You might recall from my last field report that I was undecided about keeping or selling my Ten-Tec Argonaut V transceiver.
After some soul-searching, I’ve decided to keep it!
The response from the QRPer community was incredible. With few exceptions, nearly everyone who reached out encouraged me to hang onto the Argo V—largely because it falls into that category of radio nostalgia that I’d likely regret parting with and might even end up repurchasing down the road. I have to say, I agree.
Beyond its classic look and feel, my latest activation confirmed that the Argo V is a serious performer. The QSK is silky-smooth, with no audio muting whatsoever—something I now realize is a big part of why I enjoy operating it so much.
Although I also own the Argonaut VI—an upgrade in terms of receiver performance—it’s an entirely different radio with a different architecture. It’s not simply a “newer, better” Argonaut V, but rather a unique design in its own right.
I received dozens of emails from readers interested in buying the Argo V if I decided to sell. Thank you all for reaching out—and apologies for the change of heart! Of the few who actually suggested I sell it, nearly every one of them added something along the lines of, “You should sell it… to me!” Ha!
During last night’s recording of the Ham Radio Workbench podcast, I mentioned this decision, and my dear friend George (KJ6VU) pointed out something important: taking a radio into the field or putting it on the air before deciding to sell is a great practice. Initially, I thought doing so had biased my decision—but in hindsight, I’m glad I did. The experience reminded me why I enjoy this rig so much, and I’m looking forward to giving it much more air time this year.
Thanks for coming along for the ride, and my apologies to those hoping to snag my Argo V. It’s staying put!
On Wednesday, January 5, 2025, I planned a trip to Hickory to pick up my father and take him to lunch. With our family’s hectic schedule, I hadn’t been able to spend any meaningful time with him in weeks, so I was looking forward to catching up.
Of course, as is tradition, I also planned a POTA activation en route.
That morning, before leaving the house, I debated which park to activate: South Mountains State Park, Tuttle Educational State Forest, or Lake James State Park?
It had been a long time since I’d activated South Mountains, so I considered heading there. However, after checking their website, I was surprised to find the entire park still closed due to damage from Hurricane Helene. I hadn’t realized the storm had impacted the foothills that severely—though with miles of trails, it made sense that they were still working to clear blowdowns.
Next, I checked Tuttle, only to discover it was still closed as well. Wow…
I knew the Catawba River access at Lake James was open because I had activated it a few weeks prior. Sure enough, their site confirmed that the Paddy’s Creek area—the park’s largest section—remained closed. Wow.
Clearly, I had underestimated the damage these parks sustained after Helene.
So, I set my course for Lake James, hoping that, by spring, the other parks would reopen. No doubt, park staff were working hard to make that happen.
Another mission
I had a specific radio in mind for this activation: my TEN-TEC Argonaut V.
I bought this radio used almost four years ago and have been very pleased with it. I’ve always been a big fan of Ten-Tec, and to me, the Argo V embodies the super-simple design I loved from their late 1990s/early 2000s radios. It features a big LED display, a prominent encoder, and a proper fold-out bail underneath—a solid legacy field radio.
What I love most about the Argo V (and Ten-Tec radios in general) is its superb audio, low-noise receiver, and silky-smooth QSK.
The Argo V wasn’t built to be a power miser—the audio amplifier is beefy and a bit current-hungry (I believe it draws around 500mA in receive, and more with audio output). But the tradeoff? Outstanding audio quality. It’s the perfect radio for Field Day or long operating sessions when you want to avoid listener fatigue. It’s also a fantastic shack radio.
That said, because of its bulk—and my tendency to grab smaller radios for field use—the Argo V has primarily lived in my shack.
When I bought the Argo VI, I told myself I might let go of the Argo V at some point. I’ve been debating this ever since.
Lately, I’ve been actively downsizing my shack. I need to sell, trade, or give away radios I’m not using. I don’t like harboring “shelf queens”—I want my radios to get regular airtime. But since bringing the Argo VI into the shack, the Argo V hasn’t seen much action.
My friend Vlado (N3CZ) and I plan to sell gear at the Charlotte Hamfest in a couple of weeks. I figured this POTA activation might help me decide whether to sell or keep the Argo V.
So, with my Argonaut V and my Tufteln linked 40M EFHW packed, I made my way to Lake James!
Lake James State Park (US-2739)
That morning, Lake James was incredibly quiet. There were very few visitors—even though this was the only section of the park open.
Then again, it was early on a Wednesday morning, not exactly prime time!
I chose a picnic table near the parking lot since I was carrying the Argonaut V and gear in a storage box rather than a backpack.
My high-visibility ABR cable assembly.
I quickly deployed my End-Fed Half-Wave (EFHW) antenna and set up the Argonaut V.
Testing the TouchPaddles
Next, I hooked up my new-to-me TouchPaddles, a generous gift from a kind subscriber/supporter.
These keyers were originally sold as kits and have been discontinued for at least a decade. Though a bit bulky, it’s a fantastic CW accessory!
It uses capacitive touch paddles instead of mechanical parts. The added bulk and weight keep it stable while keying.
The unit also has built-in CW message memory. I haven’t programmed it yet (if you have experience with this model, let me know how!), but I plan to experiment with it soon.
The paddle has two output modes:
Standard paddle output (for radios with built-in keyers, like the Argo V).
