It's been a while since I added anything to the ol' blog. This is mostly due to the fact that my kids were out of school the first two weeks of the month on fall break, and partly because a week of that time we were on the road.
In my elected position with the national association for ham radio, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop designed to show myself and other recently elected guys how the association worked, and more importantly, what it is that we need to do.
It was a fascinating series of workshops, and very enlightening. I had a chance also to operate at the HQ ham station too, the memorial station. SInce I've been a ham, I've considered the memorial station as a ham radio “Mecca” of sorts — it was a place I wanted to visit someday, but doubted I would ever have the chance.
I'm lucky the timing worked out, and I was able to attend. The family went along with me, and while it wasn't Disneyland, it was an enjoyable trip for everyone.
I had a chance to spend some quality time with one of the rigs at the HQ memorial station in Studio Three — a new Yaesu FT-2000 with the DMU unit and a large LCD monitor. What a great rig, too! I was operating on 20 meters with 5 elements. Europeans were pounding in, and the band was busy. Station manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, was gracious enough to give me a great tour of the station, as well as set me up with the Yaesu on 20 meters. Another ham was operating in Studio One on 17 meters, which was quite active at the time.
There was no way I could learn all the functions of the FT-2000 in the time I had, but by poking around a bit it didn't take long to pick up the most-used functions I would need.
The rig replaced a Yaesu FT-1000 in Studio Three. The other rigs in that studio included an Icom IC-765 and a Kenwood TS-480. The IC-765, while still a good rig in its own right, looks very, very dated alongside the FT-2000 and the TS-480.
With the DMU and LCD display, I didn't miss the built-in display of my IC-756PROIII. The truth is I haven't operated it a great deal lately anyway.
The FT-2000 really has me hooked. I loved using the radio and the received audio sounded superb — much more pleasant to listen to than the PROIII. Perhaps it sounded better because I was there, and a string and 2 tin-cans would have likely fascinated me in my ham radio-overloaded state of mind.
There was a fellow on QTH.com who wanted to trade his FT-2000 and DMU for a mint PROIII. I hesitated to think it over, and by the time I came back his ad was gone.
I really like the PROIII a lot. The display isn't just eye candy, but enhances the rig's functions. I really would like to buy an FT-2000, particularly if I can add the DMU unit. There's an FT-2000 on eBay now with a Buy It Now price of something like $2150, and that includes the matching speaker. The seller is taking offers, but he turned both of mine down.
The seller demands instant payment too, and he has a rather low feedback rating to boot. It's a lot of money to give someone who has a less-than-stellar feedback rating. I may keep my eyes open for a decent deal on one, but what I really want is the radio and the DMU as a combo. Wish me luck!
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Since the weather's gotten cooler, the static crashes have died down considerably on 80 M. I've been working both 80 and 40 late at night, and having some nice QSOs.
Speaking of Q's, I worked the CQ WW a little bit yesterday and today. Too many interruptions to operate as much as I wished. 15 Meters was open nicely yesterday, and I worked all I could hear.
That's all for now … 73 es CUL …. de KY4Z ….. dit dit ……