Speaking as a ham and a paddler, he intended to operator his radio from his boat just to do it, not for any practical reason. Using HF radio while underway in a kayak is not very practical mainly because any antenna that works well is going to be on the large size. But carrying HF ham radio for use on shore is entirely practical. I have an elecraft KX1 transceiver that weighs two pounds complete with batteries and antenna. The catch is that it is a CW-only rig which means you have to know Morse code. On the other hand, plenty of hams still use Morse because it is the most effective mode with weak signals and lower power (and it's fun). The KX1 runs on 6 AA lithium batteries that are internal to the paperback book-sized case. I use a wire antenna that is about 50 feet long. The radio works on 4 ham bands, which means that good radio conditions are likely to exist on at least one band all the time. If you're curious, you can see pictures of the KX1 on elecraft's web site, www.elecraft.com. 73 (hamspeak for "best regards"), Bruce N7CEE Flagstaff, Arizona *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Oct 28 2006 - 04:49:46 PDT
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