As expected

Keeping an on the newly renamed "Elecraft - AX/KX/KH" io.group over the weekend, sales of the KH1 are brisk. I didn't look to be honest, but I'm not even sure a shipping date has been announced. And I guess it's just me, but I was amazed that so many people were willing to plunk down money, just like that!

I guess I'm not as big an Elecraft fan as I thought I was - I don't need to have one of everything. HI HI !

The weekend was POTAful. I worked a bunch of POTA stations including Alan W2AEW who was activating the Washington-Rochambeau Historical Trail, which is technically a block away from home. He stated that he was in NJ, but that could be so many places in New Jersey.  The trail stretches from Rhode Island down to Virginia and  traverses NJ from top to bottom.

I activated the trail three times during NPOTA. My very first activation in January 2016 was from the Ashbrook Golf Course parking lot, which is less than 100 feet from the trail. The second and third activations were from the Frasee House in Scotch Plains, which sits right on the trail. The second was for the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt in 2016 and the third was on the last Day of NPOTA - my last activation for that fantastic year.

It is good to be on the air again and I've noticed the more I get on, the more I want to be on! I'll be down in the shack again tonight after work, working on 2022 Skeeter Hunt certificates. I'll have the radio on, and I'll be listening while I'm working.

Speaking of that, I recently purchased one of these via eBay:

It's a little amplified speaker about the size of a golf ball, and it plugs right into the KX3's headphone jack. It has self contained batteries that are charged via a USB cable. The manufacturer claims a charge will provide 12 hours of speaker use. When I operate, I use earbuds, but for casual background listening, I plug this little guy in and it produces a lot of volume. The internal speaker of the KX3 is not the best, to say the least. This little guy fills the shack with sound without having to turn the AF gain to the max.

I'm also going to procure a splitter cable so that during Field Day, I can still use my earbuds, but also plug this in, so visitors can hear what operating CW sounds like. Up until now, I've had to use earbuds as the KX3's onboard speaker is just not enough in an outdoor environment, especially as my ears get older and older.  People have come by and have just watched me "doing something" without being able to hear what it is that I'm doing. That HAD to be boring, and I think this will bring it home for onlookers and make it more interesting for them to watch the ol' fossil and listen to him as he actually makes Morse Code exchanges. They may not understand what is being transmitted, but it will be apparent that SOMETHING, is indeed happening. Who knows? Maybe besides annoying the SSB guys, it will spark an interest in a few people to learn Morse Code.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!