Here’s what I love about the Elecraft KH1:
- It’s always with me, tucked away in my EDC pack.
- It’s super quick to deploy.
- It lets me hop on the air–anytime, anywhere–and work my friends when they’re activating a park or summit.
Yesterday afternoon, I activated Lake James State Park (US-2739) for about an hour. The pileups were deep, and I was so focused on working stations that I missed a text from my buddy Vince (VE6LK), who was activating a park in Alberta, Canada.
By the time I saw Vince’s message after packing up and turning off my camera, it was too late for a P2P contact—he’d already packed up as well. However, he mentioned that he planned to hit another park and promised to let me know when he arrived.
True to his word, Vince pinged me while I was checking out at a Lowe’s hardware store in Marion, North Carolina. He had reached Castle Wildland Provincial Park (CA-2972) at Butcher Lake, roughly 1,900 miles (3,058 km) away.
I quickly hopped in my car, drove to the middle of the parking lot to escape RFI, and deployed the KH1 in about 30 seconds.
Vince’s signal was about a 529, and I was surprised when he answered my call. He later mentioned it was one of those near-ESP-level contacts!
We completed the QSO, and I did a little happy dance in the parking lot. I absolutely love how accessible and capable the KH1 is.
Here’s what Vince’s view looked like:
And here’s mine:
Let’s just say Vince’s view was orders of magnitude more bucolic!
72,
Thomas (K4SWL)
Spoiler alert: Vince plans to post a full field report from his three-park rove yesterday. He worked some amazing DX, and conditions were clearly fantastic! I’m really looking forward to reading it! Stay tuned!