So far so bad - they shipped it in a thin padded envelope, the radio box is torn and things are rattling around inside. I’m not even breaking the seal, and am demanding a replacement.
Printable View
Own a MTR yet?
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Was out walking the dog, listening to our club net the other night. One of our board members is helping the widow of a SK sell around 20 various transceivers. He mentioned he had 4 x "F6 Tri-band HTs, LNIB". It sounded like a VX-6R and maybe he misread the name. After the net, I keyed up and asked him what radio it was again. Sure enough, 4x new-ish VX-6Rs for $125 each. It's been on my short list for a while.
I'm supposed to take delivery next week. Excited to try 220 and have a smaller HT for SOTA.
No MTR yet. My buddy has a Mountaintopper and a QCX Mini 17m, but I just can't seem to get interested enough in CW to practice. Last year I took a class and was copying fairly well at 15wpm, but I'm just not into it. Now my copy has gone to hell. One day I'll have fewer distractions and might settle down with it again, but for now there's always more important things to do.
Dang, that's a good deal on those VX-6s. I have the VX-7, which is virtually the same radio, but with 60m and a bit more waterproofing. I've owned it for 16 years and it's still going strong.
Chris
Wow, any of those VX6 left? That’s a great deal.
I just got a HAM study guide after stumbling across this channel on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheTechPrepper
He’s got a series on what he calls “man pack” radios, using mobile transceivers, batteries, a set of brackets (to orient the radio) all in a couple pouches, making a man portable radio with more power (arh, arh, arh), than a typical handheld.
Regarding the study guide, reading it makes me feel incredibly stupid. Can’t imagine what it used to be like when Morse code was a requirement. One thing for sure, I have a long way to go.
His references to existing HAM-related software as, "Not for humans," has me checking in regularly. That, and that he's using his vhf rigs to accomplish actual things... outdoors? He's speaking right at me.
Our use cases are not identical but his scoping the related tech to those use cases really helps reduce the learning curve. His argument for the man-pack is pretty compelling as the middle ground between a handset and a large HF base station. I'm setting one up now for the FT-2980 I've had in the closet for a while.
So there I was, reaching the top of another never-before activated SOTA summit. Except this one had two sets of high tension power lines in the activation zone (AZ). Thinking I was far enough away from the lines, I tossed my throw line into a tree 50-ish feet from and parallel to the power lines. I actually thought the lines were unpowered as they didn't emit the static buzz you normally hear when underneath power lines.
I attached my EFHW antenna to the throw line, pulled it up about 30 feet, and proceed to unwind the antenna towards my kit and radio. As I grabbed the matching unit from the ground, my palm felt a thousand tiny static shocks, I assume coming from the lines nearby. It hurt enough for me to immediately drop the matching unit, and seriously rethink my next course of action.
Needless to say, the summit remains unactivated.
Yikes!
What about a VHF activation with an HT?
Chris