For this summer holiday 2026 we went to the village of Hasmark on North Fyn island in Denmark.
Accommodation summer holiday
My lovely wife did find this great house in Hasmark, just North of Odense. When I looked up the little house on Google Earth, I saw that there was a tall flagpole at the back of the garden and even a substantial strip of grass running along the garden! So, hobby-wise, there are plenty of opportunities to pursue radio activities! A quick lookup in the QTH-locator learned this location has JO55FN.
Antennas
As for antennas, I brought my brand-new HFkits end-fed for 10 – 40m. My vertical antenna for 14 – 30 MHz is coming along too. Neither antenna has been used or tuned before. So, it is a perfect opportunity to try them out, tune them, and gain experience with them!
Radio’s
This summer holiday I decided to travel light regarding the radio hobby: only the Elecraft K2 was allowed to come along. I am using my brand-new RexTech 6600mAh battery for power. The Xiegu is coming along as Morse key. This very affordable Morse key is slightly lighter than my Kent key, which is staying at home in the shack this holiday. Furthermore, my RigExpert AA-55 Antenna Analyzer is coming along to properly tune both antennas.
Findings
The initial findings can be considered reasonably good. The end-fed antenna had to be shortened by about 40 cm to be resonant within all bands (10, 15, 20, and 40 m). I was able to set up the vertical antenna nicely on the wide strip of grass next to the house. With a bit of fine-tuning, I managed to get it tuned to all bands between 14 and 28 MHz. To achieve this, the radials did need to be evenly distributed across the ground.
The K2 worked excellently. Still, it remains remarkable how you can achieve a considerable distance with about 10 watts. In voice mode, it also proved perfectly feasible to work the Netherlands and beyond.
KIO2 RS-232 Serial Interface
An attempt to connect the KIO2 RS-232 Serial Interface to the laptop seemed to be fatal. When connecting the standard serial-to-USB adapter to the K2’s serial port, it was immediately noticeable that the K2 was behaving strangely. Various settings values flashed across the display in a loop. The computer (and therefore the software) also appeared not to be receiving any data from the K2.
Magic smoke
During one of the attempts, smoke even seemed to be coming out of the K2 casing. Naturally, I quickly disconnected everything and unscrewed the case. No burnt parts are visible, so it is currently unclear whether anything has broken. However, consulting the manual made it clear that the K2’s I/O port is not a standard RS-232 port and that a normal RS-232 plug should not be connected to it. There is a risk that the I/O option will break if you do this. Perhaps it would be wise to read the manual first next time 😉
Lessons learned
I absolutely love the K2! Lessons learned on this summer holiday: a small power supply will definitely come along again on the next vacation. A battery is nice for portable use, but in a vacation home, a small power supply is really much better. An antenna tuner is also very nice. The KAT2 20W internal ATU is becoming an increasingly relevant option to try and get hold of! The communication between the laptop and the K2 is also very handy for the logging contacts, for example.
