So today I boxed up my Yaesu FT-817ND and LDG Z-817 tuner. They are off to their new home in TX. That little QRP rig is responsible in a major way for rekindling my interest in Ham Radio. Hopefully it will be providing as much pleasure to someone else soon.
As I explained about a year ago, I’ve always had an interest in QRP rigs. That interest continues today — so why get rid of the 817? Well Elecraft is a company that has captured my heart, and they are going to capture some of my money when they start shipping the KX3. So the 817 is making room in the shack for its newer big brother.
I have plans to setup a Parks on the Air (POTA) activation from Rhode Island’s tallest “mountain” later this spring or summer. I’ll be doing it with a KX3 and my BuddiPole antenna.
The other temptation is to use the KX3 for JT65. Unlike my primary radio which is a power pig making me feel guilty when I leave them on 24×7, the KX3 pulls under 0.2 amps on receive, and 10 watts is more than enough for solid JT65 QSOs. Couple that with a power-efficient laptop running JT65-HF and everything will be pulling about 30 watts total — far less than the 300 watts consumed by my main radio and desktop PC. Putting that a different way, my primary radio and computer, if left on 24×7, would consume about $420 worth of electricity a year. The KX3 and laptop will consume 1/10th that.
