[Elecraft] New ham and the KX3

[k3ndm at comcast.net]

Sean, 
Welcome to one of the most interesting hobbies that there is. I read that you find yourself in the same predicament that many urban and near urban hams find themselves in. However, take heart. There are ways to deal with HOA rules. First, let me say that a Buddipole is not a bad antenna. A lot of hams use them quite satisfactorily. And, 10 Watts will allow you to seriously reach out and touch people, some a very long way away. How well you do will depend upon what band you go with, solar conditions, and mode. 
Next, I'm going to be a little forward and recommend a possible option. If your house is two stories or more above ground and you can get into the area under the roof, the attic area, you might want to think about using a center fed dipole for 40 meters; it will be around 66' total. It doesn't even need to be in a straight line. It can be Z shaped with a little slope on each end. It can be fed through a 4:1 current balun. The coax can be fed through the ceiling in a closet or some or other inconspicuous place where you can put a remote antenna tuner. This will work 40-10 meters with surprising performance. I helped a friend do this in his house as he is facing the same HOA problem. He has worked a lot of DX using low power and PSK31. There are other antennas that work, but nothing comes to mind that is as simple as this. 

Best of Luck, 
Barry 
K3NDM 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Sean Wall" <seancwall at gmail.com> 
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 7:23:13 PM 
Subject: [Elecraft] New ham and the KX3 

Hi folks, 

I recently got my Technician license and I'm working on my General and Extra. I'm looking to get my first rig and I'm interested in the KX3. I was considering pairing it with a Buddipole antenna, as my development doesn't allow permanent antennas. While I use the KX3 at home, will I get decent range with the 10 watt output? In other words, would I need the 100 watt amp to make the kx3 a decent base station? I am also planning on bringing the KX3 with me when my wife and I drive up north from Florida (where we live). Since I'm new to amateur radio, I don't yet have a feel for how much power 10 watts is w.r.t. RF frequencies. I plan on operating mostly 6 and 10 m initially until I upgrade my license. Thanks for any help you can provide! 

-Sean 


Sent from my iPad 
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