GAS is Rearing its Ugly Head

 GAS - Gear Aquisition Syndrome

I have some excellent radios.  I have a KX3 that does everything including ironing my pants (well almost) and a Ten-Tec Eagle that has the smoothest CW anyone could ever want.  I also have old crumugeonly radios that require the patience of Job to operate.  I've been well pleased with my collection of RF generating and receiving gear for quite a while.  However, my Eagle is showing its age.  I had to recently replace its T/R relay and the encoders need some cleaning, but it still sounds beautiful.

The problem is these newfangled rigs with their dang, pretty front panels providing information overload with aluring displays of 3D waterfalls and teleporter controls (maybe I mis-read that last one in the specs).  Many of my QSOs now are with operators that have shiny new rigs.  It's just not fair that I'm staring at a segmented LCD display... or in the case of my GRC/9, the front panel equivalent of a Slide Ruler.

The GRC/9 has the operating interface of a Slide Ruler
but wow it's fun to operate... slowly and noisily

The KX3 interfaces wonderfully to my Computer
but it looks dated

Surely ham life must be better when I can gaze at the equivalent of a smart phone on the front panel when using the oldest operating mode known to man?

The Genesis of "Want More"...

In preparation for the upcoming camping season in our RV, I wired a spare 12v 25A circuit in the camper's inverter to bring 12v rig power to the dining table, and co-opted the 75ohm cable running to the cable TV output outside the camper for watching TV (why would anyone watch TV outside the camper).  That cable TV output now takes my antenna connection out of the camper without drilling any holes.  I bought a stellar thing called a "flagpole buddy" to hold my 30 foot telescoping mast on the ladder and wallah, I have a portable Ham shack.  I was using my Ten-Tec Eagle on the dining table, and my wife was not-enthused with having half of the dining table consumed by my bleeping radio. I assured her I'd set it on the seat when not in operation, but I still received "the look".

The magnetic in the Palm Radio Paddle attaches to the side of the Eagle
when operating portable

Flagpole buddy holds the mast extending up to 35 feet

My KX3 would take up less space than the Eagle but it's a pricey little thing to leave in the camper, and I primarily use it now as my primary station in my home shack because it's wired up to the computer using HDSDR to provide a panadapter display. 

I had convinced myself that the KX3 should stay in the Shack. So being the wise and kind husband that I am; I started looking for a small, portable, inexpensive QRO capable radio, given the compromised antenna. All this was to please my wife of course.  

I used to own a Yaesu FT-857 that I kept in my truck, but it was terrible at CW (IMO) and that rig seems to be pretty rare now... After considerable searching I settled on a Yaesu FT-891.  They had good reports and I could separate the face and it would take up very little room on the table.  Plus it had a band-scope of sorts (ah shiny).  But alas, I couldn't find used ones that didn't look like they'd lived under the seat of an off-road vehicle racing in the Baja, and the new ones are out of stock everywhere.  All that web searching kept popping up the rigs with the pretty front panels.  Google decided it needed to serve me advertisements of pretty radios everytime I opened any web site.

GAS

So, I convinced myself that I needed to replace the KX3 in the shack with a shiny, teleporter control rig and permanently install the KX3 in the camper.  I could mount the KXPA100 QRP amp out of the way in the camper and leave the radio in my corner of the table.  I'd also easily be able to take it outside to the picnic table and run off battery.  My mind was made up, I needed the KX3 in the camper and a new shiny toy for the shack.

Reality Strikes

Here's the problem... my KX3 with its 10:1 auto-tuner, silent QSK relay, dual antenna ports (thanks to the KXPA100), built-in IF/IQ output, and dual key inputs (one for paddle and one for manual keys) just can't be found in a shiny, smart-phone panel radio without breaking my bank account.  So I'd have to settle for a "new rig" with fewer features than I've grown accustomed to.  Surely that would disuade me from this folly... but Google keeps serving me advertisements.

I will be soon be writing about my KX3 in the camper and my new, shiny, less-featured shack rig.

Blast you GAS !