kenwood – KK4Z

Shack Shakeup Continues

I have a stable of radios. I like radios. I have spent the past couple of years going through radios and finding the ones I like to use. I think I am getting close. In the shack, I like my IC-7610 and TS-890. They are big and all the controls I use are easy to get to. There performance is top notch. I am content.

QRP radios. This has been my greatest controversy. When I retired, I thought I was going to do a lot of QRP with little radios and maybe even do some SOTA. It didn’t turn out that way. I found myself using big radios at low power. They are easy to use and because of their heatsinks, they never overheat at low power. I did keep one little radio the IC-705, of all the little radios I had, the 705 was the one I grabbed the most.

Field radios. I went through a bunch of radios here too. I kept my IC-7300 which I bought new and has stayed with me over the years. I may sell it off for the new IC-7300MK2. I recently acquired a TS-590sg which went with me on my recent POTA activation at Black Rock Mountain State Park.

It was definitely a fun radio and I look forward to using it more in the future. Yesterday, an IC-7200 was delivered by UPS. The was a trade I had in the works. I always wanted an IC-7200. It’s a basic radio that has a military vibe to it. Being a Veteran, it appealed to me. The radio came with the rails and the MARS mod was already done. The radio is pristine. Power draw at idle is about 1 amp and at 20 watts it draws about 8 amps. Lowering the power level does not overly change the amp draw. Above 20 watts and the amp draw increases. Twenty watts is the happy medium. Here in the shack I had it turned on and was able to work N0SA. I have a set of his SOTA paddles from his last run before he retired. They are fun to use. I plan on taking the 7200 on my next POTA adventure.

During the past couple of years after making many POTA activations, Field Days (winter and summer), Army MARS, and SHARES I was able to shape how I operate. Some of it was a surprise as I was led in a different direction than when I started. I guess when it comes to radios, I may march to the beat of a different drummer. I prefer big radios (IC-7300 size) over little radios. I like that the controls are easier to get to and they don’t overheat. In the field I usually run around 20-35 watts. Most of the time I am in my micro-camper so I am not carrying the radios very far. I may have to lug them 50 feet to a picnic table. I recently bought one of those folding wagons so weight is no problem.

Another surprise was my use of FT8. Band conditions on many of my outings was poor. If it wasn’t for FT8, I may not have had a valid activation. Plus, I discovered I could work a lot of DX while in a park using FT8.

Yaesu’s. I don’t have any Yaesu’s. I have tried to like them, but they are just not for me. I had an FTDX10 for about 18 months, a FT-710 for about a year total, and a FTX1 for a couple of months. To me they are kind of quirky. The Icom’s and the Kenwood’s are solid performers and the ergonomics are superior. I know how to make them dance and sing. I know there are those who love Yaesu and I get it. To each his own. Find the radios that suit you best and enjoy them as I have. The journey is half the fun. 73 de Scott

Black Rock Mtn State Park – Aug 2025

Last weekend I finished up a 3-day, 1,800 mile, 7-state POTA Rove that included a radio trade. Out with the FTX1 and in with a TS-590sg. After setting up the 590, I brought it with me to Black Rock Mountain State Park to try some FT8 and if the band conditions permit, a little CW.

I arrived at the Park Friday afternoon. I have done this enough times that I am setup and ready to go within 30 minutes. This campsite had some challenges.It was the smallest campsite I ever used. I had space for the trailer and I had to park my truck in the picnic area. I also had overhead power lines so I had to use a shorter antenna. The weather was cool for a change and I didn’t have to run my A/C.

Setup was a Chameleon Micro Hybrid transformer with a 12’ whip and about a 20’ counterpoise. The radio was my new-to-me Kenwood TS-590sg. This was the radio’s maiden voyage and I really liked it. It performed well. One of the main reasons I like running big radios at low power is more of the controls are readily available. Most everything in the TS-590sg is either a push button or a twist of a knob away. Having a high performance receiver isn’t any good if you can’t get to the controls.

Band conditions were poor. The first night I only made 88 FT-8 contacts and they were a struggle. At times the band would “white-out”, high noise and only white snow on the waterfall. At the better times QSB or fading was a constant up and down. I would watch S7-9 signals drop to nothing during a QSO. Saturday afternoon brought a power failure at the park. Yep, right during mid QSO. The power was still out at 1800 hrs, so I had a decision to make – should I stay, or should I go. As you get older one of the things that goes, is your night vision. If I was going to leave it had to be soon, so I could still do most of my driving during daylight/evening hours. I decided to go. Since I have a lot of practice setting up and tearing down. I was packed up in less than 30 minutes. As I was pulling out of the park, the power returned. Better safe than sorry.

