Tag: radio

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow HAM in the local Amateur Radio Club had a mishap with his Elecraft KX3 and PX3 rig setup. It was a nice day, weather wise, so he called an impromptu “Hamming In The Park.” This is where a bunch of us grab our portable capable rigs, head to one of the parks in town, set up, and operate in the (usually sunny) outdoors.

He let the smoke out of his KX3, and here’s the story:

http://ae5nw.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=54&limitstart=25

I personally am a huge fan of Elecraft. I own the KX3 (radio,) the PX3 (waterfall display and control,) and the KXPA100 (amplifier.) I use the KX3 on the amp at the house to get up to 110W of power (comparable to most non-amp HF rigs on the market.) It’s a sweet rig, but cheap is not part of its description. I’ll definitely be taking his experience to heart and making sure my setup doesn’t connect power until everything else is hooked up moving forward.

Fridays will be “Fun-Day Friday,” at least for a while. I’ll talk about non-unix non-security stuff on this day, and today’s topic will be about one of my hobbies: Amateur Radio.

I’ve been a licensed HAM since November of 2008. In my initial test, I passed both my Technician and my General class exams, but failed the Extra when it was offered. I didn’t really expect to pass that one, but it gave me a pretty good idea of what kind of material was on it. I waited a few years before taking my Extra class exam again, because I wanted some time to get to know the hobby better before diving in that deep. I passed my Extra in 2012. On my to-do list is to get my Volunteer Examiner, but I keep getting life interruptions when I sit down to take it. It’s an open book, online test, so there’s no reason for me to not have it yet other than procrastination and interruptions in general. I’ll get it eventually.

In the grand scheme of things, I’ve enjoyed the hobby thus far. I don’t operate as much as other members of the local county club, and I get teased for this incessantly, but I enjoy the times I do operate, and that’s what matters.

HAM radio has a broad offering of ways to enjoy the hobby, so if you haven’t looked into it, you should. Some people enjoy rag chew on HF, others like to chase points in contests, and another set prefer to operate in only one mode or another, such as CW (morse code) or digital only modes where voice isn’t even carried.

The latest trend in our local club is DMR (digital mobile radio,) and the club just purchased a new DMR capable repeater for the locals to use. I picked up a new HT radio for the occasion, so I’ll probably cover a review on that next week. HAM radio will be one of the topics I bring up frequently on Fridays, but I’ll also cover some of my many other hobbies, such as knife throwing, playing music, book reviews, movie reviews, and so on. I eventually plan to spin these off onto their own blog space, but for now, I’ll share them here. Only on Fridays. You’ve now been forewarned.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any hobbies you love, post in the comments!