The QRPer Board

Have you looked at the QRP Labs QMX or the (tr)uSDX? The QMX does not do SSB (yet) but the (tr)uSDX does. They both come in low band (80 - 20) configuration. The QMX high band version (20 - 10) is shipping soon. The (tr)uSDX also has a high band version (20 - 10) as well as a classic bands (80 - 10,...

I recently bought a 5.11 sling bag that I really like: https://www.511tactical.com/rush-moab-6.html It's a big bag, but I can store my 817 with rails and all of the other gear comfortably. I put the radio (with a foam pad along the bottom of the bag) in the larger pouch, along with the battery and o...

Congratulations! The KX1 is a great little radio, and I hope you have a lot of fun with it.

73,
Mike, KL7MJ

Thanks Andrew - that website has a lot of good info! I bought one of those cheap (bad) QRP antenna kits online, but plan to use the parts to make a z match instead of a t match. I like George Dobbs design in his book QRP Basics. It's a pretty standard design - similar to several of the designs on th...

Nice work Andrew! I'm beginning to think that an EFRW is a great general purpose antenna, so long as you have a tuner. I have a 35.5/17 EFRW that does very well for me, but I think that the longer the antenna and radiator, the better. My current antenna project is a travel EFRW using a pair of slink...

https://www.amazon.com/BNTECHGO-Silicon ... 0711HRSNT/

That's the stuff I use too!

73,
Mike, KL7MJ/4

Vin, Thinking back, I didn't think it was too hard, but then I looked at the instructions again! I think the key is to take it one step at a time. The nice thing is that the KX1 circuit board is relatively wide open and it's easy to fix your mistakes. I soldered an IC chip (a big one) in upside down...

I've bought some cheap 26 gauge stranded tinned copper wire on Amazon that works well enough. One thing I noticed is that it was much more flexible than polystealth wire. I think it is more likely to stretch over time, but it's good for experimenting with before buying the good (and expensive) polys...

Rich, I started down the trap path when I realized that having to drop my antenna to open or close a link dissuaded me from using the unlinked band. With my trapped antenna, I can operate both my KX1 and QCX mini (17m) without having to change the antenna out. I realize that trapped antennas may hav...

Rich, The kite sounds like a great idea, just not in my backyard - too many trees! Why not use an EFHW instead of a center fed dipole? They're essentially the same antenna (half wavelength), but a center fed dipole is only resonant on odd multiples where the EFHW is resonant on all multiples. An 80m...