The friend is a radio not a person. Yesterday I sold my Kenwood TS-590sg. I've only had the radio a short while, but I became attached to it. I really liked this radio. It was built like a tank and very east to use. I enjoyed using it on CW. the TX/RX relays were quiet and the QSK was very nice. Operating this radio was like settling into your favorite chair. So why did I sell it? A couple of reasons.
The first is I have a lot of radios. I have two very nice radios at the QTH, an IC-7610 and a TS-890s. I am very happy with these radios. Between them, they do everything I need in the radio world. I have two 100 watt portable radios (IC-7300MK2 and an IC-7100) which scratch my itch when going mobile/portable. I also have two QRP radios (IC-705 and a KX3). All my bases are well covered. So why the change?
I was doing a lot of camping and it was fun. I camped enough that it was fun swapping out radios. Over the past year, I have been camping less and for now if I go somewhere for a weekend I will probably spend the night in a motel. I'm an old man with an old man's body; some things are just not fun anymore. Running portable in this manner is a paradigm shift. Fast easy setups and takedowns become more Important. I will be going QRP more often. I still like to keep a couple of 100 watt portable radios for Field Days and EmComm though I'm not sure how much more EmComm is in my life. So that being said, I sold the IC-7200 and the TS-590sg. I live in a smallish house and space was also a consideration.
Going forward, I see myself doing more operating from home. I am NCS on a couple of nets and I am well set up for that. Besides me, I have a special needs daughter and a wife to care for plus 2 large dogs. All is not lost, I am transitioning into another stage of my life and I am enjoying it as much as always. I have nice radios, mainly from buying, selling, trading over the years. When I started I had a 20 year old Ten Tec Omni D and later an Alinco DX-70TH.
Are there more radios in my future? Never say never! I have decided to learn more about electronics and may take a broke radio project on. I am also curious about Icom's new radio that should be coming out soon. So here I am, coasting through life.
On the CW front, I decided to go back to squeeze keying Iambic Mode B. My poor brain was having a fit trying to decide if I should squeeze or not. So for now I am back to Iambic keying and sending at around 30 wpm. I can't copy that fast yet, but it is training my ears and brain. It makes copying the slower speeds easier. Always something to do, always something to explore, never a dull moment. 73 de Scott
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