I ended up with 233 contacts, 88 short of my kilo for that park. I will plan another trip in the fall to finish. I am real happy with the TS-590sg. I opened it up and found the MARS mod already done and the TXCO installed. The radio performed well and I ran it mostly at 20 watts. As you can see in the QSO map, Most of my contacts were CONUS. Kenwoods and Icoms have the best ergonomics. I feel the layouts were designed by people who use their radios; that ergonomics were a primary concern and not an afterthought.

I also decided to trade off the FT-710 and ended up with a pristine IC-7200. I always wanted one but the stars never aligned — until now. I no longer have any Yaesu radios in the stable and probably won’t have any more. Why? A couple of reasons. I prefer the ergonomics of the Icoms and the Kenwoods. Everything I need is right there on the front panel. Easy, to see — Easy to use. I have owned a FTDX10, FT-710, and a FTX1, along with an Icom IC-7610, IC-7300, and a Kenwood TS-890s. I can tell you that whatever I hear on one radio, I can hear on the other. There’s two reasons for this. One is knowing where the controls are and two is knowing how to use them. There is a third factor the CSP unit, that’s Cerebral Signal Processing Unit. Half of the battle is using the CSP to process faint signals. After 30 years, mine is pretty good.

The Yaesu radios, are not bad radios, they are not my cup of tea. I can squeeze more horsepower out of the Icoms and the Kenwoods. I am sure there are those who can say the same about Yaesus. I at least crossed the fence and tried them but in the end my preference is not Yaesu. YMMV.

Other happenings. I rearranged my Go Box. My TS-590sg will not fit in it like my other radios so I got an Apache case for it from Harbor Freight and moved some antenna stuff into the Go Box. So now all my radios travel in a separate case and my Go Box has become universal. Everything I need to run any of my field radios is in the Go Box. These days I do more FunComm than EmComm, but I am always prepared to do either. I load the same stuff and off I go. I’ve had a busy summer and the honey-do list is growing, there is lots to do around the ranch so this may be one of the last trips for a while. I do most of my outdoor work from Fall to Spring to avoid working in the southeast hot, humid summers and the accompanying chiggers and ticks. That’s all for now, take care and 73 de Scott

Hamcation 2025

This was my first Hamcation and it was a lot of fun. Lots of people, lots of food and lots of ham gear. I only spent one day there, but it was a fun-filled, packed. day.

One of the highlights of my day was the Begali Booth. Up until this point, I had 4 Begali paddles in my collection. Each one purchased directly from Begali and each one through Bruna. Buying a Begali key/paddle is like being adopted into a family. That’s how Begali treats their customers. I finally got to meet Bruna in person.

They had many of their paddles there — so many to choose from. I like to dabble with straight keys and my preference being a cootie key since they have the same back and forth motion as a paddle. Bruna had a Sculpture Swing and after sending a couple of characters, I was smitten, and I was lucky to get the last one, the display model. I also got to meet Bruna’s husband Roberto who packaged up my prize for me.

I hope to get a review done on the Sculpture Swing in the near future.

Diamond Antennas, one of my favorite brands for mobile/portable VHF/UHF antennas has a new portable HF antenna for the US market. I have seen this antenna on European website but this was the first time I have seen it in the U.S. It is a portable HF/UHF/VHF antenna that covers 7-440 MHz. With optional coils, it also covers the 3.5 and 1.8 bands.

The screwdriver portion of the antenna is 15″ long and the 1.8 MHz coil is 17″. For comparison the yellow packaging is 21″. This will be a great antenna for POTA/SOTA. I can’t wait to get this on the air.

Kenwood had a teaser for their new VHF/UHF mobile. Looks like it might be out by the end of the year. Here is a shot of a non-working model.

It looks pretty cool. I am mainly an HF guy and I stopped there to look at the TS-890. That is my current dream radio. I brought one of my amps down there to trade but the stars were not aligned. I have a nice lightly used SPE 1.5K FA up for sale or trade. I would like to get a TS-890 and may consider a FTDX101MP. I would also consider an Elecraft KPA/KAT500. It’s a great amp but it doesn’t do MARS so I had to get another amp that would (SPE 2.0K FA).

While cruisng the swap building, I came across this book:

I bought on a whim and Grayson autographed the book for me. I may never build anything out of tubes, but I thought the book would be a fun read.

I got to talk to a lot of people while I was there. I talked to one guy there that was looking to get a radio after being absent from amateur radio for many years. He was thinking about getting an IC-705. I asked him if he had any other radios and he said no. I suggested he look into getting an IC-7300 first. The 7300 is still my “if i could only have one HF radio” radio. Many times new or returning hams opt for the QRP route, not knowing how frustrating QRP can be for the less experienced. For a first or only radio I recommend a 100 watt radio. You can always turn a 100 watt radio down to 5 watts but a 5 watt radio is already at its max. A lot of times when camping, I am running CW at 20 watts.

It was fun seeing all the stuff, meeting people, and bringing home a few things. Hope to see you at the next one. 73- de Scott