A New Radio at Peddocks Island

This past weekend, September 19 and 20, 2026, I camped on Peddocks Island with my son’s Scout troop, Troop 119, Lexington. This is my fourth year making the trip with the troop, though only my third time activating the park. My first year, 2023, remnants of a hurricane were moving up the coast, so I left my HF gear home and played around with APRS instead (Camping on Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor). Since then I’ve activated every year (2025, 2024), and this time I brought along my new Yaesu FT-891 for one of its first outings.

My Yaesu FT-891 and quarter-wave vertical set up on a picnic table at Peddocks Island, Fort Andrews in the background

Breaking in the FT-891

I set up my quarter-wave vertical and put the FT-891 on the air. It did great. I worked both SSB and CW on 20 meters all afternoon.

Chris Farnham (W1YTQ) logging a contact by hand next to the FT-891

10 meters was wide open. I worked two stations in Brazil, PY2TN in Birigui and PU1JSV in Rio de Janeiro, on SSB.

I was lucky to find 10 meters open with some SSB activity to South America, a real treat. Between the two bands I also picked up Norway, Spain, France, Italy and Canada, all with the FT-891 and that same quarter-wave whip. Every single contact I made on our first day was with the Yaesu, 31 of them by the time the sun went down.

Chris Farnham (W1YTQ) operating the FT-891 on the green in front of the Peddocks Island chapel

A late night with my KH1

Once the Scouts had turned in, I walked down to the beach with my beloved KH1 and operated by lantern-light. I love this little radio.

My KH1 and its whip antenna lit by lantern on a picnic table, with the Boston Harbor shoreline lights across the dark water

I got on 40 meters just after midnight UTC and worked stations up and down the East Coast before calling it a night.

Finishing the activation the next morning

I was back down at the water’s edge in the morning to finish up. 20 meters was in great shape and I had a steady run of CW contacts, including one station, WC1D in Pepperell, MA, that I’d also worked the day before on the FT-891.

My KH1 set up on a picnic table by the beach, looking out at the pier and the water

Selfie of Chris Farnham (W1YTQ) operating the KH1 with the harbor behind him

Every contact I made on the second day was with the KH1. Between the two radios I made 45 contacts across two days, on 10, 20 and 40 meters, and activated US-2421 with plenty to spare.

Map of all the contacts made over the weekend, with lines reaching across the US and into Europe and South America

We crossed back across Boston Harbor with the skyline behind us, another good weekend of camping and radio in the books.

View of the Boston skyline from the boat on the ride home

Going forward

I’m really happy with how the FT-891 has performed in these early outings. Unlike my KH1 and my Xiegu G90, it doesn’t have a built-in antenna matching unit, so my resonant quarter-wave whip is my best field antenna for it right now. If I want to pair it with my Rybakov or random wire antenna, my other go-to field antennas, I’ll need to pick up an external tuner like an LDG Z-100.

I plan to keep pairing the FT-891 with the quarter-wave vertical for future Scout trips, and save the KH1 for quiet moments.