Re: [Paddlewise] ham radio the kayak way

The Elecraft KX-1 would be my choice too. Small, inexpensive, offered in kit
form and built in keyer (and key) for CW. No voice. Four bands is a plus,
too. There are even smaller ham transceivers but this seems to offer some
versatility. I plan on trying this next summer.

And, of course, doing something just to do it is a perfectly valid reason.
Not many of us can point to the practicality of our kayaking in our modern
lives.

Although we did see a couple of seals Saturday. And supposedly there is a
female harbor seal in the Anacortes area that likes to climb onto kayaks
just for the social occasion. A picture on the wall of the outfitters there
attests to her visits.

Craig Jungers
K7EXJ (a ham for almost 50 eyars)
Royal City, WA

On 10/28/06, Bruce Grubbs <mail_at_brucegrubbs.com> wrote:
>
> 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
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