Headphones

Picked these up on eBay for about 10 bucks, and they were delivered on Thursday. I took them down to the shack that evening and worked a couple POTA stations. They are satisfactory.

For the past number of years, I have used earbuds. What I liked about them is they were loud. What I didn't like about them was that, after a period of time, they would become uncomfortable. I had a pair of "good" headphones, but they had the over the ear cups and they were very uncomfortable, especially during Field Day in the warm weather.

I had Koss earphones back in the day when I had a real good stereo system and they were my favorite, so I stuck with the brand. These phones lay flat ON the ears and not over them, so they should be comfortable for longer periods of time. The important thing is that their impedance is a close enough match to the KX3 so that I get a sufficient amount of volume. I don't have to turn up the AF Gain all the way to 60. I get a comfortable listening level at about the same setting as when using an external speaker.

Another reason for switching from earbuds to earphones is that some time in 2024, I am seriously going to have to consider hearing aids. Back in the day (late 70's), when I was a professional photographer working for the public relations department of a prominent theme park, I photographed too many live concerts without hearing protection. Ear plugs weren't in  common use back then and the dangers of being repeatedly exposed to loud volumes of sound was just becoming a concern. I'm paying for it now. My left ear seems to be pretty good, but my right ear is just about totally shot for normal hearing without assistance. When you're in you're 20's you foolishly think that you're invincible. When you're in your 60's, you realize you weren't. Such are the joys of growing old.

I should give these phones a good workout during the ARRL CW Sweeps today, but I doubt that I will. Ever since my Novice days, I've never been really fond of the Sweeps. These days sending the exchange is probably a lot less cumbersome with transceivers having CW memories or contest logging programs having macros. Back then, sending "1 B KA2DOH 78 NNJ" with a straight key was tiring, indeed. Today I guess it would be "1 Q W2LJ 78 NNJ". The serial number adds to the complexity - I don't have a fancy set up where that can be pre-programmed in, and I don't have a copy of N1MM, so I would have to send the serial number by hand and then the rest of the exchange by CW memory if I wanted to. Being the stodgy old fossil that I am, I'd probably end up sending the whole thing manually, anyway.

If I get a chance to get on the air at all, I'll probably stick to the WARC bands to hunt POTA stations.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!