Life In The Time Of The Cheap Battery

You young whipper-snappers don't know how good you have it. In my day (like, way back in 2020), if we wanted to power a full-sized rig in the field we'd have to lug around big old lead-acid batteries that barely dribbled out 12 volts for an hour or two, and then would quickly die. Lord help you if you let the voltage drop below 11 volts, or you'd start damaging the cells. Need to keep track of that voltage? Make sure you brought along your multi-meter. And you better have a bottle of distilled water handy to keep the cells topped off - don't want those lead plates getting exposed!

Sure, back in 2020 this new-fangled battery technology called Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LiFePo) was available, but it was frightfully expensive, particularly large capacity units that could keep a full size radio operating for days. Think prices approaching $1,000 for a 100 amp-hour battery from a well regarded US-based company like Bioenno Power out of California. These sexy new LiFePo batteries offered amazing performance - very safe (LiFePo won't burst into flames like other lithium battery technologies), high energy density, excellent power discharge management, thousands of recharge cycles, built-in battery management systems (BMS), and extremely light weight. It's everything every field operator wanted, except cost. 

Like many, I started small - picking up 3 and 4.5 amp hour batteries to test with my QRP rigs. The performance was amazing. These little batteries effectively eliminated the dreaded battery angst that plagued us - 'do I have enough battery capacity for a long activation?' One local ham reported running his Yaesu FT-817 on regular POTA activations for almost a year before needing to charge his 4.5 Ah Bioenno battery! These small blue-wrapped batteries became ubiquitous at field operation everywhere. The phrase 'just buy a Bioenno' became the modern equivalent of 'just buy an IBM' - a pricey but totally safe purchase decision that came with great performance and manufacturer support

Bioenno makes great products, and they have bent over to support the ham radio community.
These batteries fundamentally changed QRP operations by providing stable, high current output
over incredibly long run times, all in a small and lightweight package.
Operators using radios like the Elecraft KX2, the Yaesu FT-817, the Xeigu G90  and the Icom IC-705
switched en mass to these batteries, and they became ubiquitous at POTA, SOTA
and Field Day activities. One of these batteries, the somewhat beat up 4.5 Ah one on the
middle right, is almost 5 years old and still holds 100% capacity

On a recent camping trip, a Bioenno 4.5 Ah battery powered my KX3 at 15 watts out, 
over the course of several activations

Yet, we continued to lug our boxes of lead and acid out to Field Day, because high capacity LiFePo batteries were beyond most ham's means. We're talking about batteries that cost more than some of the radios they were powering. Lead acid batteries soldiered on because the price/performance ratio was still in their favor, until...

A few years ago, offshore battery manufacturers (i.e., 'China, Inc.') spotted an opportunity, and stared to flood the US market with inexpensive, high capacity LiFePo batteries that offered very good quality and performance. Overnight they broke the lead acid battery lock on the price/performance ratio. There was no longer any reason to choose lead acid over LiFePo. While LiFePo batteries are still more expensive than equivalent lead acid batteries, the price gap had shrunk, and the improved features and performance of the LiFePo battery more than makes up for the price difference. These LiFePo batteries are clearly the better value.

Tracy at Outdoors On The Air lays out the arguments nicely in this video:

So let's look at a current example. The Power Queen (the brand I buy) LiFePo 12.8 volt, 100 Ah battery is on sale right now for $219 direct. Something to point out here is that these Chinese manufactured batteries are always 'on sale'. An equivalent generic lead acid 100 Ah deep cycle battery from Wal-Mart currently sells for $159. That's a $60 difference, but the Power Queen offers considerably more - up to 4000 recharge cycles (vs. hundreds for the lead acid battery), has a built-in battery management system, has a flatter discharge curve (more rated power for a longer period of time), has built-in Bluetooth to monitor battery performance via a smartphone app, is IP67 rated, and is much lighter (by at least 50%) than the lead acid battery. Plus, the LiFePo chemistry is much safer than lead acid. Based on recharge cycles alone, the Power Queen is the cheaper buy. All the other features are free candy. 😊

Power Queen is one of five or more Chinese-based battery manufacturers that do direct sales in the US, and they all offer LiFePo models with equivalent capacities and features. I bought Power Queen based on a personal recommendation from another ham, but I've also heard good things about the LiTime, AmpereTime and other brands. There are a number of YouTubers who revel in tearing these batteries apart to see what's inside,  and they all appear to have the same internal components. Some reviewers claim the manufacturers all buy their battery cells from the same factories in China, and there are only slight differences in the BMS and Bluetooth boards, internal component configurations and construction methods.

