Testing the set up for Grenada , KX3, Hardrock amp, keyer and laptop all seemed to hang together very well.
“Better test the coax, 20m of Super 8, . Thats odd, the amp says high SWR! Ah yes the coax is all rather corroded at one end, couldn’t have cleaned it properly the last time I used it”. ” Looked OK though” ” Good job I checked!”
Absolutely. Test, even if operating from home.
I agree there is nothing worse than getting to a DX location and finding something is broken or stops working. #1082 KX3 I lost the RF feed from the atu/main board to the antenna socket minutes before the off in RSGB IOTA last July (I was on an island in the baltic so not like there was an easy fix down the road), zero clue at the time what had happened, luckily travel with a spare KX3 #2334 just to cover such eventuality and I just swapped it out and carried on. I had tested both so lesson there even something that is always fine and tests fine it still might fail. The lead had fractured at the BNC socket inside the shrink wrap so didn’t look like anything was wrong initially until I took the socket out when home again and it fell apart.
Hint….(apologies if granny sucking eggs time) antenna feeders remember you can always make a temp feeder line from almost any pair of wires (US mains extension cord works well and is often obtainable from many places). Just make sure the two are about 2-4″ apart, use whatever you got to hand…straws, lollipop sticks, chop sticks, fronds from coconut leaf (done that). Also put one of those bnc to twin feed 4mm/binding post connectors (with PL259 adapter if needed) in the bag will get you out of a major fix if you cannot resolder coax connector and make great lightweight dipole centres. I carry one with a 10W 50 ohm resistor in place and so have a small dummy load too.
gl in test Bob et al
72
Dom
M1KTA