My portable HF kit is coming together rather nicely.  To go along with the KX3, I've got a 31' Jackite pole for antenna support.  I have a 88' doublet fed with 300 Ohm twinlead and a 20m dipole fed with 450 Ohm window line.  I tossed a short piece of RG-8x into the bag for use with my binding post-t...

I've been enjoying my KX3 for some time, especially when mobile in the RV and camping.  While I've operated mainly SSB and CW, my attempt at RTTY and PSK for the 13 Colonies event during July 2014 didn't go so well.  I was portable at a campground in SC, setup comfortably on a picnic table with my p...

Received my Elecraft PX3 in Oct.  Awesome addition to my portable station.  I had my KX-Line setup and worked one of the digital contests without a problem.  I'm very happy with the KX-Line!

I'm really liking the Elecraft K3, P3, and KPA500.  I've made several DX contacts (including TX5K) and am very pleased with the receiver and ability to locate signals with the P3 and external SVGA monitor.

The KPA500 is so integrated with the K3, it's like simply having a 500W capable radio. Turn...

I assembled my new Elecraft KX3 over the weekend.  Super easy to do.  Nothing more than mounting the boards and connecting a couple of wires. Definitely a project/kit anyone can do.

Other than doing a little testing, I haven't really operated with it.  Looking forward to going portable with it and...

Arrived at home this evening, having been away all week.  The new Desco StatFree B2 (66164) was waiting for me.  Very nice mat which includes a common point grounding wire with a snap kit to attach to the mat and 2 receptacles (female) for banana plus from wrist straps.

Now to get it setup and sta...

I'm in CA today.  Yesterday I sent an e-mail to Elecraft asking if they took visitors at their office and if they had a K3/P3 I could look at.  The response form Lisa was "we love visitors".  Today I went by Elecraft and Howard spent a while with me showing all about the K3/P3/KPA500.  We then went...

I ordered my Elecraft KX3 on Jan 1, 2013.  It shipped on Jan 2, 2013 and I'm expecting delivery on Jan 9.

I ordered:

KX3-K MH3 KX3-PCKT KXFL3 KXAT3 KXPD3 KXBC3

Should be a pretty complete rig and very functional.  I wanted something that I could use portable for camping and maybe a little SOTA...

I've been a little distracted with family activities and my new Dillon 650XL.  But, it's time to finish this project up so I can do a little portable operating over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

I'm up to winding the torroids.  Hopefully I'll get that done tonight and can test that sect...

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I opened the mailbox and found a mailer with my new PFR-3 BBW kit.  Very well packaged, including a CD with very thorough instructions and plenty of pictures.  I'll start assembly tomorrow and will post an article here under projects with the full build instruction...

I've built some small kits over the last couple of years.  Mainly some APRS trackers and interface projects.  After Randy (K4QO) gave a talk on operating QRP at a Trident Amateur Radio Club meeting, I've been wanting to build a larger kit.

I had been debating an Elecraft KX1 but hadn't wanted to s...

The Hendricks PFR-3 kit arrived in the mail yesterday.  That was about 1 week from order to delivery, which is great.

I did the initial sorting of parts this evening (similar looking things go together).  I'll do a thorough inventory and get started with the build.  Hopefully I can dedicate a litt...

Ordering the OpenTracker+ was painless and arrive in just a couple of days. Packaging is was nice and the correct components were in the bag.

For the build, I inventoried all of the parts and then began with some of the larger yet low-profile components. I did part of the assemble the first night...

I've been using an LDG AT-11 to tune my various antennas. I'm the second owner of the AT-11 and it has served me very well. But, it's time has come... It's almost completely given up on me so I've been using the internal tuner on my ICOM 756ProIII. It works, but it's limited in what it can do.

I'v...

What can I really say... It's a nice little VHF/UHF cross needle SWR meter capable of handling up to 1kW. I read a lot of reviews before buying it and am very happy with the quality of the construction and the actual operation of the meter.

Update 2021

Still working. I don't use it continuall...

Wow, what a nice boom. Long arms and it stays where you put it. I've got a PR781 hanging on it and it's working great. At first, I was a little hesitant to part with the $100 thinking that I could homebrew something out of a $20 desk lamp boom. I've got one of those desk lamps at my operating positi...

I've been using the Heil Proset Plus for several months and am very impressed. The sound quality is excellent and the ability to switch between the different mic elements is great. I chose the non-IC version so that it would be compatible with any radio I might acquire. With some tuning of the Icom...

I've used LMR-400 for a long time and am a very satisfied customer. The cable is very durable yet easy to bend / install. It weathers well and stands up to water very well. Connector installation is relatively easy as well.

Update, 6 years later

I have several runs that have been in the sunlig...

Having only owned smaller and more consumer grade soldering irons, I needed an upgrade for some kit building I had planned. I found a lot of review of eHam and other web sites. In general, for the price and features, the Hakko stood out as the leader. So, off to HMC Electronics' web site and within...

I've wanted a nice HF base station for a while but have been reluctant to spend the money. It wasn't a big savings, but Ham Radio Outlet ran a special in March which was the best price I had seen for the ICOM 756ProIII. So, I went ahead and made the investment.

I won't go into all the technical de...

Finally, more than 100 watts!!!

I've been building a new station at our new house, pretty much from the ground up. Having wanted one for a long time, I took the plunge and added a linear amplifier. There are countless reviews out there on the various amplifiers. For me, it came down to bang-for-th...