External keying mode (for radios without built-in keyers or those with poor internal keying).
I used the standard paddle output since the Argo V’s internal keyer works brilliantly.
With everything hooked up, it was time to hit the air!
Gear
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I’m very fortunate in that over the past few years I’ve accumulated a number of QRP radios that I use in rotation when I do park and summit activations.
I’m often asked for advice on choosing radios, and as I’ve mentioned in the past, I feel like the decision is a very personal one–everything is based on an operator’s own particular preferences.
I’ve written formal reviews about most of the field radios in my collection over the years. In those reviews, I try to take a wide angle view of a radio–I try to see how it might appeal to a number of types of operators: field operators, DXers, summit activators, contesters, rag-chewers, casual operators, SWLs, travelers, outdoor adventurers, mobile operators, etc. I highlight the pros and cons, but I don’t focus on my own particular take because, again, my style of operating might not match that of readers. I try to present the full picture as clearly as I can and let the reader decide.
On that note, I thought it might be fun to take a radio out for a field activation and spend a bit of time explaining why I enjoy using it and why it’s a part of my permanent field radio collection. Instead of taking that wide-angle view of a radio like I do in magazine reviews, I share my own personal thoughts based on long-term experience.
Each new video in the Getting To Know You series will highlight one of the field radios from my field radio collection. I’ll spend time in each video explaining what I personally appreciate about each radio, then we’ll do a park or summit activation with the radio.
I’ll release these every few weeks or so–when the notion strikes me. They will not be on a regular schedule, but I hope to include each of my radios in this series over the the next year.
I’ve always been a big fan of Ten-Tec products because I love their focus on quality, high-performance receivers, and benchmark audio fidelity.
Ten-Tec has produced some impressive radios over the years and was a trail-blazer in the world of QRP with their Power Mites and original analog Argonaut series (check out these and more T-T radios here).
When Ten-Tec manufacturing was located in Sevierville, Tennessee, I knew many of the employees of the company and even did Alpha and Beta testing for their QRP radios like the Patriot, Rebel, and Argonaut VI.
I love the ergonomics and simple front panel design of the Argo V.
I purchased my Argonaut V used in 2021 when I saw it for sale on QTH.com. The price was right and, frankly, I wanted a Ten-Tec radio back in my life.
In the activation video (below) I’ll speak to all of the reasons I love the Argonaut V, why I think it’s so unique, and why I’ve no intention of ever selling it. Then, we’ll perform a POTA activation with it.
Keep in mind that my perspective will primarily focus on HF CW operating–I don’t actually own a microphone for the Argonaut V, but I do plan to at some point.
Lake James State Park (K-2739)
On Sunday, August 13, 2023, I made a detour to Lake James State Park en route to visit my parents in Hickory, NC. As I’ve mentioned many times before, Lake James is one of the easiest parks I can hit in my travels and it’s open every day of the week–in the summer, it’s also open quite late which is a bonus.
The only negative with evening activations at Lake James is fighting the mozzies–they can be persistent!
I picked out a picnic table close to the car and pulled the Argonaut V from my Husky latching box.
I then immediately deployed my MW0SAW 40 meter End-Fed Half-Wave antenna. Since the Argonaut V doesn’t have an internal ATU, the EFHW would give me the flexibility to operate on 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters natively.
Of course, it was in the early evening, so I only intended to hop on 40 meters, but I had the option to move up the band if needed.
After deploying my antenna, I recorded the “Getting To Know You” portion of the activation video–I’d encourage you to check that out below!
I mentioned in a previous post that I recently purchased a Ten-Tec Argonaut V transceiver. It was–being honest here–an impulse purchase. This is what I get for randomly browsing the QTH.com classifieds!
Truth be told, I’ve always loved the design of the Argonaut V and I knew, being a Ten-Tec, it would be a proper CW machine.
As soon as I received the Argonaut V, I put it on the air and chased a few parks and summits from the shack. It seemed to work brilliantly, but of course I was eager to take it to the field!
Around the same time, my buddy Max (WG4Z) mentioned that he’d discovered a new access point for South Mountains State Park and had enjoyed performing an activation there. He wrote,
“It is a part of South Mountains State Park custom made for a Thomas Witherspoon visit. A great site for an activation, video, and photos. If you haven’t been there, please put it on your list!“
Yesterday, it was pouring rain but I had a hankering for some radio therapy, so I popped by Tuttle Educational State Forest (K-4861) knowing that they have a large covered shelter where I could set up the Elecraft KX1 and AX1 antenna and play POTA.
It being a rainy, cool day, I was the only visitor at the park.
As I walked into the shelter and sorted out which table might serve best as my field shack, a random thought popped up in my head: “OM, this has been an expensive week for you!“
Ignoring the fact that we did some repairs to the ActivationMobile (our Subaru), and the fact we just committed to a pretty pricey arborist quote for tree work at the QTH (those guys do earn their keep), I also spent some of my hobby money. On what, you ask? Continue reading This turned out to be an expensive week!→
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Beyond its classic look and feel, my latest activation confirmed that the Argo V is a serious performer. The QSK is silky-smooth, with no audio muting whatsoever—something I now realize is a big part of why I enjoy operating it so much.
Thanks for coming along for the ride, and my apologies to those hoping to snag my Argo V. It’s staying put!