In this video, Will Prowse at his DIY Solar Power channel tears apart two LiFePo batteries (one of them a Power Queen) and compares the interior components. I wouldn't be at all surprised if both of these battery brands were owned by the same company, and the batteries came out of the same factory.

BTW, Will's channel is an excellent resource for anyone looking for answers and advice on batteries and solar systems.

There is but one caveat to all this lithium love - LiFePo batteries don't do well in very cold temps, and the cells can be ruined when charging in sub-freezing temperatures. In fact, some LiFePo batteries have built-in heating systems to warm the cells in low temp conditions. This is usually not an issue in the south where I live - if I'm out in the field in sub-zero temps, I'll be in a camper or a tent with a heater going. The BMS in many batteries will also shut the battery down in very cold situations, to protect the cells.

So where does all of this lead us? To me, the clear lesson is that lead acid batteries, in the amateur radio use case, are dead, dead, dead. Say it with me now: 'lead is dead'. There simply is no justification for choosing a lead acid battery over an equivalent capacity LiFePo. These new batteries are an amazing leap in power technology for ham radio, and there's no reason to stick with now obsolete lead-acid batteries.

(Time for a hypocrisy alert? Anyone who knows me, or reads this blog, knows that I loudly state that I do not buy Chinese manufactured products, unless there's no other option. I still stand strongly by that rule, and I practice it daily. The caveat here is 'unless there's no other option'. There are no US-based manufacturers of LiFePo batteries that offer all the features the Chinese manufacturers offer - at any price. There are US-based 'assemblers', like Battle Born Batteries and Dakota Lithium, but the key components - battery cells, BMS boards, etc., are sourced out of China. As far as I can tell, there is no LiFePo battery cell manufacturing taking place in the US - everything comes out of China. So in this case, I feel we're in the 'unless there's no other option' category.) 

W8BYH out 

Wee Beastie

My Irish grandmother, and Scotts/Irish grandfather used the term 'wee' to describe anything and everything that was small - from lightning bugs to babies. I think I understood the term 'wee' before I understood what the word 'small' stood for. The radio connection? Well, I've reached the conclusion that none of the major manufacturers will be making my ideal field radio any time soon. I needed to take matters into my own hands and build something that came as close as possible to my vision. I started with the Elecraft KX3 platform because it offered the most potential. In pursuit of this ideal I've stuffed every available add-on into a KX3, installed a few firmware updates to extend capabilities, and bolted on a few key after-market components to improve functionality. What I ended up with was a beast of a little rig - a 'wee beastie'.

I've discussed this KX3 a lot on this blog, so this post will be something of a wrap-up on all the things I've done to get the radio to just where I want it. To note, I've been singularly unimpressed with most of the Big Three (Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood) and China, Inc. offerings over the past few years. I desperately want a small, light, HF only field radio that offers true portability, good SSB and digital performance, low power consumption, and 20 watts output on internal or connected batteries. I own an IC-705, but that rig is has a number of issues that keep it out of serious contention. I've taken a quick look at the new Yaesu FTX-1 and, well, no thanks. While the Xeigu G90 once looked promising, I don't buy China, Inc. products out of principle. There are several contenders on the used market, such as the Icom IC-706 or 7000, but good used examples have gotten pricey. One of my many regrets was not paying more attention to the IC-706 when it were still in production.

