Hi. Remember Me? I’m the guy that hasn’t blogged in all of 2025. Yeah, that guy.

2025 has been a huge year. I now own my own home. I have a shed to tear down, another shed to move. I fixed up one of my trucks. I bought a newer (2012) car. I got health insurance. I grew a beard. I got a cat. I stayed single. I traveled a little bit. I said goodbye to some family and reconnected with other. And I didn’t write about any of it, and I did a couple of videos about some of it. Oh, and I worked. A lot. I’ve lost track of the number of 15 hour days and 70 hour weeks.

Fifty One Weeks ago, I started work on my QMX+ “In earnest”. Right. I had lots of intentions, but I’m not gonna lie- it was a busy year and it wasn’t without struggle. Just like yours, really.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about my amateur radio hobby, and other hobbies. I work a lot, as mentioned, and it takes much of my time and energy. So, I no longer have time for deep experimentation, or fiddling with the 3d printer for 2 hours so I can print some trinket I don’t really care about. Why even bother learning 3d CAD when I spend all my time trying to get the printer to work.

And how can I possibly start another amateur radio project when I have so many waiting to be finished?

Maximizing my Time

As much as I’d love to scratch build another transceiver, I simply don’t have time to keep up enough momentum to engineer my way through such a project. I also don’t have time to re-learn things over and over again, or fiddle with the 3d printer again. But, I need my hobbies, too. So I need to find a middle ground.

New 3d Printer

Pictured to the right is my new Bambu A1 3d Printer. I got mine with the AMS. That’s the four spool holder on the right that can do multiple colors. I didn’t need it, but it’s cool and takes up more desk space… and it’s pretty neat. Multi-color prints are cool.

But what’s greatest about this printer is that this printer is not a hobby. It’s a tool. What do I mean? Most cheap 3d printers are a hobby in and of themselves. They’re like a hot rod you’re always tinkering with. You’d never drive it to the store, because it might not make it there and back, but it’s fun to play with.

The Bambu A1 on the other hand is a grocery getter. And it’s still faster and better. Imagine this: Unbox, assemble (not build) and install the software. Make something in CAD (I use Onshape.com) and slice it, click print. Done. It prints. It’s wireless, remote controlled, and it’s fast. The print quality is fantastic. If you want a good printer, this is a good place to start.

A new BITX iteration and getting back on the air

Yep, there’s a new iteration of the BITX40. It’s called the LARC Set and it’s $39, $59 shipped to the US. Yes, I bought one. Duh.

It’s got an analog VFO that’s supposedly better than the drifty nightmare that the original BITX40 came with. But, QRP Labs just came out with a new VFO kit that looks pretty slick, and even though I can roll my own if I want, I’ll probably pick up a QRP Labs DigiVFO and marry the two. I might even put up videos of it.

My trusty Jackite 31″ pole finally bit the dust, and so I am going to have to do something else for an antenna. I have some options here at the homestead, but budget is limited. But, installation can be permanent. I’d like to get something 30-40 feet in the air, and a really big dipole would be a lot of fun. We’ll see what I can come up with that’s budget friendly but also can utilize some of my 2/3 acre. I’m not sure what I will do just yet, but I have time to figure it out.

I am also going to finish the QMX+ and get SSB working on that with the updated SSB firmware that Hans has put out for it. I actually want to get that done fairly soon.

What about my older projects? Well… for now I am done with them. The BITX40 multi-band rebuild? I know it will/can work, but I’m over it. If I’m to move forward, I can’t be stuck on past projects that are unfinished. I need to cut bait. I’m not tossing them, and I am sure they will see the light of day again, but with more modest, reachable finishing lines. I also have a beautiful Kenwood HF rig that could use a refurb.

There’s also a draft for an QRP Amateur Radio book that I started a few years ago, and I think it might need some work. Right.

2026

I do not know what 2026 will bring, in reality. Work is crazy and I have personal goals that are more important than anything mentioned in This Post. But, keep an eye on this space. I’ll at least try to document things better. Thanks for reading and 73!