Man Sells Radios to Fund DXPedition, Then Realizes Mistake

POINTERTOWN, Minn. — A local ham radio operator has hopes for a trip of a lifetime and a chance to set up his radio gear on a remote island in the Coral Sea. Problem is, he no longer has any radios.

Benny Ferguson is scratching his head, wondering what to do next. “I’ve been planning this trip for years, saving money when I could, and meticulously outlining how to engineer the perfect station on the island,” he says.

Getting enough money for the trip was difficult. “I guess it was around Christmas that I realized I needed a couple more thousand dollars. I looked around for things to sell to help finance the trip. That’s when I realized my radios and antennas could bring in a few bucks.”

His gear sold quickly on eBay, leaving his station empty. “The stuff was gone in less than a day and I had the money I needed. Then, well, I realized what I had done,” says Ferguson, holding back what appeared to be a both laugh and a sobbing cry.

Even though he doesn’t have any radios, he says he will still make the trip, keeping his hotel accommodations and plane tickets. “Maybe I can scrape up enough parts to make one of those QRP radios in a Sucrets can. On second thought, why waste my time… no one will hear one of those.”

By K5KVN, on the scene