Going about it the hard way.....WHY??

Last evening I finally had some time to get on the PC and check out what fellow ham radio bloggers were up too. For the past month I have been working every day and only having time to "fast read" a post and drop a short comment. While surfing the blog sphere last evening I came across KG3V's blog, the subject of the blog caught my attention "Updating FTDX-3000 Firmware. Below is a link to what I only could call an "adventure".
https://kg3v.com/2017/10/14/updating-ftdx-3000-firmware/

In the post Tom does a great job explaining how he went about the firmware upgrade and some issues he ran into. Tom also goes over the enhancements this firmware will forward to his FTDX-3000. It's fantastic how far we have come in radio, in the past if you wanted the upgrades it meant selling what you had and purchasing the new and improved version. Today's modern rigs can chat either over the internet or with pre-downloaded thumb drives and magic is worked within the rig to either over come an issue, enhance what is already there or add something new! Having said that I just can't understand what the issue is with the process of the upgrade. It's just not ham radio with our Nikon cameras to upgrade the firmware it's...hold this while pushing that....make sure you don't do this while doing that....and on and on and on. Resources are used writing the rigs new firmware upgrade, time and money is put into it and it's to make the product better for the end user. If this is the case why the %&^* not make the process for the end user easy peasy!!

Having said the above and let me preface this with "I am not going to say what I am about to say just because I am a fan of Elecraft but if the shoe fits......" To upgrade my K3 or KX3 Elecraft has provided via their website a program that sits on your desktop, one of it's functions is for firmware upgrades. The process is as follows:
1. Double click on desktop icon.
2. Click on Firmware tab.
3. Click on "Check versions now"
4. Below you will then see the firmware that is installed in your rig and new firmware that is available for your rig. You then click on "Send all new firmware to K3 or KX3.
Your rig will start to click, there will be "stuff" flashing on the rigs screen, sometimes even clicking noises from the rig and then your rig's screen returns to normal and your done. I have owned Kenwood, Icom and Yeasu rigs and never has it been this easy and my question is WHY NOT!!! Now having said the above it is true I have not owned one of the above rigs for some time now so do comment if the process has changed...but is sure does not seem it has for the FTDX-3000 model rig!

OK I'm off my soapbox now....:))

Does the early bird get the DX...it's said he gets the worm.

Last Friday we had a "situation" at work that had me working until about 3 a.m. and when I got home I was still all pumped from work and was not ready to jump into bed. The thought came to me about getting on the radio and seeing what DX pileups were out there. I had heard of folks getting on in the wee hours of the morning and catching some rare DX. With great expectations  I turned the radio on....10m dead, 15m dead, 17 and 30 same thing!! Alas on 40m my Elecraft P3 showed some faint signals, I spun the dial to the frequency only to find it was some very weak State side stations. Not that there is anything wrong with that but it's kinda a let down when one is anticipating WILD DX!!!

Two years of blogging............

It's hard to believe that I have been blogging for 2 years now!! I have had a great time learning about the hobby from other bloggers. I have been able to expose myself to new areas of ham radio. It's because of blogging I have dipped my toes into QRPp very low power operations. I was able to make a 45,686 miles per watt contact earlier this year. I have somewhat moved away from Windows as my only OS and invited Linux into the mix. That has turned out very well although it's been learning curve but a refreshing challenge. Also with reading many posts about outdoor QRP operations I have also started to do the same, operating from parks in the area as well as my car when the weather is not so inviting. I have taken on the challenge of the ARRL Jubilee award and hoping to complete it (as you only have one year to complete it) and doing it with QRP power.

SUCCESS !!!!!

As way of a short post I wanted to thank all of you for your comments and feedback.  The way I see it,  my blogs success relys on me, and the feedback of the readers. The pictures in my posts will now go from small to a medium size. I have already changed the blog archive to drop the titles and this tidied up the blog nicely. Thanks for that observation Alan.
Bas, I  have tried my blog on my 15 inch laptop and my XYL's Ipad and things looked not to bad. I was trying some two column layouts as you suggested but was just not happy with them. If anyone out there in blog land does have trouble viewing my blog due to the 3 column layout do let me know. John I have started to use Google analytics; the application has a lot to offer and I just have to sit down and see how to apply it to the blogs advantage. Everyone else Dick, Paul and Ethan thanks very much for your encouraging feed back as well.

It's feedback time

On September 4th it's been one month doing the blog gig!! I'm having a blast and I find doing a blog keeps me accountable to myself regarding my hobby. What has amazed me is that my blog gets me out into cyberspace and reading about what is going on with fellow Amateur blogger's. Could you give me feedback on the structure, layout and flow of my blog? The topics thus far and how the reading of the posts have been? I am by no means going to  do this on a monthly basis. I decided to do it now as the blog is young and change is easy as habits have not been established.
Thank you very much in advance