After reviewing all the options, and leaning on my experience with the Elecraft KX2, I decided to find a good used KX3 and give that a try. The KX3 has been on the market for over 15 years, it's still in production, is well supported by Elecraft and a large user community, offers an impressive array of options, and gets me as close to my 20 watt output goal as I'm likely to get with a modern field radio. The KX3 provides 15 watts of output on most bands when connected to an external battery, and up to 10 watts on internal batteries. It also offers very impressive receiver performance (it's rated in the top 11 by Sherwood Engineering). Yes, Elecraft's KX line is an acquired taste - the controls, settings and firmware options are unlike any other rig and, to be honest, some of the technology built into the radio is old - like its built-in NiMH battery charging function. Why Elecraft hasn't moved beyond this to develop a modern lithium battery capability, like they have with the KX2, is baffling. But at least you can run the radio on internal batteries for a few hours at reduced output power. Overall, the KX3 platform offered the most potential.

Rather than yelling at you for opening up your radio, Elecraft actually encourages it. 
Virtually every board, wire and cable in this photo can be purchased a-la-carte from Elecraft 
and is user replaceable. 

A fair number of KX3 rigs come up for sale every month, on QRZ.com and the Elecraft Groups.io discussion site. After hunting around for a bit, I picked up this radio at a fair price. It was part of a package deal that included the KXPA100 amplifier and tuner (that clever piece of gear is a story for another day). The KX3 came with the internal tuner and roofing filters, but oddly did not have the internal battery charger board installed. This means it was an early model (mine is in the 10,000 serial number range), since Elecraft now includes the battery charger and real-time clock board in current production units. As it came, it was a very good radio, and with a little effort could be improved.

• The first thing to tackle was the battery charger. Elecraft sells the charger/clock board as a user installed option (in fact, just about every KX3 add-on is user installed). Just plug it in, change a few firmware settings and the NiMH charger is up and running. I stuffed a set of Tenergy high capacity NiMH AA batteries into the internal battery tray and was up and running. Elecraft recommends reduced output power of between 3 - 5 watts when on internal batteries, but you CAN push it up to 10 watts for short operating periods. 

• MARS mod. I wanted to be able to use this radio on SHARES frequencies, which meant I needed to remove the amateur band restrictions. With other amateur radios this means either yanking something off the main board, or soldering something on. With Icom rigs it's removing a teeeny diode or two. With Yaesu rigs I've worked on, it means closing a solder bridge on an open pad on the main board. With the KX3, it's a simple firmware update. Just email Elecraft tech support and they'll send the file to you, and it's a reversable mod.

• The KX3 is known to run hot, and the frequencies can start to drift when the rig gets too hot. The factory heat sink - just a big piece of folded metal - works, but not as good as some after market solutions. I installed one of the heat sinks made by Pro Audio Engineering.  Yes, the heat sink adds weight to the rig, but that's a necessary trade-off.

• The front face of the rig needs some protection, and a company called Gems Products makes an excellent set of replacement side panels that provide raised 'rails' that will protect the knobs if the radio is placed (or falls) face-down on a surface. In addition, they make a snap on polycarbonate cover that mates with the side panels to provide full front panel coverage. This is such a popular option that the majority of KX3 rigs I've seen have these panels installed. They are so ubiquitous that many think they are a factory original product. 

• 2 meter capability. OK, this is an 'icing on the cake' add-on. Elecraft makes a 2 meter transverter mod that installs inside the radio (it mounts above the internal tuner), and provides a separate SMA connector for a 2 meter antenna (hear that, Icom?). It works on all modes - FM, SSB, AM & CW, and you can set repeater offsets and tones. I don't really need 2 meter capability, but hey, why not if it's available. I installed it yesterday and got good audio reports from other hams one of our local repeaters.

Look Ma, Two Meters!

• Digital modes. Elecraft didn't build a sound card interface into the rig. To be fair, they didn't put a sound card interface into any of their rigs until the recent release of their high end K4 radio. But there is a digital mode built into the firmware. I'll be honest and admit that I struggled for a long time to get this radio running right on digital modes. It turns out I was just using the wrong hardware. First I tried a SignaLink unit, but for some reason the KX3 didn't really like that. Next was a DigiRig. Again, I was having all sorts of configuration issues with that. Eventually I took the advice of a majority of KX3 users on the Groups.io site and tried a simple and cheap Sbarent USB sound card dongle - $13 on Amazon. Success! There are a few settings you have to play with on the radio, like turning off the microphone PTT option, but once you get those sorted out, it runs like a champ on digital modes. Yes, there's a bit of a cable mess and you have to run an outboard speaker to monitor the receive audio, but it works and works well. 

