I installed a new K-Pod on my primary station just before undertaking a
serious effort in Sweepstakes CW. This addition to the station proved to
be extremely useful.
In a CW contest like SS there are always quite a few people who have
trouble calling on frequency, especially the casual participants who
make up the bulk of the QSOs on Sunday. When I'm running I normally put
the K3 in Split mode, transmitting on VFO B and receiving on VFO A. This
setup makes it much easier to use the big knob to tune in the
off-frequency guys rather than the tiny RIT/XIT knob. But... it still
means I'm constantly having to take one hand off the keyboard and reach
over to tune the radio. Doing this a few hundred times in the course of
a 24 hour contest effort can be pretty tiring. This time I put the K-Pod
right next to the keyboard, so that the only motion necessary was to
move my hand a couple of inches to do the tuning. The reduction in
fatigue by the end of the contest was quite noticeable.
I only got the K-Pod a couple of days before SS CW, so I didn't have
time to set up the radio macros to take full advantage of the macro
buttons. Immediately after the contest I did two things: 1. I set up
macros to toggle Split mode, XIT on/off and Diversity on/off in both my
K3s; and 2. Ordered another K-Pod for the second radio.
When SS SSB rolled around I had both radios ready to go. I'm an
extremely reluctant phone operator, so I only operated for a limited
time on Sunday. Having the K-Pods for each radio, one on either side of
the keyboard, made it a piece of cake to do two-radio Search & Pounce.
Now I'm looking forward to CQWW CW this weekend to really give them a
workout.
These things rock! If you're a K3 contester you really need one (or two).
73...
Randy, W8FN
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