It’s been a busy summer for me. I had a lot of to-do and honey-do things to take care of. My wife’s best friends husband was killed in a car crash and she drove to Louisiana and helped with the arrangements. She was gone 10 days. That left me home with our special needs daughter. Not much me time.
Today I cruised over to the Yaesu website to see if there was an update for the FTx1 and there was. I was home alone and took the opportunity to update the firmware. Since I had the radio on my desk I decided to make a few CW contacts and give my new paddles from Modern Morse a try. I hooked up the FTX1 to my 270′ OCF dipole and fired up Hamrs Pro on the computer. It’s been a while since I operated and I was a little shaky, but hey, this is for fun right. I made about half a dozen contacts before I had to move on to other things. It was fun and felt good to get on the air again with CW. I am hoping to take a mini rove within the next month or two.
The radio did fine. It hears well. Probably on par with my IC-705 and KX2.The CW relays are a little loud and the screen flashes in cadence with the CW being sent. It takes a little getting used to, it can be distracting. The menus are still a little quirky, I prefer the ergonomics of my Icoms, but again it’s not a deal breaker.
The paddles are great, they are a little pricey, but I had no trouble using them. I held the paddles in my left hand and sent with my right. The action is nice and smooth. I have large hands and this paddle is larger than my N0SA SOTA paddles; they are easier to hold.
The FTX1’s audio is good once you get it adjusted. Up the treble quite a bit, up the Mid a little and take a lot out of the bass. There is plenty of volume even for us hard of hearing types.
I have some advice about computers. I mainly use Apple products for most of my computer work. I have a couple of Windows machines I use for Amateur Radio. I always hear people complaining about Windows automatically updating at an inopportune time. The solution is easy. You pick a time during the week and update manually when you or the machine are not busy. I update mine about once a week or before an event like a POTA activation or Field Day. I also don’t fiddle with the OS much. My machines run extremely well. Let them do their job.
It is hot, hot, hot here in Georgia. The heat along with the humidity can make things miserable. My eastern European blood has a low tolerance for the heat so I get my outside work done in the mornings. Everyone be careful in this heat, this time of year it can reach dangerous levels. Y’all stay safe and 72 de Scott
KK4Z 