Who says the DX is just a few states away, with QRP? QRP follows the same rules as everything else. Antenna height, and directivity, are important. Most of the time, QRP is a wire in a park, or on a mountainside. When you give a QRP rig a yagi, with some height to it, much is possible. Here's me, working several international DX stations, SSB, between 3,500 to 6,000 miles, over the pacific. True output was between 3.5 and 5w somewhere, but my MFJ meter is not accurate, that low:
What a lot of anger and venom on a singularly simple topic!! M6 (foundation licencees in the UK) are limited to 10 watts and I've just enjoyed seeing how far that can take me. Thanks to those who take the time to listen to a (maybe) weaker signal and no I don't expect special treatment for adding a QRP suffix- and rarely do anyway. Oh and by the way have yet to unpack the mic on my KX3- hope this ok?!! Best John M6KET
Not at all. Conditions suck. Because of this, running QRP is impractical(for conventional modes) for anything but NVIS occasional contacts. Denying it is rather silly, don't you think? BTW, QRP is defined as 5 watts max, not 10 watts. You are already 3 dB stronger. 73 Chip W1YW
Honestly, Chip, what a load of balderdash! As we would say over here, a load of old cobblers! I take it that you are ignorant of SOTA? Heavens, you MUST be! SOTA lives on QRP. Nobody is going to carry a full sized rig up a mountain, or a battery big enough to run it. 5 watts from an FT-817 into a wire dipole on a fishing pole is about par for the course, and what is done with that 5 watts would open your eyes! EU to NA? Routine. Yes. Routine. G to VK by long path? Routine if you are prepared to be up with the larks! You can hike up to a summit, set up a station in minutes and expect to get a decent haul of contacts in the log, contacts that you could not expect to get with QRO from your home because of modern noise pollution. The most prized contacts of all are summit to summit contacts (S2S) because there cannot be anybody the other end running a kilowatt into a massive beam, but these S2S contacts are - routine! You don't believe me? Look at the SOTA database, its open to you and no charge. A few facts and figures that you will find there: SOTA ops have activated 24,985 summits, there have been 213,221 activations and the database holds 3,978,223 QSOs, an average of over 18 contacts per activation...and you have the impertinance to claim that this is just "NVIS occasional contacts"? How ignorant can you get? You really should re-examine your assumptions. You won't, of course, but that is entirely your loss - but I do wish you would stop telling people that the sky is green! Brian
This really shouldn't be up for such of a debate. You mention QRP or QRO and everyone is ready to get in the ring and fight to the death to prove their point of view. I even see it in my local club. You mention QRP and you will get 20 people saying "Life is too short for QRP" and they smile and grin like they put the QRP guy in his place and that one phrase has corrected corrected his way of life. It is like their battle cry. "Life is too short for QRP" ha take that you evil doer. It sound like to old religion or political fight. "The way I see things is the only possible way and that is that cause Life is too short for QRP" Uh ok but QRP guys are not trying to compensate for something. People are missing the point. THIS IS A HOBBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you enjoy running a thousand watts into a big beam on a tower then great if that makes you happy then that is awesome. If you enjoy milliwatting and building your own gear then great, that also is awesome. People like to yell out their party line "Life is too short for QRP" and quote advertisements in QST "My Kilobuck antenna has this much gain so I have this much more fun then QRP guys" Really does it really matter if one guy is running 1,500 watts and someone else is running 1 watt? The bottom line is that this is about fun. I like to go to the park and operate a few watts into a compromise antenna and introduce the hobby to new people. Is it the most efficient way? No but it works and I have fun doing it. A big part of amateur radio is experimenting. Is it really experimenting when you use only name brand equipment? Why pass judgement upon me for wanting to get out of the shack, into fresh air and want to operate an inefficient system? Why not just accept each other. QRP guys can learn from QRO guys and vice versa. It is sickening on how divided people are about a hobby. In my history some of the worst ones are QRO guys. I have had friends get vile and threatening when they find out I run QRP. They treat me like I kidnapped and raped their daughter and used the flag to wipe my rear end. I do not understand why so many QRO guys feel so threatened. I have had people cuss me out to my face and screaming at me the "Life is too short for QRP" and you need at least 200 watts to even get out of the sate. Last year while operating from a park bench running 5 watts SSB into a speaker wire 25 feet long I worked 15 new countries, and 18 new states. While I was at it during October I worked at least 5 National Parks everyday with the same set up. Yes I admit the entire setup was comprimised and inefficient. But I enjoyed it, I made several friends on the air and got several new people into this hobby. So please explain to me, why is QRP so threatening? What is so horrible about a QRP guy seeing what works and having fun doing it? Why cant you come up with a new party line? "Life is too short for QRP" is getting repetitive and old. When I hear that the first think I think of "So what you are saying is "Life is too short to have fun?" If that is how you view life then I pray for you my friend because their are many wonderful adventures waiting for you outside of the shack.
I know QRP is 5 watts - I didn't say I was running 10 watts all the time: so easy to make assumptions! John M6KET
RIGHT ON GREG!!! If the guy who is RECEIVING THAT "NOISE-IMBEDDED" SIGNAL is willing to MAKE THE EFFORT to draw the QRP signal outta the "MUD" then both have to SUFFER THRU THE WEAK-SIGNAL PROCESS, I've done it TOO like many others have, but really the "ENJOYMENT FACTOR" in MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION is RATHER LIMITED!!! But you're RIGHT ABOUT "IF" the QRPer has a DECENT HIGH-GAIN ARRAY then QRP "is FUN!!! IN THE WORDS of AL GORE (FATHER OF THE INTERNET "IT'S ALL ABOUT THE ANTENNA DUMMY!!!".
Running QRO is like deep-sea fishing in a million-dollar boat. Running QRP is like fishing from a lawn chair by the lake. Which is fun? Both! Live and let live. Cliff (N4CCB)
Running QRO is more like dropping a stick of dynamite into a trout stream, running QRP is like dry fly fishing! (Just kidding!) Brian
"I even see it in my local club. You mention QRP and you will get 20 people saying "Life is too short for QRP" and they smile and grin like they put the QRP guy in his place and that one phrase has corrected corrected his way of life. " It happened to me when I gave a presentation at my club and mentioned I worked almost 100 pct digital JT65 & psk31
No Brian, I know SOTA well. Wanna see the flag? I've done SOTA from Mt Washington. QRP. Wanna know who heard us? NU5DE. Look'em up. It was less than an inspiring operation contact wise. The sky is indeed green during a Green Flash. QRP is nothing but a morass of frustration in poor conditions. We now have poor conditions. In fact RIGHT NOW we have a mini CARRINGTON event happening. Turn on those QRP machines folks! Your RX will be putting out more power than the TX! Grrrrrind!!
A mini Carrington event? I guess you deserve credit for an advanced capability in the field of hyperbole! I'm sorry to hear that, it must have been quite dispiriting. I've had a couple of activations that I failed to qualify, going out when Kp was high and the summit too remote for falling back on 2 metres FM, but other times I get 20-odd contacts so I guess it balances out in the end. You have a flag? I never got one, these islands are too windy so a flag is a hostage to fortune! Brian
