When talking with almost any radio amateur, or at least those who enjoy HF, their response to the question: Why do you still talk on a ham radio when there are so many other technologies that enhance communication? The answers may vary slightly, but they all usually have the work "magic" in them. Yes there is something magic about engineering a station and sitting down to a chat with someone across the globe, wirelessly. I am still amazed by it.
My QRO station is an FT dx-5000 with a VL-1000 amping it up. With that rig and my antennas and I can work, generally speaking, whoever I want to. I am #1 Honor Roll, 9 Band DXCC (70 on 6M), and I 've worked over 1,000 IOTA's. However much more of my radio time these days is taking a step back in technology, I suppose. This afternoon I took my Elecraft KX1, a battery, a Te Ne Ke, some wire and a telescoping pole. I proceeded over the next hour and half to test and tune some wire antennas that I plan to use on some SOTA trips in the upcoming months. It was a great time. The configuration was elegant in its simplicity and making contacts in my backyard with a wire and a battery powered radio was pure magic. Oh the joy of QRP.
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