Friday, February 16, 2018

Video: The KX2 goes for a ride and activates KFF-4415

Yesterday was tailor made for outdoor QRP and motorcycling - partly sunny and 75F (23C). I had been wanting to try an antenna idea suggested to me by W0ZF in a previous comment and am happy to report that it worked quite well.

The antenna was simply a 29-foot wire (hurled into a tree thanks to the amazing powers of nylon-corded Gatorade) and a single 29-foot radial. The KX2 was able to tune it on all bands 10-40m though all contacts were made on 20m for this activation.

The band was in great shape and I easily worked stations around NA as well as in Belgium, Finland and the Cayman Islands from my lakeside picnic table. 25 contacts in all (24 on CW; 1 on phone) in only 35 minutes of operating time.

The KX2's amp-hour meter indicated that only 325 mAH of its 2600 mAH capacity had been consumed. I could have operated for hours - my spare battery was a needless addition to the pack. Output power was set to 10 watts.

I'm hoping to take this same set-up on a motorcycle excursion to West Texas in a few weeks, specifically the area between Del Rio and Presidio TX, along the Devil and Pecos Rivers. Got some things out there I want to see and explore with the camera - and hopefully time/energy for a POTA activation or two while I'm there.
.

.


.
.
.

6 comments:

  1. I love your video .. thank you for sharing .. surely other qso ..CUL Jean VE2WFF

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice video John...and a great activation! Glad the antenna idea worked out for you. It'll be awhile before we have 75 degree days here in Minnesota, I'm afraid.
    73 de W0ZF

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It worked quite well - the 29' length seems to be a sweet spot for the KX2's tuner on the 7 bands between 10 and 40m. A successful experiment and a fun one too. Thanks and 73 - John

      Delete
  3. Hi John,
    first class short video!!! I had also QSO on 2018.02.16
    with WK2S (12:44 UTC) and VE2WFF (12:48 UTC) on 20m band from DLFF-0052 :) :) :)
    All the best!
    Florian, DL8ECA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Florian.

      I like the international aspect of POTA. I think there is more interest among EU hams but, over the past year or so, it seems more NA ops are becoming involved. It is a great way to utilize the many small rigs that are now available, otherwise they might end up just sitting on a shelf ;-)

      Perhaps we can have a park-to-park QSO someday. 73,
      John AE5X

      Delete