To recap. I started a search for a lightweight, portable all-mode 20 watt HF rig with a built-in power supply & tuner. None of the Big Three are making what I want. The only radio that seemed to offer the potential to get close to what I'm after is the KX3. In going the KX3 route I was able to get closer to the ideal than with any other available HF rig:

• 160 - 2 meter all-mode RX & TX
• Low current consumption - as low as 150 mA on receive
• Wide-band TX (MARS mod)
• 15 watts TX on external batteries, 5 - 10 watts on internal
• Excellent RX performance
• Easy to view front panel
• Roofing filters
• Internal wide range tuner
• Good digital performance
• Easy to service & maintain
• Wide support from software developers
• Well supported by the manufacturer, user community and after-market suppliers
• An entire field kit - radio, external battery, antenna, microphone, cabling, documentation, can all be carried in a small waterproof Pelican case

Camping with the KX

So what's next? Well, into the field I go! Time to run this wee beast hard in various field environments. My go-to antenna is the Chameleon tactical delta loop - fast to set up and very effective. I'll be using that as a baseline for testing. One test goal is reliable connections to Winlink RMS nodes at least 500 miles from my operating position. Stay tuned!

W8BYH out

Hot Stuff

I had a chance to play around a bit with a new Yaesu FTX-1 rig during Field Day this year. One of our club members brought his and we hooked it up to an end-fed antenna just to monitor. Here's a few quick observations.

• Audio is excellent. Yaesu really did a neat trick with the 'front firing' speakers, which really are not front firing, but downward firing, but into a resonance chamber below the radio that directs the audio forward. I found the audio was loud, clear and distortion free. Good job there, Yaesu
• The screen is very good - clear, crisp and bright, and well laid out
• The configuration soft menu system appears to follow the FT-710 layout, which I thought was pretty good
• The main VFO knob is too big - it gobbles up too much front panel real estate, space that could have been put to use for other purposes like a dedicated sub-VFO knob
• The whole Field package seemed very sturdy. As many have commented, it's not light - it's very brick-like

But...

The radio was running just on receive, and it was running hot. I mean, HOT. There's a small area on the back of the radio just above where I think the PA board is located, and it was hot to the touch. The radio was on receive only because we didn't want to interfere with Field Day stations operating just a few yards away. I was astonished at how hot this thing was running. Compared to its #1 competitor, the IC-705, well, there is no comparison. Both operate at the same power levels (10 watts max), but even running heavy digital modes like JS8CALL the 705 never gets above moderately warm (less than half of the built-in heat indicator scale, and never near the danger level). One YouTuber reports that his FTX-1 gets up to 110 degrees F. when running FT8. Of course, Yaesu has always stated that the optional fan is necessary when running digital modes, and I don't really have an issue with that, but they should include the fan as a standard item with every radio sold.  

Heat management is an issue all radio manufacturers face. Some do it better than others, but more often manufacturers get it right with some models, wrong with others. Even Icom. The IC-705 and the IC-7300 are well known as 'cool-runners', but their higher end commercial HF rig, the F-8101, is infamous for its heat issues and the need to run its noisy clip-on cooling fan even when just working SSB. Elecraft's small KX3 and KX2 field radios are notorious hot runners on digital modes, which has spawned an active accessory market for heat sinks and clip-on fans.

Nobody I know of has yet to open up an FTX-1 to take a look at how the PA board is built, and what components Yaesu spec'd. It may be that the engineers knew heat would be an issue, and they over-built that part of the radio to handle the heat. Equally likely, we may see that Yaesu ends up replacing a lot of boards under warranty because they just couldn't handle the heat. Either way, we'll know in about a year. Stay tuned.

