Issue #7: For the Love of QRP

Please post your comments and questions here for the topic of Issue #7, For the Love of QRP. In case you can't find the article, it's linked here and you'll always find the big box on the front page of QRZ. I hope you'll enjoy! Please note that I will read and respond to every post and that I consider feedback to drive the column, so fire away!

 

I loved the comparison to fishing at the little stream with nothing but A stick and A worm. Loved it...

 

Thanks Dave. When you make the comparison with a full legal limit operation, amps and Yagi's, etc, than you're talking about going out with a deluxe fish finder and all the best gear. Not the same is it!

 

Thanks for the great post! What a great experience you had! I've forgotten to turn my power back up (as I like to conserve power as I'm often out for one or two days) after chatting on VHF/UHV with locals while activating a summit (SOTA) on my 817-ND and switch back t0 HF and have been pleasantly surprised that I made a decent local or even DX on 2.5 watts before realizing the power output! 73

 

Cool! Thanks Dave. You had a very similar experience to me -- sudden shock that low power actually gets out there. We're lucky to see the improving conditions now, which might have something to do with it. But I remember when I was just a kid, a boy scout, licensed and using super low powered gear. I was in Ohio and it was a thrill to talk to someone in Maine or Illinois . . . Dave

 

QRP develops good operating skills. Listening and transmitting. Efficiency. Timing. Etc.

emphasis on good portable antennas too.

good stuff

 

agree Joe! so much fun screwing around with antennas in that kind of environment . . . Dave

 

Happy New Year, Dave. That's your wonderful take on QRP operations and expectations. Improving band conditions have led me to dial back the power of my IC-7300 to 30W or less from my usual 85W or more. By the way, setting my 7300's power to zero only reduces transmitter output to about 2W. When I practice CW, I choose its CW operating mode and make sure brk-in and full break-in are toggled off. The side tone still comes through but no power gets to the antenna and so no need for a dummy load. Have fun!

 

Wow, I had no idea that much power could get out of the 7300 at ZERO! No wonder I was picked up hundreds of miles away

 

There's something very alluring about QRP. It truly does test your mettle when it comes to antennas and operating skill. I love the NAQCC milliwatt contests. I made 7 contacts last month at 1,000 mW. It's one thing when you are QRPp and the other guy isn't. It's another thing entirely when you are both QRPp. I'm planning to do my next POTA activation at 900mW.

 

I have lit up the RBN with my 7300 set to zero power.

 

IMO - 100 watts (or more) into a triband yagi = shooting fish in a barrel.

QRP = just fishing. Sometimes ya land one, sometimes (or mostly) ya don't.

High urban noise levels have driven me out of the shack. So now portable + battery power = QRP fun.

Not for everyone, it does require some patience and a decent antenna.

 

Makes you wonder WHY that ICOM would design their transceiver to leak power past the finals at a Zero setting? No one checks that??

 

Thanks for reading Don. That's where I use my QRP gear . . . POTA and just in fun outdoor locations, not always a park. I live in Arizona and have a lot of places to go out into the desert where it's fun to set up and test various antennas. My wife and I don't like to kill pest animals, so I am constantly "relocating" rattlesnakes, pack rats, and so on into the Arizona desert. I've discovered some cool areas for portable work as a result. Wish we had more POTA in this State. Dave

 

I grew up in Tucson, so familiar with the local wildlife.
I do miss the winters, the summer heat - not so much.