[Elecraft] KX-3 Field and Sea day

[Timothy Gordish]

Field day can be less of a social event and more of an adventure if you choose.  Having had a week that was too social I decided to go it alone for the afternoon in a seaside location.  I loaded up my KX-3 into a dry bag and tossed it in my 11.5 foot Shellback wooden dinghy.  From the boat ramp at Barn Island CT, I began to row across bay and state lines to Point Napatree Rhode Island, but the wind picked up a bit so I set the sail for the remainder of the 2.5 crossing.  

Landing on the beach I strung up my wire using a fishing pole and mast, turned the rig power down to 2.5 watts, and discovered that I forgot a headset.  The bands on 40 and 20 were QRN free but the QRM from the waves hitting the beach sometimes made copy challenging.  I ran for about 4 hours of the event and the internal batteries did quite well.  Lithium batteries are the best.

I made 20 contacts using only cw.  One station was drown out by the waves and I won’t be able to count it since I got his exchange info garbled.  W1TM 1B RI was a heart warming success in my log.  The sail back to the boat as the sun headed to the horizon was smooth. My favorite way to play radio!

Tim W1TM
KX-3 #7081