Is there a Best Radio and Antenna Combination?

The following are my musings as I consider radios for different purposes:

Most Bang for the Buck, Stealth, Energy Efficiency and Portability:

If TEOTWAWKI happened tomorrow this is the rig/antenna I would like to own. A KX1 80/40/30/20 and a Par End Fed Z half wave dipole. The antenna is purchased as a 40-20-10 multibander - about 40 feet long but can be reconfigured as a monobander dipole for any band for the cost of wire. The radio does cross mode comms, ability to listen to short wave, USB and LSB and transmit CW only. Current draw is 37 mA on receive and less than 700mA on transmit. Will essentially run forever on a 7 Ah SLA battery and a solar charger. Antenna does not require a tuner. The antenna is tuned for minimal SWR by trimming wire lengths. The radio weighs all of 13 ounces - talk about packability. Power output is limited to QRP (4 watts 12V supply) or 2 Watts on internal AA alkaline batteries. You can build a LiPo battery pack to put out 12V for not much more money but one has to be careful as these batteries can explode if charging precautions are not taken.

Cost Breakdown:

KX1 - $384 Elecraft

EFHW Dipole - $75 Par Electronics

KX1 Paddle $65

Most Bang for the Buck, CW Contesting Radio, Portability

Without a doubt a K2. This is ounce for ounce the best ever designed radio to be used for CW contesting while being capable for general HF (SSB, CW) work that one actually solders together from scratch. The base K2 weighs 3.3 lbs without a battery. This also means the 100W amplifier makes it a K2/100 and may be the last radio you ever buy. Since this is a kit radio, it also means that you can fix it since you built it. This is my go to radio for everyday work. Antenna paired up with this radio is a G5RV capable of 80m to 10m operation to 1500 watts. Radio has a signal to noise ratio of 131dB and great dynamic range. This is among the finest in receivers out there and will compete with receivers costing thousands more. Current draw can be as little as 160mA. It draws about 260mA as a K2/100.

Cost Breakdown:

K2/100 approximately $1400 with SSB, Audio Filter, 20W autotuner, battery, and 100w amplifier

G5RV: $99 (base Antenna)

EFHW Dipole Wire: $75 (portable)

Total: $1575

Most Bang for the Buck All Around Radio and Portability

If you do emergency communications work, this is the radio to have. It does everything from 160m HF to 430 MHz UHF, all modes CW, SSB, AM, FM for all bands. It has general receive coverage to listen to shortwave. It has two battery bays that can supply 9 Ah of battery life (batteries not included). The receiver is not that sensitive in terms of S/N ratio as I tested it is at 118 dB but again this is NOT a contesting rig. If I only had to have one radio and the grid stays up, this is the radio. It is small enough to go into a go pack but I would not go backpacking with it, if I had a KX1. It probably weighs 15 pounds with 2 internal batteries. Antennas for this rig depends on how it is applied - whether mobile, base or portable. This radio is so versatile, that I cannot imagine ever selling mine. I actually worked 70 countries with it during a DX contest in 2011 before I had my K2. The SSB digital peaking filter does a great job isolating stations you want to work. Current draw is 450 mA on receive so it is a bit of a power hog compared to a K2. But for all it does and its portability - it is a great radio.

Cost Breakdown:

Yaesu FT897 $800

Internal Batteries: $200 from W4RT

Base Antenna (Home Station) G5RV $99

Mobile Antenna: 2m/440 dual bander $75

Field Antenna: EFHW dipole 40-20-10-2 $50

Total: $1224

2m Mobile Radio

Yaesu FT-2900 - no nonsense 2m radio, puts out 75Watts, very sensitive receiver. If you only have Technician privileges - this is the mobile radio. The heat sink is heavy but the current draw is very decent and will run a long time on a 30Ah SLA or in the car.

