Greetings all;
Where to begin??? For starters I've been a ham for about 27 years now. In the past I would operate mostly 100w first starting with an old Heathkit HW-101 (my very first rig, second hand). From there I had developed a nice station which included my current Yaesu FT-920 and a series of HF beams. I also operated HF mobile, mostly CW with an ICOM IC-706 MKII G.... then I got divorced and moved. No more antenna farms. Rigs sat in their boxes for several years but the itch never left me. I was looking for a solution to get back on the air...
This is what I came up with....
A few years back I convinced my Fiancee into having Santa look into a Vechtronics VEC-1330K QRP 30 meter rig.
http://www.vectronics.com/Product.php?productid=VEC-1330K. Looking for a suitable antenna I came across the LNR end-fed dipole - EF-30.
http://www.lnrprecision.com/endfedz-specs/ The rig assembled in a few evenings with no issues. I managed to get the dipole strung up into a tree towards the back of my condo. I was back on the air.
Well after several evenings of trying and knowing I WAS getting out I became frustrated only because I wasn't sure if the new QRP rig was properly adjusted I opted to getting my IC-706 MKII G back on the air. After a trip to a service center I had the rig back home.
First think I did was dial back the RF to 5w. Again, since I have restrictions where I live I didn't want to be blasting out over everyone's TV due to the proximity to my neighbors.
What a blast... It was like when I first got back on the air with my old HW-101. I was working all sorts of DX. I was into Western Europe, Africa, Russia, Central and South America, Canada.... to name a few places.
I was hooked.... again!
With such great success I needed more. I had a Force 12 Sigma 5 - 5 band vertical antenna in storage. Last fall I dug that out and was able to rig a few brackets to mount the antenna on the handrail of my condos deck. Now with 10m-20m along with my 30m EFD I was working all sorts of phone & cw contacts including New Zealand. All on 5w!!!
Now some background. As mentioned before, I have been a ham for about 27 years. I got my inspiration from my Grandfather who was a ham for over 60 years. I am fortunate that I was eligible to receive his call sign, which are his initials..... W2 (M)ilton (W)alker - W2MW...
I may not be on the air all the time and normally hunting and pecking looking for what ever is on, but I am so glad to be a part of this great and wonderful community!
Best of 72/73;
Kurt - W2MW
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