Field Day and Homebrew Rigs. (well I did put the kx3 together)

I took the KX3, SW40, and the LBS rigs to the Kingston Amateur Radio Club’s (VE3KBR) Field Day located this year on Wolf Island.  Great site, great bunch of guys, and a great time.

I made 36 contacts with the KX3, but it was tough getting through the pileups (ya think?) with 5 watts.  It got much easier Sunday afternoon in the last hour for some reason and was nice to work a few in a timely fashion.  I fired up the SW40 and though I’d give CW a go. That was a laugh. I’ve never heard so many cw signals at the same time and all way too fast for my ability.  I thought I could spent a couple of minutes and get all the information and then jump in.  I’d have been happy with one contact but it was not to be.  However I did get one contact that I’m extremely happy about.  The LBS rig is alive and well.  I managed to get one and encouraged, I tried for more, but to no avail.  There were a couple of partial attempts but I was really too weak.

Now that I’ve managed to prove the rig is working, I wonder how well I sounded. I wish I thought about it more and had my phone ready to record the QSO just in case but to be frank about it, I didn’t really expect anyone would hear me. I kind of suspect that during Field Day people put up with less desirable signals than during the course of a standard QSO.   

So up next is to try and check into the Trans Provincial Net and get a signal report.  From there it will be to decide the next steps to take in the LBS design.  Other than the pre-amp for rx, it is built as outlined in the original article.  Well I suppose my construction technique is different as well, but the circuits built are as designed. 

Software improvements and the big challenge, board designs. All things to think about with a cool one in hand. Hmm, that's a good idea.

73, Peter