as a 7300 or an Annan, etc.
I need a Plan B for SOTA. Maybe it's just "bite the bullet and carry my
Scout up the mountain."
I don't mind spending $500 or so but I would sure like to know how the radio
is going to perform BEFORE I buy it.
My primary bands for portable have always been 40 and 20. 15 will be dying
soon. Do I really need 17m for SOTA?
QUESTION FOR YOU ACTIVE SOTA Ops: What bands do you mainly operate when you
are on a mountain top?
I've only been on one SOTA outing together with a buddy and we operated
40/20/17/15 making a lot of QSOs on each band. Perhaps not quite as many on
17.
I think I will take a second look at the LNR offering.
It is indeed an SDR with DDC - so not an NE-605 type of radio.
Unfortunately they don't show much detail; just a block diagram.
There is a box called SDR-RF BPF.
This is a make or break component.
Some SDR radios have ham band BPFs (good), others have an LPF, with 0-12MHz
(useless).
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry N1EU
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 5:48 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Service, overhead, and the future. A/K/A/ I've got my
2 cents!
Rick, I'm not sure if you would be satisfied by the KX1 or the MTR radios.
Unfortunately I don't know the answer to something better but not too
expensive.
I suggest you try to borrow an MTR-5B. That's the only lesser expensive
radio that will do 40-15M inclusively. And you'd have to search around to
find one for sale currently although LNR should be bringing it out soon.
Or, just stick with the FT-817. I like the radio, although it really needs
an external speech processor to work well on SSB.
73, Barry N1EU
On Tue, Mar 15, 2016 at 11:50 AM, rick@dj0ip.de <Rick@dj0ip.de> wrote:
> Hi Barry,
>
> I'd love to have a KX3 but it is much too heavy.
> It's weight would place too big of a dent in my wallet!
>
> For SOTA I really only need 40/20/17/15m.
> 10 is dying and by the time it comes back, I doubt that I will still
> be running up any mountains.
>
> My next scheduled SOTA operation is 1-April. "Fool on a hill" - that's
me!
> I don't know yet if I'll try carrying my Scout up the mountain or not.
> I can borrow an FT-817.
>
> How good is the KX1?
> We have some heavy challenges on our receivers here in EU.
> A weak DR3 destroys 40m, especially at night, and a weak DR2 makes
> working 20m difficult - especially at night. You guys in the states
> can't appreciate that. You have to see/hear it to believe it.
>
> I once built a 20m QRP rig based on a design by Rick Littlefield.
> Had some kind of IC mixer.
> It was marginal.
> I ran a QRP CW contest using a home-brew magnetic loop antenna.
> Sitting in my living room with radio, mag loop, and battery, I worked
dozens of QSOs.
> Thought it was great. Then I put it on a big antenna and all hell
> broke loose at night.
>
> So I bought the MFJ 20m QRP CW rig.
> It was no better than the one I built.
> I sold both.
>
> I want something better than that - but not too expensive.
> But I don't know the QRP radios at all, except for the Argonauts.
>
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry
> N1EU
> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 12:25 AM
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Service, overhead, and the future. A/K/A/ I've
> got my
> 2 cents!
>
> On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 9:40 PM, rick@dj0ip.de <Rick@dj0ip.de> wrote:
>
> >
> > My Scout is a bit too heavy and over-powered, but the FT-817 just
> > isn't enough radio for me.
> > I'm looking for something in between. I'd like to see a 10w or 20w
> > radio with a good RX.
> > I want it to have both SSB and CW.
>
>
>
> It's called a KX-3
>
> I've got one, but I usually carry a much lighter KX-1 or MTR-5B when I
> actually hike up a mountain. (200 SOTA activations here)
>
> 73, Barry N1EU
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