W8QHG's Radio Acquisition for W8HIC

The Elder Statesman of the WVDXA, Bob, W8QHG, recently asked the club if we could help out a new ham who by virtue of a disability had no funds to acquire a transceiver. Bob had met this fellow shortly after he acquired his General Class license and encouraged him to continue on and get his Extra. That he did! But, due his financial circumstances, he was not able to acquire an HF transceiver. So, Bob asked if the WVDXA could help - and help they did! We raised $490 toward the purchase of a transceiver.

In looking on QTH.com last weekend, I found a radio that met our criteria (a built-in antenna tuner, was a relatively recent radio, and was simple enough for a "newbie" to operate.) Even though it was being offered for several dollars more than what we had, I contacted the seller and after hearing about our project, he agreed to absorb the shipping cost and, in fact, he shipped the radio before I even sent him the money!

Here is a photo of the radio operating at my QTH:
The seller also was kind enough to include 100-feet of RG-8X coax with PL-259's already installed. And, he enclosed three extra Amphenol PL-259's for other antennas.

So, now we need to plan an antenna party to install a couple of dipoles for Jerry, W8HIC, so that we can get him operational as soon as possible. Bob, W8QHG, has told him about the radio and says Jerry is "beside himself" that we would do such a thing for him. Good job, WVDXA!