W8BYH out

Bust

My lovely wife and I recently returned from a 2,100 mile road trip that took us from Atlanta, GA, to Mammoth Cave, KY, to Benton Harbor, MI, to Oregon, OH to Cincinnati, OH and then home again. The objective was Benton Harbor, to attend her nephew's wedding, but the other stops were for pleasure. For example, we both grew up in Maumee, OH, and wanted to visit relatives and old haunts, so we booked a campsite at Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, OH (a great park, BTW). 

We were moving fast - a day or two here and there - and the objective was to visit people and see interesting things. In that sense we weren't really 'camping', we were just hauling our hotel room around behind our F-350. What also worked against us was the heat. Just as we left Atlanta, a near record setting heat dome settled in over much of the eastern US. Here's the temperature in Benton Harbor, on the shores of Lake Michigan, on June 21st at 2:00 pm:

It should be noted that at the same time the temperature in Atlanta was only 95 degrees. This heat dome followed us from Kentucky to Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, and it made any outside activity an exercise in heat stroke prevention.

I took along a compact radio setup knowing operating opportunities would be few and far between. I was right on that part. The only chance I got to set up was at our campground in Benton Harbor. This was a KOA, nicely run and well maintained, but campers were stuffed in cheek-by-jowl. This is a 'feature' of every KOA and private campground we've ever stayed at. The owners want to maximize profit, so spaces are tight. Stuff as many in as you can. This arrangement also highlights another problem with camping - RFI from the power inverters, converters and solar charge controllers built into every camper made in the last 20 years. It's a literal RF soup in these campgrounds, and many bands are simply unusable. Your only real defense is to use a radio that has strong filtering, and maybe bring along a set of bandpass filters.

I was using my Elecraft KX3, and much of the 40 meter band was unusable due to RFI (and the KX3 has strong bandpass filters built in), but I did find segments of 20 meters that were usable. Alas, my antenna setup wasn't good enough. I tried two vertical antennas - the desktop Elecraft AX1 you see in the photo, and a larger Chameleon 17' vertical. Alas, I wasn't able to make any Winlink or JS8 connections. I don't blame the campground RFI for this - it was really an antenna issue.  

Which brings me to a major point of this post. I'm a big supporter of the 'AM radio in every car' initiative. Both because I do feel AM radio is important, but also because having to incorporate a working AM receiver into vehicles means car manufacturers will have to take the time to 'clean up' their electrical systems designs to minimize RF noise. This goes double for electric vehicles. Then hopefully there will be a trickle-down effect, where the FCC gets off its ass and does its job and starts forcing manufacturers of things like inverters, switch mode power supplies, solar charge controllers, etc. to clean up their products. Then maybe ham radio operators will be able to set up next to their campers and only have to deal with a light sprinkle of RF noise instead of the flood we deal with now.

W8BYH out

ARES Southeastern US Situational Awareness Map Updates - 12 June 2025

Before diving in to the discussion about changes, I think I'm going to start using this blog as the notification outlet for the Situational Awareness Map. Normally when I do updates and I need to get word out about key changes, I'm cross-posting between a couple of Facebook and Groups.io sites. It gets clumsy, and I have to keep my comments short to fit the various platform restrictions. Using this blog allows me to be a bit more 'expansive' in my comments and discussions about changes.

Now, on with the show!

Yesterday I pushed out a few key changes to the map that wrap up some content updates and a few minor layout changes. Let's have a look.

