Amateur Radio

[mtnbkr]

You really are a bad influence.

I get that a lot. My buddy was dubious about QRP until I got him into SOTA. Now he has a Yaesu 818 and an LNR Mountaintopper on the way.
Then there is all the shooting and reloading stuff I've manipulated him into buying. I'm a well rounded bad influence.

I went ahead and ordered one - I’d like to use it with the small verticals I already have for fast setup without looking for trees. The AX1 and AX2, but also the wander lead multibander I have. There are times wires are too much of a pain for super casual ops.

It's a good tuner, you will like it. I think it'll tune up just about everything. The match can sometimes be pretty narrow, so you have to watch carefully for the light to go out (go too fast and it'll be a quick blink). I only got rid of it because it wasn't needed with the KX2 and its ATU.

Also, I just found out about POTA - that’s more my speed right now, the ankle and knee has really limited my off the flats mobility. I can see doing POTA activations on weekend days.

POTA's fun. I've done a bit of POTA myself, but I prefer the activity of SOTA. It's common for SOTA summits to be within a POTA "park" (in these case WMAs, National Forests, National Parks, and so on), so I can do a dual-activation. Because the exchange is the same, I can use the same contacts for both.

Chris

[HeavyDuty]

I think I have a LDG tuner somewhere, but I have no idea what box it might be in. Having the ZM-2 will both be useful and guarantee the LDG will immediately reappear.

I’ve never been much of a contester, not even Field Day. This should be amusing!

[HeavyDuty]

@2xAGM114 - this just popped up today and may be of interest to you:

https://qrper.com/2022/01/rich-build...covery-tx-500/

[mtnbkr]

Winter Field Day this weekend...just saying.

And I'll be out this weekend

Chris

[ViniVidivici]

Yep, I'm still making regular contacts on 2m FM, just randomly reaching out. Fun stuff!

[HeavyDuty]

The uSDX+ is here and charging - cute little thing - and the ZM-2 tuner will be here Thursday. I’ll pop the AX2 onto it and listen around 20 later.

[mtnbkr]

The uSDX+ is here and charging - cute little thing - and the ZM-2 tuner will be here Thursday. I’ll pop the AX2 onto it and listen around 20 later.

Did you buy the tuner pre-assembled or as a kit? Mine was a kit, but that was 15 years ago. I don't think they had a pre-built option at the time.

I'll be interested in hearing how the AX2 works on it. My buddy has that tuner (courtesy of me) and MFJ's equiv to the AX2. If that combo works, that could be another option for him.

Chris

[HeavyDuty]

Did you buy the tuner pre-assembled or as a kit? Mine was a kit, but that was 15 years ago. I don't think they had a pre-built option at the time.

I'll be interested in hearing how the AX2 works on it. My buddy has that tuner (courtesy of me) and MFJ's equiv to the AX2. If that combo works, that could be another option for him.

Chris

I love kitbuilding, but I’m short for time these days so I bought built up for $25 additional - it’s worth it for me right now, I have enough half completed projects. (I’m turning into an appliance operator.)

I’ll keep you posted!

[mtnbkr]

With the weather coming in we bagged our camping trip for this weekend (good thing too as I realized I had neglected to pack my hammock underquilt). However, since my buddy and I had taken yesterday off, we used it to get out and do a couple SOTA activations before the snow arrived. This was the maiden voyage of his shiny new LNR Mountaintopper.

Right now, aside from being a little windy, the weather isn't as bad as predicted (was expecting single digits, only 24deg at 6:45am). If this holds out, I may go out for a little bit and operate WFD as a 1O station. It won't be as enjoyable as operating from beside the campfire, but it's something.

Chris

[HeavyDuty]

The uSDX+ and ZM-2 tuner are both here now. I think I’ll set up the AX2 directly on the tuner today to see how that works and try to learn the uSDX+ a little. Maybe I can find a storm net to snoop on.