Saturday, June 8, 2024

Off to Iceland...

Land of many parks
We'll be traveling to Iceland (TF) to see some epic landscapes (and maybe a lava river) and, hopefully - activate a park or three.

I'm trying like the Dickens to determine which radio to bring: the KX2 or the FT-891.

Either way, it'll be a CW-only affair and the antenna will be a mag-mount vertical on the roof of our rental car. I'd prefer the FT891, but the battery is a problem. It's big and I'm already carrying photo/drone stuff in addition to warm (bulky) clothing.

The antenna will limit me to 10-20 meters and I have absolutely no idea what to expect of band conditions where the sun sets at 2330 and rises at 0315 (local) this time of year. In my imagination, aurora-driven QRN is a monster at those latitudes, but I'm only speculating.

Iceland makes it simple for US and most EU hams to operate there (bottom of this page) - it would be a shame not to take advantage of that fact. Numerous parks line the road we'll be traveling on, ie the 820 mile (1300 km) Ring Road. We'll be taking 9 days to drive around the island, passing through or near several parks along the way.

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6 comments:

  1. John - Have a fantastic time OM! 73 Jim W1PID

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    1. Thanks Jim, it would be good to put you in the log from there. 73

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  2. Have a great trip John and looking forward to the pictures.
    73
    Mike
    VE9KK

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    1. Good morning Mike, I'm hoping to get some good ones. If I don't, it'll be my fault! 73

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  3. *Cough* KX2 *Cough*
    If checking in luggage, I would be mighty tempted to take something like a Carbon 6 and just a small spool of wire and binding post adapter.
    I can wait to hear about your trip. Iceland and the Faroe Islands are in my future.
    -Thomas

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    1. It probably will be the KX2 - much simpler to travel with...and maybe band conditions will improve over the next week or two. I'll be uploading logs to the WWFF program as well, which is much more popular in EU than POTA.

      I've seen a few photographer's YouTube videos from the Faroes - looks awesome as well.

      73 for now!

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