Prior to retiring I spent a lot of pennies getting radios, HTs and antennae. The biggest bag of pennies went towards my Yaesu FTdx101MP. I was done with the big purchases; my rationale was that I would get all the equipment I would want prior to retirement. In this manner there would be no further big expenses in retirement.
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
– Robert Burns, 1785
As a ham radio aficionado, I often peruse YouTube for content made by others with my same affliction. Some of these folks include Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL, Aaron Bowman W4ARB, Ed Bennet W4EMB, Lidiette LaCalle KQ3Q. This abbreviated list of POTA activators, in my opinion, goes from the most experienced “personalities”, to the newest among us sharing their experiences.
As a group, we hams love to share what we’ve done, what we have, how we did things, what we built or made, the DX contacts we made, our amps, keys, and our QRP prowess ad nauseum. When you think about it, we share our nuggets of knowledge so new members of our community have many on-ramps to help them into their new hobby. Of course, this could be a little overwhelming.
You can find a lot of this advice online as these hams document their experiences. One of the things I noticed, however, was this friendly dichotomy between QRP and QRO. There are those, of course, who are firmly rooted on one side of the “QR” line. Let me tell you, as far as I am concerned, it is wonderful to know that I have a 200W rig with 600W backing it up if needed. As for my POTA kit, my Yaesu FT-891 radio has 100W max, of which I normally use 50W.
In my ham radio YouTube adventures, I came across Cliff Batson N4CCB, from QRP School, who very rationally and logically explains why QRP works. I saw his first video on the subject three years ago before I spent many pennies on my pre-retirement acquisitions. Understanding what he said, I still pulled the trigger on the radio, automatic tuner, and an amp. I was under no illusions that I was going to send lightning bolts across the world. There is, however, a time and place for their use. In fact, most of my contacts in the last two years have been using 75 Watts.
Fun Fact
During a contest last year, I was trying to get to a station on the East Coast while using 75W. I parked on top of that station for about ten minutes throwing out my call sign with no success. This was the clue for me to change my tact and get heard over the other stations piling on top of him. I went to 600W in the hope of being heard over the other operators and waited. Then, the operator acknowledged a QRP operator and complemented him on his good signal. I immediately put my call out and the station returned my call on the first try. We made the exchange, and he complemented me with:
Nice job with your QRP signal!
I kept watching Thomas K4SWL and others, including other fellow members of the Long Island CW Club, make wonderful POTA activations all the while taking casual sips of power from their batteries. Well, hells bells, I was beginning to get more interested.
My interest finally pulled me over the line when, on October 3rd of 2023, I lost my resolve. Being a patriotic fellow, I was going to look for a highly portable, all-round, lightweight, American made kit that is held in high esteem. Seventeen weeks after placing my order, I passed another bag of pennies to Elecraft. Yes, I bought a KX3 and received it today, Thursday, February 1, 2024.
My KX3 is kitted out with all the possible add-ons, minus the 2M module. Additionally, I also got the AX-1 antenna with the 40M extension and a tripod adapter. This will form my second POTA kit, complete with an added Chameleon Light End-Fed wire antenna that I already have. There are a few more bits and bobs, as my cross-pond operators would say, before I am ready to operate my new radio. There is also a throurough review of the radio to get used to the buttons and knobs, and of course, the excitement of learning to operate my new radio. Already on its way, are the side rails and cover to protect my new investment.
I am looking forward to entering into and joining my fellow hams in the QRP community. Although I did not use the “never” word, I did end up doing what I said I would not do.
Go figure.
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