Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Still alive and kicking (just!)

It has been a while since my last posting to this blog, which has caused a couple of readers to express concern about my current state of health. I'm glad to say that reports of my demise are exaggerated, but less happy that the intensive chemotherapy regime has left me feeling pretty lousy and afflicted with a severe lethargy that nothing less than the arrival of Santa Claus bearing a shiny new Elecraft KX3 could kick me out of. Even reports that 10 metres is wide open have not given me the energy to haul my ass into the shack and see for myself. Hence the lack of posts.

I don't see things getting much better for the next 4 months when the chemotherapy will be over as although I do detect an improvement in how I feel as I get towards the end of a cycle I am quickly back to square one after starting the next one. There is not enough change in how I feel from day to day to warrant more frequent postings to One Foot in the Grave. My days seem to merge together so that most of the time I couldn't even tell you what day of the week it is!

Despite what I have just written I will not actually be one of the people feverishly refreshing the Elecraft order page in order to secure a place near the top of the list for KX3 orders. Though I don't doubt that the KX3 is a seriously cool piece of radio equipment that will be a big success for Elecraft, I have come to the decision that my FT-817ND meets all my current needs of a portable ham radio. I also can still remember my frustration at the length of time I had to wait to receive my K3 (and the even longer wait until the firmware actually worked and it all performed as expected.) I don't wish to cause myself the stress of wondering whether I will live long enough to receive my KX3!


That's not to say I don't see an Elecraft KX3 in my life (and my shack) at any point. I can envisage a situation where a new toy to play with could make life seem a lot more cheerful. One day it will be possible to order a KX3 and get instant gratification. But until then I'll content myself with reading the experiences of the early adopters and watching their YouTube videos.

3 comments:

Greg said...

Good to see you posting again Julian!
Best wishes.

Greg

Anonymous said...

Hey - the CW coming out of the KX3 in that video is me with my Norcal 2N2/40 working Steve WG0AT at SalmonCon! I still get a kick out of seeing that video (as well as a reminder that my code speed has increased a little since then.)

When I was a proud owner of a new FT-817 quite a few years ago, your FT-817 page was one of the many that I read, while excitedly looking for as much information as I could find on my new rig. Like you, I won't be an early adopter of the KX3. In my case, it's because I have just built a K2. I'm going to have to get my KX3 experience vicariously, so hopefully at some point, you will get one and let us know your thoughts.

All the best,

Dave
AA7EE

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear that your still "alive and kicking" Best wishes for the new year and have a great Christmas. de Dave - G8FXM