Since the 2025 Hurricane Season opened on 01 June. I set the NOAA Active Hurricanes layer to on by default. This means any NOAA-released hurricane & tropical storm information (tracks, probability polygons, etc.) will automatically appear and update as NOAA releases information. This layer will stay on by default all the way through hurricane season

Under the Situational Awareness layer group, I added a Current Wildfires layer. This data is hosted by the Department of the Interior, and provides basic information on current wildfires across the US. This layer is off by default:

Let's spend a moment discussing repeaters. After a few years of hosting Repeaterbook.com info in the map, and getting very little feedback on Georgia repeaters (good or bad) - and zero info on repeater data from other states - I've decided to take a different approach. I've dropped the Repeaterbook.com coverage, and have gone back to an internally managed repeater database for just Georgia. This new data can be found in the Georgia Amateur Radio Repeaters layer. What you see in the map today is a slight update to the old Georgia Repeater Database Initiative information. I can take direct updates to repeater information, and can make quick changes - new repeaters, off-line repeaters, changes in repeater location, etc. I will likely put up an on-line form to capture this info, and link it in the map, but that's still a few weeks off. I'm also using a data clustering display tool, which is why you see a bunch of large dots when you turn the layer on. As you zoom into the map, the repeater data will 'dis-aggregate', and  you'll be able to get all the way down to individual repeaters. This layer is turned off by default:

Next up... PSAP boundaries. This one caused a slight stir a few months ago when I put out the word that the Dept. of Homeland Security pulled down the national PSAP (Public Service Answering Point) boundaries layer, and I had to take the layer out of the map. Not that anyone actually used the boundary info, they were just incensed that DHS took it down. Conspiracies, and all that. Folks, it happens all the time with this cooperative mapping platform, not just with national level datasets, but with very innocuous local datasets like local bird sightings, or community-level Girl Scout Cookie sales point layer (yes, someone made a cookie sales point map layer). I do it in my regular job as a GIS program manager at a very busy international airport. Data layers often age-out, security restrictions get imposed, or we just come up with new ways to display the data. So we pull down the old and (usually) put up something new. It's not just me and the DHS doing it - NOAA does it, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency does it, local governments do it, DOT does it, FEMA does it - everyone does it. The real issue is that there's no built-in notification system that lets map authors know a data layer is no longer available. The map just throws an error when you try to open it and a data layer is no longer available. So, back to PSAP data. Yesterday I discovered that the State of Georgia has published its own PSAP data layer, and I've added it into the map. You'll find it under the Borders, Operational Boundaries & Geographic Features - Georgia layer grouping. This layer is turned off by default:

Let's wrap this up. The last thing I want to talk about is finding layers in the map. There are over 50 individual data layers in the map, and the layer structure is complex. It can be tough finding the exact layer you want to take a look at. Heck, even I get lost in the layer stack! That's why I've incorporated a search tool in the Data Layers window, to help you find what you are looking for. It's the little search icon in the upper right corner of the window:

Let's say you are searching for a layer that shows lakes in Georgia. You heard the layer is in the map, but you don't know where. Just open the search tool and enter 'lakes'. The search tool will find the layer group that 'lakes' is nested up under. Simply expand the layer grouping to find the Georgia Lakes & Ponds layer and click the check box to turn it on in the map (it's normally off by default):

That's it for this update. As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or would like some instruction on how to use this map just let me know. There is a feedback button in the map, and it's the best way to get my attention.

W8BYH out

Making Up My Mind

The XYL and I are planning for a long road trip - winding our way north to Michigan to attend a family wedding, then wandering back down towards Atlanta and visiting family along the way (many of them helpfully live just off of I-75). Normally when we camp, ham radio is a big part of the trip. Hours and hours of tinkering and making contacts while my wife reads or naps. This trip is different. It's like a military campaign. Get to Michigan as quickly and efficiently as possible, hang out with long-lost relatives and friends, head back with stops along the way to visit other long-lost relatives. We have a 22' pull-behind camper, but our overnight stays at any one place will be brief and, again, the focus will be on visiting with relatives, not stringing wire.

And yet, ham radio must play a part, even if it's a small one. On this trip the focus will be on back-up communications. I intend to take an HF setup that is small, efficient, easy to deploy, and I know works well on Winlink. The whole package - radio, antenna, power source, cabling, etc. needs to be as small and light as possible.

The antenna decision has already been made - Chameleon Antenna's excellent Tactical Delta Loop. It's fast and easy to set up, and versatile. If there's no space for the full delta loop deployment it can be configured as a simple vertical. The back-up antenna is a Par End-Fedz trail friendly EFHW.

