Hayabusa?
Hi Mark. How expensive is the Sherpa to carry it? (Paul with the anvil shaped rucksack…)
The good thing is Paul that I no longer feel the need to carry an anvil round ‘just in case’ - this is like an all singing all dancing anvil. It reminds me of a previous obsession with old computers. Why buy a radiator when you can heat your home and have compute cycles to spare?
The Ofcom assessment isn’t going to be pretty however!
Thanks, Mark, for the interesting answer. My 817 remains unused since the arrival of the KX3 six years ago - and the 857 has only been on a few short ascents. My hearing is on the wane and I always wear headphones so, one way and another, there is not much on the up-side for the 817. I probably ought to sell it, along with a lot of other stuff that rarely gets used . Once we have real Club meetings again…
Take care,
73,
Rod
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Had a crazy moment like this myself starting of with an FT817nd and as I progressed up the licensing system I was treated to a KX3 for a birthday gift for the QTH.
A few years later after being impressed with the KX3 I sold the ft817 and purchased a KX2 when they were available. Soon realised there wasn’t much weight difference between the KX2/ KX3 , can’t remember by how much but the KX3 with the ATU and filter weighs 805g along with more options.
In the UK we have 70cm, 2m activity days which can be great fun. Using the KX2 with an external transverter wasnt much fun so the KX2 was sold and ft818 purchased on the used market.
One thing that annoys me about the KX2/3 is that all the cables all seem to to connect on one side. I always ended up with my headphones wrapped round my microphone lead and morse key cable tangled as well.
If you have the funds buy a KX2 or KX3, keep the FT817 you will regret selling it. A QCX mini is cheap and fun to build or an MTR5b but that is a bit more expensive.
These days I use the FT818 , KX3 or CW tx for activations, KX3 stops at home during the bad weather.
73
Graeme
Update
Since nobody was able to talk me out of a KX2, the wife ordered one for my birthday!. Should hopefully be here in about 3-4 weeks (currently backordered) I will be keeping my 817 for activations that require it. Thanks for all the tips/advice and see you all on the mountain!
9 Likes
Nothing wrong with having both as either is a capable radio for our outdoor pursuits.
Chris
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Enjoy!! And Happy Birthday!!
Congratulations
also to the wife! 
73 Armin
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I’ve used both the KX2 and the FT-817 to activate SOTA peaks as well as many others.
The KX-2 is a nice concept in providing a lot of capability in a small footprint. I purchased one of the early productions models when they first came out. It appears that it is slightly under-engineered and two negatives immediately stood out, which were show stoppers.
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The audio was low compared to other rigs … so much so that it made weaker stations hard to copy when the wind blew through the trees. A set of noise cancelling headsets solved this, but using normal lightweight ear buds was not practical even with the pre-amp on and the volume turned up all the way.
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On the 2nd activation, on a 6,000 foot peak with ambient temperatures in the mid-60s, the KX-2 over temped in the middle of a pile-up after about 10 stations. I typically work about 2 stations a minute. It was a cloudy day with thin overcast, not even direct sunlight hitting the radio. Many SOTA activators put their KX-2s on ice packs and there are some external aftermarket heat sinks available.
After the over-temp experience I returned the radio to Elecraft and was charged a re-stocking fee.
The FT-817 is kind of the Swiss Army Knife of ham radio: it does very many things good enough but is not particularly the best in class. It takes a little bit to get used to the menus and small display … once those are mastered and you get through the learning curve, it’s actually not a bad radio. I installed a 300 Hz CW filter in mine. The typical SOTA frequencies are programmed into memory for easy operations. The radio has never overheated and just works. It has an internal battery pack that’s good enough for about 30 minutes … one activation. A spare battery pack can be plugged into the external DC jack if more operating time is needed.
3 Likes
[quote=“NG7A, post:92, topic:25138, full:true”]
2. On the 2nd activation, on a 6,000 foot peak with ambient temperatures in the mid-60s, the KX-2 over temped in the middle of a pile-up after about 10 stations. I typically work about 2 stations a minute. It was a cloudy day with thin overcast, not even direct sunlight hitting the radio. Many SOTA activators put their KX-2s on ice packs and there are some external aftermarket heat sinks available.[/quote]
CW or SSB? I’ve used my KX2 in warmer temps, but never had a problem with overheating (including one activation where I was sweating all over the radio!). However, I’m an SSB op, so maybe that’s the difference. I’ve never managed 2 per minute, but I have come close to that cadence on SSB (yesterday, during a POTA activation, I did 17 in just under 10min).
Mine has the external heat sinks, but I bought it that way. I don’t know how effective they are, but they seem popular. I like them more for the rails that protect the dials.
Chris
Not sure about “many”. This is the first time I’ve heard of someone using an ice pack with a KX2 or KX3. I’ve had my KX3 since 2012 and been active on the Elecraft mailing lists since before then.
I agree that black is not a smart color for a field radio.
wunder
Hi George,
We don’t often get high ambient temperatures in the UK like you probably do in summer in Iowa but the only times I’ve had high internal temperatures [as indicated by the KX2 temperature display] is when operating the rig [CW mode] for a long time in strong summer sunlight.
My KX2 is only two years old and I don’t know if Elecraft have made any design improvement since your early model. Unless your KX2 was in direct sunlight I think something was faulty with your unit to overheat with an ambient around 65F (18C).
Did you get a replacement KX2, and if so, how is that unit doing temperature-wise? Or, did your bad experience put you off the KX2?
I replaced the original loudspeaker on my FT817 and it sounds better. I agree, the KX2 speaker volume isn’t great [esp. as the LS is underneath]. I tend to use a earphone when activating to help me hear those weaker CW stations above the summit wind noise.
Since getting a KX2 my FT817 is relegated to 2m SSB/CW activations and as the IF for my 23cm transverter.
73, Andy
I’ve used my KX2 in very hot weather in the middle of summer and it has never yet overtemped on me. It does get alarmingly hot sometimes, so I used to just put my hat over it. Last year, instead of investing in the heatsink, I bought a carbon trekking umbrella:
This serves three functions for considerably less money than the heatsink:
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Keeps me cool.
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Keeps the KX2 cool.
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Keeps the rain off, so I only need wear a windproof jacket, which is more breathable.
73 de OE6FEG
Matt
6 Likes
I agree, here’s a video of a recent contact I had (yes more IOTA) on a KX2 with an AlexLoop in Belize (V31HT) to Brisbane VK4 and the interesting experiment we did.
Elecraft KX2 V31HT Belize to VK4 Australia 10 Watts on a Mag Loop. - YouTube