Cost Breakdown:

Radio $169

Antenna: 5/8 Wave Magnet Mount for the car $25

Antenna for Emergency Field Use is Twin-lead J-pole (homebrew) - about $5

Ultimate Radio for Contesting Paired With the Best Antennas Money Can Buy

This is the ultimate dream radio if I was independently wealthy. An Elecraft K3 with all the bells and whistles. Base K3/100 with standard filters, P3 Panadapter, KPA500 500 watt integrated amplifier with a beam antenna on a tower for 40m -10m DX work and an antenna farm of dedicated dipoles for 160m and 80m. I have never priced out such a system in detail since I can't afford it it but I can dream.

Cost Breakdown:

Radio/Amp/Tuner: $10K

Rohn Tower and STEPPIR Beam $10K

Dedicated Dipoles and Verticals: $500

Total: $20500

Getting on the ARRL Honor Roll With It: PRICELESS

Fun Week as K3Y/4

It has been a great week serving as K3Y/4 for the SKCC. Thanks to KL7GLL for uploading my logs. It has been a great experience helping people fill out their logs on the K3UK SKED page. It also helped me a lot filling out the bands with contacts. Propagation has not been as good as November and so I doubt I will fill the slot for K3Y/6 on 80m. Same goes for K3Y/KL7 and K3Y/KH6. All in all 100 QSO's as K3Y/4 and a clean sweep for all US K3Y stations.

One can check the leaderboards at http://www.skccgroup.com/k3y/K3Y-logsearch.php?callsign=NY4G and I am glad I made it. Best wishes to all who participated in the K3Y Anniversary event.

Clean Sweep of K3Y Stations

Got the final station for the US Clean Sweep last night K3Y/3 K3NA.

W4CUX K3Y/4 1/13/12
W6KGP K3Y/7 1/12/12
KD5JHE K3Y/5 1/11/12
K1PUB K3Y/1 1/9/11
W9DLN K3Y/9 1/9/11
WI0S K3Y/0 1/8/11
W8TQE K3Y/8 1/7/11
W1DV K3Y/2 1/7/11
KO6R K3Y/6 1/7/11
V31JP K3Y/NA 1/7/11 Belize

Also worked 86 stations operating as K3Y/4. So if you need W4, look me up on the K3UK SKED page and I will be working 2 more nights as K3Y/4

2011 Amateur Radio Year in Review

Let's see - just what did I do in 2011

Building Projects:

Completed Elecraft K2 S/N 7105 with KAF2, SSB2, KAT2, KBT2, KPA100 (KF4BY)

Completed CMOS4 Logikey - Electronic Keyer by Idiom Press

WM2 Watt Meter by Oak Hills Research

100W Dummy Load by Oak Hills Research

Homebrew White Noise Signal Generator

Operating Accomplishments:

ARRL Worked All States Mixed Mode

NAQCC Worked All States QRP

NAQCC Worked All Continents QRP

NAQCC Friendship Club Award

NAQCC 1000 MPW Award

NAQCC 2-Way QRP Award - 250 Points

SKCC Centurion Award

QRP ARCI Worked All States QRP

Total QSOs 1532

2011 QSOs 1100

DX QSOs - 430

Unique DX Entities Worked - 108

Unique DX Enties Confirmed - 73 LOTW

LOTW WAS CW - 45 States

SKCC WAS - 46 States

Contests Worked

CQ Worldwide DX CW - 130 DX Entities

ARRL 10m Contest - 53 DX Entities

ARRL Rookie Roundup - Placed Second in W4 - See Below

NAQCC Sprints - 4

SKCC Sprints -1

Spartan Sprints - 4

QRP ARCI Sprints - 1

Flying Pigs Sprints - 2

Field Day - BRARS

Attained Friendship Club and 2Way QRP Awards in NAQCC

I finally reached earning 200 points - working NAQCC club members - 4 points per ragchew, 2 points per sprint and 1 point per regular QSO. There were 157 members in the application which was approved for the award.

I also reached the certificate level for 2 way QRP QSOs - 250 points (2 points per NAQCC member, 1 point per non member and 4 points for a DX QRP.

