I misunderstood what dBc was. Too little sleep and all.

That said, ARRL's numbers still seem okay to me. Of course, don't purchase a horrible amplifier, but most people don't get a rig like the KX3 just to plug it into an amplifier.

I'm not sure what power level RSGB's using, but the ARRL measured the KX3's IMD at around -95ish dBm (I don't have the exact number in front of me). Maybe I'm missing something, but that number seems fine to me.

Would something like the SignalLink work for that?

I bashed my head against the wall with my attic dipole setup for a while. Recently I purchased a Buddipole and got a long enough mast to put the center of the antenna at the roof level (I live on the 2nd floor of a two story building). As a vertical dipole/L shaped antenna it does far better than the attic antennas I've tried. Then again, anything outside will do far better than any indoor antenna.

Is it possible to temporarily put something outside while operating and disassemble it when done? That's currently what I'm doing and I haven't received any nastygrams from my condo association yet (YMMV though).

(Oh, I also pretty much only operate digital <= 30W, which helps avoid complaints.)

The base model KX3 is at least $300 more new compared to the base FT-817ND, more if you have Elecraft build it for you.


Preaching to the choir?


KX3's current draw is as low as 150mA. 3000mAh NiMH batteries in the battery holder would give you a significant amount of operating time. You may have had a point if you were talking about the 817, though.


With the KX3 battery module you can do the same thing.


So buy better ones online? There is such a thing as false economy.


Again, KX3 battery module.


So don't carry an amp? There's a reason why this section is called QRP.
 

So QRP isn't for you, and that's okay. To me, these all seem like non-issues.

I have a Motorola SB6141 cable modem about 5 feet away from my Yaesu FT-450AT. Unfortunately, it seems to be contributing to about 2 S-units of noise on at least some of 40 meters when powered. I replaced the wall wart with a direct connection to the shack's 12V supply with no change, as well as placed snap-on ferrites on almost all of the wires coming out of it except for the coax feed. I'd put a choke on the coax feed too, but the modem's status page said that it was using 28MHz for uplink, so it's probably not a good idea.

Is there anything else I can do besides going without Internet while on the air? (My setup is already pretty marginal as is due to being HOA restricted in a condo, so I'd like to try to improve my S/N ratio as much as possible.) Also, would something like the ANC-4 help?

Thanks!

Actually, I'm considering starting to do SOTA so this question is relevant to my interests.

At this point I'm leaning towards the KX3 + HT option. The FT-817ND doesn't have NOAA weather (and it looks like the coming 2M addon for the KX3 won't either), which would be extremely important in an inclement weather situation. Not to mention the lower current draw that the KX3 provides. The 817ND is cheaper though, at least without the extra options...

Anyway, like others have said, the decision really depends on your operating needs.

I recently got back into amateur radio and it seems like around here, the repeaters have taken to having a lot of nets about various stuff. Here's a list that one club here has. The other major repeater in my area is the one that does Newsline every Sunday, and that seems to be all they do as far as I know (I've been busy trying to get my HF setup working to my satisfaction in my condo, so I haven't been listening to the repeaters much).

IMO, I don't think 2 meter repeaters will completely die out because of their usefulness in emergency situations, but they're going to have to add value in other ways to stick around. There'll be a lot fewer, but much stronger too.

Isn't a net technically defined as a conversation with more than two hams anyway? Maybe if the focus is narrowed to larger nets, the list would be more helpful.