I passed my General exam on 19-October-2021. I knew I wanted to learn more about long distance communications, but didn’t really have a clue where to start other than knowing I needed to pass the General.

After months of mulling over the options, and keeping myself busy working with VHF/UHF on the local GVRC repeaters… well.. more than a year exactly… the budget available and the timing was right to buy an HF rig.

I spent November and December of 2020 reading about various entry level rigs and decided it would likely be either the Icom IC-7300 or Yaesu FT-991, I was leaning towards the FT-991 because it also offered VHF/UHF and the digital (C4FM) that I was spending a lot of time using (shout out to the international room known as Texas Nexus). Come mid December, after watching for deals.. I found a great price on a used FT-991 (not the -A model) for $799.

Main Trading Company in Paris TX shipped it that day, and someone I had it the very next (cost of shipping… 0$). It arrived before I was ready to use it! I had no 12v power supply, no antenna, no place to put it.. all I had was an idea for a dedicated spot in the office, and a toy I’m dying to play with.

Now.. where is a guy going to find a power supply in the midst of pandemic and no Ham shops for 200+ miles?

After a few months using the capable, but… well… very Chinese Baofeng UV5 family of HTs.. I spotted a great sale on the new FT3DR at GigaParts and pulled the trigger right after Christmas. Even with all the typical holiday shipping delays it arrived just in time to ring in the near year with a new, legit grown-up radio!

It has a great set of features, including wide-band receive, along with digital modes, which are very popular in this part of Texas. I’m sure it’s going to take me a few days to get this thing programmed and learn how to use the C4FM digital Wires/X etc.

One of the great improvements over the old UV5Rs is this radio supports AM modes,and is capable of picking up aircraft communications. With my son learning to fly, it’s nice to be able to listen to the tower as he works the pattern, and this radio will allow me to do that too.