See Awards Page

NAQCC Milliwatt Sprint

Most fun I ever had with 950 milliwatts or any power level for that matter. I started out on 40m and the weak signals were barely copiable. I did manage a couple of Qs - one to a VE station from BC and then switched over to 80m. There was so much static that I had to put on the attenuator to squelch the noise down. I managed one QSO then I heard another station with the Serial number 2 and I knew it was John K3WWP from PA and managed to work him. Then something happened with the band. All the weak signals were showing up with 4 bars with attenuator on with the K2 and I was being copied from distant stations at less than 1 watt tx power then the QSOs started pouring in. It was a fun last hour with.a straight key no less.
This had been my best sprint yet.

Latest Project Completed

Next to the transceiver is a little box for a keyer I built from a kit from Idiom Press - their CMOS4 keyer. It is the neatest little keyer.

New Key for Christmas

The key is mounted to a Cocobolo base I made. The brass nameplate has my call sign laser etched on it. The key was made by Molded Insulator Co., one of the manufactureres contracted by the US government to manufacture this key during WWII. The key is new old stock and never been used. With the nice base it will have some collector value. Its maiden voyage was during the SKCC Straight Key Sprint on 12/28/2011 and garnered 19 QSOs. It is much easier on the wrist than the AMECO that I had been using and will be the key I now will use for straight key sprints.

Centurion Level Reached on SKCC

Centurion award was given by the SKCC for having worked 100 SKCC members. The Centurion #646 and it is posted on the SKCC website. It looks like I am 4 states short for SKCC WAS and need Montana, Nebraska, Mississippi and Kansas. Working the December Sprint might help reach that goal. The next goal will be to acquire the Tribune Award which is gotten by working 50 other Centurions or Tribune holders. My SKCC member number is now 7288C.

Rookie Roundup and Homebrew QRP Sprint

Well I ended up working two contest in 6 hours shortchanging both. I worked the Rookie Roundup for 4 hours and the QRP ARCI Holiday Spirits Homebrew Sprint for two. Well, I don't really know how well I did relative to the competition - worked 10 rookies and 45 non-rookies in the Rookie Roundup for a total of 1755 points (with 27 SPC multiplier). As far as the Homebrew Sprint, I worked 22 stations for a total of 104 QSO points, with a 7X multiplier for QRP and SPC multiplier of 18 plus the Homebrew Bonus points of 5000 pts per band for a total score of 23104 pt total. We will see how well this all stacks up.

Till next time,

73 DE NY4G

Rookie Roundup Tomorrow

Looking for support tomorrow in the ARRL Rookie Roundup

Look for my calling CQ around the following frequencies tomorrow

CW: 3.550, 7.050, 14,050, 21.050, 28.050 and between 50.080 and 50.100 MHz between 1800 UTC and 2400UTC on 12/18

My last year to qualify as a rookie having been licensed in 2009

I'll be firing up the K2/100 - look forward to hearing y'all

DE NY4G ARIEL 09 SC

ARRL 10 Meter Contest

Worked the 10 meter contest for about 3 hours and bagged 54 stations mostly DX and some US West Coast. I worked a station that had almost 2400 QSOs judging from the serial number.

Milestones Reached

Hi folks to those reading this blog.  Finally reached the worked all states QRP milestone after successful QSOs with Alaska KL7UW Dave operating his K3 and Tribander on 12m, K6JSS/0 ND0CW from North Dakota on 317m and W0CZ Ken operating his K3 from Fargo, ND on 20m.   These are the last states to fill out the confirmed QRP QSOs.  The QSO with Dave KL7UW was on the weekend of the the CQ WW CW DX contest and so the only bands available not filled with contesters were 12m and 17m.    Dave and I had a SKED and we chose 12m for a 2000Z attempt at a QSO.  The K2 is amazing in hearing Dave well within the noise.  I turned AGC off and put the headphones on and we both copied each others 449 signal reports.  That same day on 11/26, earlier on 17m, I heard K6JSS/0 calling CQ on 18.060 and that was an easier contact than the oe with KL7UW.  The week before, I heard Ken quite strongly on 20m on 14.060 from ND at the appointed 2100Z attempt at a QSO.   Thanks to all three of you for helping me reach this milestone.  Once I get the QSL card from Dave, I will be sending off the cards and the QSO records to ARRL HQ.  At the same time I am sending the QSO records to QRP-ARCi to get their WAS certificate.  I was looking through my log and it appears that I have made 397 QRP contacts to all 50 states and it looks like I may have established contact with all 50 states with my K2 subsequent to having built it in June 2011 - so I may be eligible for that award as well.  Another milestone reached is in reaching the 100+ unique DX entities for DXCC after having worked the CQWW CW Contest and working 135 DX stations.  I have 55 DX credits in LOTW which means I need to get less than 45 cards to get the DXCC award.  This will take some time as postage is somewhat expensive but I expect to get the award early in 2012.