But the radio selection process is more involved. I have something of an embarrassment of riches when it comes to rigs. I'd normally just toss my IC-7300 into a Pelican case and be done with it, but on this trip that radio (and case) would be too big. Something smaller is in order. Here's my options:

• Icom IC-705
• Elecraft KX3
• Elecraft KX2
• Yaesu FT-818

The IC-705 would seem, to most, to be the logical choice. It may well be, but the radio with all of it's necessary out-boarded components (like the AH-705 tuner) fits into a very chunky box. I'll admit though, in that chunky box there's a LOT of capability, and the 705 is a proven performer. In past write-ups I've called it a 'digital mode beast', and it is. Once you get it set up using a wi-fi connection between the rig and your computer, the thing will loaf along all day on digital modes and get only slightly warm. Icom did a remarkable job with heat management on this rig. 

Next, the KX3. This is the excellent Elecraft K3 desktop rig squeezed down into a surprisingly small package. What got left out was TX power. The KX3 puts out only 15 watts compared to the K3's 100 watts, but it retains all of the K3's world-class receiver performance. The KX3 overall is about the same size as the IC-705 but includes a built-in tuner and battery pack (although on internal batteries it only puts out between 3 - 5 watts). The radio requires an external soundcard for digital modes (I use an inexpensive Sbarent USB soundcard), but it's easy to configure and at moderate digital activity levels without getting too hot. I've installed an after-market heat sink, which helps. The KX3 with accessories fits into a Pelican case that is about 20% slimmer than the case the IC-705 fits into.

The KX2 is Elecraft's SOTA/POTA focused rig. They took the KX3, dropped 6 and 160 meter coverage, included a built-in tuner, lithium battery, internal charger, a built-in microphone and made it smaller and lighter than the KX3 by about 15%. Max output is only 10 watts, but you can actually achieve that for short periods on the internal battery. Yes the controls are cramped, but that's a reflection of the size of the radio. What Elecraft did retain from the KX3 is the large high contrast display. The display on both rigs is excellent - logically laid out, easy to read, and if you turn off the backlight, the radio sips just milliwatts on receive. No waterfalls, though. Like the KX3, this radio requires an external soundcard. The digital configuration is the same as for the KX3, but because of the smaller size of the KX2 it doesn't handle digital modes quite as well - it can get hot. But, for emergency Winlink use it's just fine. The KX2 doesn't get transported in a hard case. It travels around in a small soft bag.

OK, the Yaesu FT-818 is not a serious contender for this trip, but it IS available if I'm thinking of something for a back-up rig. My 818 has the Windcamp lithium battery mod, and that turns the radio into a viable emergency use rig. Plus, the little thing is so easy to use - it's probably the last honest radio Yaesu released, honest from the perspective that all the controls are logically laid out, the small display shows you everything you need to know, and not a pixel more, it's easy to configure, doesn't throw any surprises your way, and runs remarkably well on digital modes with an external soundcard. In fact, compared to Yaesu's later offerings like the FT-891 or the FT-991A, the FT-818 is a simple joy to use. 

So which is it? At this time I haven't made up my mind, so if you have any advice or suggestions let me know in the comments below!

W8BYH out

Getting To Know The Motorola Micom

 'Getting to know you, getting to know all about you'

Fans of Rogers and Hammerstein's 'The King and I' will remember the song. I first heard it when the impossibly beautiful Deborah Kerr sang it to the King of Siam's kids in the movie version of the musical. OK, Ms. Kerr couldn't sing, or couldn't sing good enough, so the undisputed queen of 1950's & 60's female musical over-dubs, Marni Nixon, turned Ms. Kerr into a musical star. I've been smitten with Deborah Kerr (and Marni Nixon) ever since.

Nothing to do with ham radio, but with a look like that, who cares?

