I've activated two parks in Iceland since arriving 4 days ago - both times were first activations for those parks. It's been tough to put the camera down. Iceland is an amazing country and I'll have more to say about it later.Today's activation of IS-0092 Blábjörg Natural Monument was a lesson in Exceeded Expectations 101. Just when you think you can predict certain aspects of this radio stuff,

A new set of paddles and an inductive helper for my 17-ft whip both rode shotgun with me for about an hour on a beautiful Florida morning.Everything about the kit made for a quick and easy set-up...and that is my goal: 2 minutes till "On The Air" and 2 minutes to "Back on the road".The KX2 is probably the 2nd fastest rig to put on the air, second only to the KH1. But its effectiveness (due to

There's a KX2 in that camera bag.I know you can see it...but the only thing airport agents see is camera gear.Nikon, Canon, Olympus...they all make camera gear - nothing to see here.After my trip to Ecuador last year, several people emailed to ask me about getting my gear through customs. Any problems?Ditto with a recent Caribbean cruise and a trip to Nova Scotia.My radio at the time was either

I placed an order for a KH1 on October 20, when the shipping date was "4-6 weeks". Today is the 8th week with a new projected shipping date of mid-January.A big justification for placing the order was the anticipated ease of taking the tiny rig on a late December cruise and operating from one or two ports, or from the ship itself (we have a balcony cabin).Subsequent activity with the rig would be

A cheap 51" (130cm) telescoping CB walkie-talkie antenna and conditions on 10-15 meters gave me the idea to treat my KX2 like a KH1.Tuesday mornings can offer slow POTA activity but I was pleased with the results anyway from a peaceful little park about half an hour from home.The weather was perfect and this project served as the perfect excuse to be outside.In the following video, I made 10

I don't particularly care for the KH1's sidetone for two reasons:First of all, it sounds terrible and I find it to be reminiscent of a code practice oscillator I built as a kid.Second, there is no way to zero-beat a station based on how their pitch relates to your own sidetone.Neither of these reasons matter too much - the KH1 is a utilitarian radio designed for a specific purpose - quick

I ordered a KX2 back in mid July - by mid-October, it had still not arrived...but an 'For Sale' ad was placed by a local ham for a 4-month old KX2 that he decided he didn't want. It had all the options I wanted and none of those I didn't.My order with Elecraft was quickly cancelled and the new-to-me KX2 was soon on its way.Today was my first outting - a POTA activation - with the KX2 and, man, I

I was lucky enough to catch Thomas K4SWL on his first activation with the new Elecraft KH1 - a CW-only rig for now but which will soon be capable of FT8 operation. Tom was operating from the Blue Ridge National Parkway in North Carolina, presumably with the KH1's built-in whip antenna. I was using a 1/4-wave vertical in Florida...