Sean,
As a software guy myself, I understand that you may be leaning toward
buying an antenna instead of building.
I like the idea of the LNR because it leaves more money in your pocket
to experiment with other antennas.
Get a good antenna book. Read all the chapters on wire antennas. Wire
antennas are cheap cheap cheap.
Magnetic loop antennas aren't that hard to build. You need a good
high-voltage variable capacitor, and you can buy vacuum variable
capacitors on eBay. Nearly everything else comes from your local
big-box home improvement store (Orange or Blue, your choice).
73 -- Lynn
On 2/26/2014 6:18 AM, Sean Wall wrote:
Hi folks,
I want to thank everyone who offered advice, it's invaluable to a new ham
like myself!
I've settled on the KX3 -- I like the fact that it's versatile enough to be
a decent base station and it can go on the road with me. Plus, it seems
that it has a lot of features that you generally see on more expensive
rigs. The SDR aspect also appeals to me as I'm a nerd and I'd like to
experiment with SDR applications on my laptop. I do software development
with a masters in electrical engineering, so I'm not worried about the KX3
being overly complex. I'll figure it out eventually, I think. :D
The one definite take-away which was clear to me is "it's all about the
antenna". I'm considering other antennas other than the Buddipole now.
The current front runner is the LNR End Fed 10/20/40 wire antenna. I like
it because you tune it for 40 m and 10/20 should fall into place. Also,
you can remove the supplied radiator and attach a new one to tune in other
bands. It's also a heck of a lot cheaper than a Buddipole. (Not to
disparage the BP -- I've read a lot of good reviews about it -- but I'd
rather go with something simpler and less expensive right now.) I haven't
looked into the magnetic loop antennas yet, but I'll get to that. One
question though -- the LNR site said no antenna tuner is needed or
recommended, which makes sense in this case. I was still considering
getting the optional antenna tuner for the KX3, but can you disable it in
the settings if you don't want to use it?
I received about equal number of responses on either side of the 10w/100w
fence. Once again, it seemed to boil down to "it won't make a lot of
difference if you don't have a good antenna to start with". I'll stick
with 10w for now, and I can get the 100w amp later.
BTW - I plan on initially using phone as I'm still learning Morse, but I
would like get to get into CW at some point.
Also, I do plan on joining a local ham club. There are several in my area
so that should be no problem. If they're all as friendly and accommodating
as you folks, I should have no problem getting help. :)
Thanks again everyone!
73 - Sean (call sign not in the ULS database yet - should be this week!!)
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