'Getting To Know You' is a tune I often sing to any new radios or accessories that come across my bench, particularly if the device falls outside of what I describe as normal ham radio operational protocols. That would be just about anything not made by Icom, Kenwood or Yaesu. And so it was with a radio I'd had an interest in for years, but didn't know where to start when looking for one - a Motorola Micom commercial HF transceiver. These were (and still are) in common use in the MARS, CAP and SHARES communities, and unlike their L3/Harris, Barrett or Codan brethren, they were relatively affordable on the used market. Motorola stopped manufacturing the Micom line about 8 years ago, but there's still an active user community, swapping advice, radios and components. Good working examples pop up regularly on eBay. So, in terms of availability and price, they are pretty accessible and have a very good reputation for ruggedness and long service life.

I found mine, a 2E model. on a Groups.io site devoted to commercial and military HF rigs. According to the seller it was in excellent condition and had been used in a test environment at a small radio accessory development company he used to own. The radio came with an external long wire tuner (similar to an Icom AH-4), microphone, power cable, programming software and some documentation. On arrival it was clear that the rig really was in very good condition. The microphone was the only real iffy item - it had been in a lot of hands, and it was a bit 'sticky'. The seller dug a new one out of his box of parts and sent it to me for free.

The biggest issue was a programming cable. Motorola did a lousy job of documenting just how to connect this thing to a computer to get it set up. All the instructions say is, 'connect programming cable'. What programming cable? What does it look like? Where do I connect it? There's a 25 pin accessory connector on the back of the rig and, like the rest of the radio world would, I figured that served as the radio programming port. But no. I found out through the user community that programming takes place through the CAT6 microphone connector. What this means is, there's no CAT-like radio control that lets you do voice ops while managing frequency or settings. There are no original Motorola programming cables to be had, at least none I've been able to locate. There is a guy on eBay selling what he claims is a home made programming cable, but what he sells doesn't work. I was saved by an instruction sheet issued by the Civil Air Patrol back in the early 2000's that showed how make a programming cable using CAT6 cable to a DB9 serial connector. 

The Motorola software is old, but pretty good. It allows you to set up the channel frequency memories and settings, and configure the radio for ALE. It was written to run on Windows 2000 or Windows 7, and has a distinctive 32 bit Windows XP look and feel, but runs just fine on Windows 11 in compatibility mode. Earlier this year I got the radio programmed with a swath of Georgia ARES, SHARES and other public service frequencies, played around with it a bit, then got distracted by other rigs. The Micom sat unused for months. 

A few weeks ago I came upon a Micom video on the LifeIsTooShortForQRP YouTube channel. The host reviewed a Micom 2E - the same model as mine, except his is the remote head version. Other than that, it's the same radio. He reviews and repairs a LOT of commercial and military HF gear, and had nothing but praise for the Micom. The video renewed my interest in the Micom, and I decided to get it back on the air and spend more time learning its capabilities. 

I now see why the Micoms were (and still are) so popular. They are a mil-spec chunk of metal that just works. I have mine connected to an LDG Z-100 tuner so I can use to my MyAntennas end-fed in the back yard. The speaker audio is excellent - designed to 'punch through' in noisy environments, and I get consistently great audio reports whether I'm using the hand mic, or the Motorola handset I found on eBay. 

I've only used it on sideband for local, state and regional nets. It MAY do digital, but I'll need to work on figuring that out. As far as I can tell Motorola never produced a digital modem. Discussion on the topic is very... unclear. One recommendation is a digital mode interface made by XGGComms out of New Jersey, built with a 25 pin connector specific to the Micom. Reportedly it will also allow the 25 pin port to serve as the programming and radio control connection. One's on order, but it'll be weeks before I'm able to give it a comprehensive test.

The Micom has ALE built into the firmware ALE 2G, and apparently does it well, so that'll be the next thing I get it set up for. 

Overall, I'm finding the Micom an interesting example of a commercial HF rig, and it's helped me better understand what the commercial HF hardware world looks like. Customers aren't interested in spinning dials and waterfalls. They want a radio that's easy to operate, holds a few channels, has a long mean-time between failure, and when one of their personnel keys the mic, it works with no fuss or muss. They are business tools, not hobbyist toys.

I'm sure I'll be writing more about the Micom, as I get deeper into digital modes and ALE. So stay tuned. 

W8BYH out