so ive been licensed about 8 months now and honestly the whole QRP thing has completely taken over my brain. started reading about it because i wanted to do some hiking with a radio and now im down a rabbit hole i cant get out of. anyway the question is whether i should just pick up a Mountain Topper MTR3B kit and build it myself or bite the bullet and get a KX2 which is obviously way more capable but also like 900 bucks which feels like a lot when im still figuring out if i even like operating portable.

the build side really appeals to me, ive done some basic electronics stuff before, replaced some caps in an old receiver, soldered a dipole center, nothing crazy. not sure if the MTR is actually within reach for someone at my level or if ill just end up with a paperweight. anyone gone through this decision or built one of these?

Built an MTR3B about two years ago and it was honestly the most fun ive had in this hobby. That said - its not a forgiving kit. The SMD stuff on those boards is tiny and if youre not comfortable with a fine tip iron and decent magnification youll have a bad time. I used a helping hands and an old loupe and it took me probably 6 hours spread over a weekend. But it works, first contact was with a station in Colorado from my backyard on 40m running maybe 3 watts and i was absolutely hooked.

The KX2 is a completely different thing though. Its a radio you can actually grow into, DSP filtering, internal ATU, it'll do stuff the MTR wont even dream of. If you think youre going to want to operate seriously portable and maybe do SOTA or POTA it might be worth the investment. I ended up getting one anyway about a year after the MTR build so maybe just think about what you actually want to do with it.

im kind of in the same boat as you actually, been eyeing the MTR for months. one thing i read somewhere is that the 4SQRP groups Ozark Patrol is a much easier build if you want to get your feet wet with QRP construction first before jumping to the tighter tolerances on the MTR. might be worth looking at that as a middle step? no idea if its still available though i haven't checked recently