Fixed the KAF2 on the K2

With the help of Stan KF4BY, spotting a subtle solder bridge near the pots - the KAF2 is now doing its job. Heard K7K on 80m this morning but could not bust thru the pileup with 5 watts.

Got DX monitor thanks to the tip from Matt KQ4VY

SC Statewide Simulated Emergency Test by Tillman Cuttino

I'm happy to report a rousing success for the Simulated Emergency Test this morning! Thanks to (in no particular order), Johnny WD4DYH, Wyatt KJ4CTD, Ariel NY4G, Phil KG4FQG, Ken KD4PH, Bob N3PT, Chris KJ4GJG, Wayne K4VAS, Chris K4FLL, Nathan KJ4RQZ, Josh KG4PFJ, Robert WA4HRK, Tom KB1EFA and Greg KI4SVQ. These are the folks that I remember as either attendees or checkins -- I'm sure there were more.

Around 0830, Phil opened the ARES Net in standby mode and took checkins from responding ARES members. The plan was for most of the group to rally at the Red Cross at 0900 while Bob and Tillman met at the EOC at 0915. Phil kept close tabs on all logged-in stations and did a great job of seeking status updates and tracking our assets.

While enroute, several of us checked into the statewide linked net called by K4EMD at the state EOC in Columbia. The SCHEART VHF repeaters were then unlinked at 0900 to allow users to experiment with various direct DTMF links around the state.

Our group quickly established operations on VHF repeater and simplex frequencies at the Red Cross and Bob and Tillman soon had the EOC's 2-meter radio on the air. From the EOC, we contacted the Red Cross (both repeater and simplex), several ARES operators in various locations around the upstate, the Spartanburg EOC (repeater only -- simplex was not successful at the time), the state EOC (via SCHEART direct link), and the Berkley County EOC (again via SCHEART link). We tested the radio's memory, VFO and DTMF capabilities. Special thanks to GCOEM's Rachel Ethun for coming in on a Saturday to let us in the EOC and for Scott and Jay's help to authorize our access. This was the first time in a long time that those radios were on the air for an official drill and we were very excited for the opportunity.

Meanwhile over at the Red Cross, Johnny led the group through the activation of multiple 2m radios in the Ready Room and Ariel temporarily swapped out the existing TS-820S for a very capable TS-2000 and quickly established HF communications on both the 80 and 40 meter bands. Ariel logged contacts with K4EMD at the state EOC on both bands! The Red Cross crew continued to experiment with various combinations of repeaters and simplex frequencies to give the systems a thorough workout, and they performed extremely well. Much like the EOC, it's been many moons since the Red Cross Ready Room equipment has seen this kind of use and testing. Special thanks to Tanya Carter for arranging our access today!

As an additional bonus, we applied an antenna analyzer to every piece of feedline we could find along the Ready Room wall and they all indicated very good SWR matches on their intended bands.

We wrapped up operations around 1130, secured the facilities, and headed over to Wendy's to celebrate the day's success over burgers and fries (which carried its own adventures including rendering first aid to a woman in diabetic shock and parking lot repairs to my truck's electrical system -- thanks Johnny and Phil!).

Be sure to check out (and "like") our new Greenville ARES Facebook page, where you can find a few photos of the day's event!
http://www.facebook.com/GreenvilleARES

I had a blast and hope you did too!
73 until next time,
Tillman AJ4IK