Had a great time at the 54th Annual Shelby Hamfest and got to meet a couple of hams I usually talk with daily on 3895 ,but had never met them in person before. Got to meet N4LMF William & K5TBZ Craig. I rode down with my good friend W4WWF Dale. There was a great turnout even though hamfest officials said attendance was down from last years. Checked out all the newest Yaesu & Icom gear, but Kenwood was a no show. Was wanting to look at the new Kenwood TS-590 to see what it looked like up close & personal, but no luck there! Also, the ARRL was a no show this year, not sure what happened to them, they're usually there every year! I didn't really need anything, but did pick up a few PL259s and 30 solder lugs to attach the radials to my Hustler 5BTV vertical I'm fixing to put up. Think I'll lay down 10 radials each for 20, 30, and 40 meters. Also bought me a set of the plastic HF tuning tools and a set of hemostats to use for a soldering heat sink. I also have another antenna I'm fixing to put up, a double bazooka cut for 75 meters, want to compare it with my 260 feet doublet and also string it up perpendicular to the doublet. Next thing I'm interested in amateur radio wise is to get into QRP in the field. Ten-Tec has a nice little QRP dual band HF rig for $249.00 I'm particularly interested in: Two Band CW QRP Transceiver - 40/20 Meters It's a 20/40 meter dual bander CW rig. Here's a closeup view: Ten-Tec R4020 Also need to get me a portable tripod & antenna for QRP in the field and a 12 volt portable power pack or solar panel. Hopefully I'll be ready by next summer for some fun in the field! Have posted a couple of hamfest pics below, but you can see all my photos from the hamfest here: Shelby Hamfest Photos Been having a lot of fun lately with my new rig! The VRF (Variable Receive Frontend) is my favorite feature on the FT-1000MP Mark V. It is amazing how much QRN it will take out! Also I like the CW tuning meter which makes zero beating a breeze visually. Until next blog very 73 and hope to see you down the log!
