FIRST QRP?

[Stellasstillarat]

I turned on the Madison and as of late emedietly tuned to my go to freq. of 27.555 usb. I hit the amps on switch and before the amp was warm and ready to be keyed I heard "cq cq sugar delta 112 Porto Rico". I thought i should hit the operater switch before the amp was ready to go but couldn't put my 40 year old amp through a one minute warm up period so, I grabbed the mic and called back. With 12 watts he heard me. We qsy'ed and began our qso. I told him I was operating 12 watts and he was impressed. I was also impressed. During our 15 mminute qso I dropped the output to six and then three watts. When I got to three he said I dropped quite a bit but he still heard me. We continued the qso for another 5 minutes with my output at 3 watts. Even thought the amp was warm and ready to go I figured why use it? I couldn't help but feeling a sence of accomplishment. It actually gave me the exspeariance I had while making contacts with my 100 mw layffayet walkie talkie and the antenna sticking out of my bedroom window when i was ten. I definitely plan to try making contacts without the amp. The fact my a99"s only about 12' off the ground made me assume this contact would been nearly impossible. I know when conditions are right one should be able to make these types of contacts with a wet noodle antenna, in theory. with so many strong stations and the high noise levels on 11 i thought it difficult if not impossible. I will mention it again. there was something different about this contact. It really made me feel like "this is what it should feel like when making contacts " and most of the times it's enjoyable but no where near this. So is this a true QRP contact? I've read that qrp is 10 watts or less on ssb and 5 or less on cw and never heard it used in the context of 11 meters. Also is a qrp contact during skip conditions or is it a ground wave contact that makes it fall into the qrp category? Next time I will start calling at 1 watt and increase my output until the station hears me. It really was cool and suggest every one give it a try if thay already haven't. now I know why people operate qrp executivly. It was a real rush! p.s. I know from reading that QRP was originally a q code for a drop your output request but is now mostly used to exsplan low output operations.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I have never run more than 100 watts on any band. In my early 11m days I only ran 12 watts pep but always on SSB. I DX'ed all over North America, Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and Africa but I had a good antenna. A Wilson Shooting Star however my first DX into Europe was on a R/S 5/8 groundplane with 12 watts. This is why I just scoff at people that say they have to run power or that they brag about making a contact from Indiana to Florida and only had 400 watts. My personal best low power contact was a station in Ireland late one night while running 1 watt pep. My radio would not go any lower.

 

[wavrider]

As CK said, it is all about conditions and antenna.

Ghutch ( i may be incorrect on his handle here on the forums)
Used to take his mobile down to the waters edge on the beach and work QRP out of his mobile on 10 meters with a mag mount antenna, he worked the world on his set up QRP none the less.

 

[w9cll]

Conditions, conditions, conditions.

 

[Stellasstillarat]

I have never run more than 100 watts on any band. In my early 11m days I only ran 12 watts pep but always on SSB. I DX'ed all over North America, Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and Africa but I had a good antenna. A Wilson Shooting Star however my first DX into Europe was on a R/S 5/8 groundplane with 12 watts. This is why I just scoff at people that say they have to run power or that they brag about making a contact from Indiana to Florida and only had 400 watts. My personal best low power contact was a station in Ireland late one night while running 1 watt pep. My radio would not go any lower.

I've made a few more contacts with 12 watts then lowered my output as the qso continued. My a99's only about 13 ft off the ground. I know this is not an ideal or even recommend hight for this antenna or any 1/2-5/8 wave vertical but it is what it is.

I actually read that the low height of my a99 may work skip better than a vertical at or a higher than recommended insulation hight.

If this is true I'm assuming it has something to do with the way it radiates and receives dx at the lower height.

 

[Singularity35]

One guy in our local ragchew on 40 meter runs an FT817 with a sky loop. He's louder than most of us running 100 watts.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I've made a few more contacts with 12 watts then lowered my output as the qso continued. My a99's only about 13 ft off the ground. I know this is not an ideal or even recommend hight for this antenna or any 1/2-5/8 wave vertical but it is what it is.

I actually read that the low height of my a99 may work skip better than a vertical at or a higher than recommended insulation hight.

If this is true I'm assuming it has something to do with the way it radiates and receives dx at the lower height.

Don't believe everything you read. IF a vertical is ground mounted with LOTS of radials, as in buried radials, it will indeed outperform the same antenna mounted higher but with no radials. If that antenna was mounted at a good height AND the same number of radials it would work better higher. I have a suspicion that you do not have that much experience with antennas or just what propagation is capable of because even a wet noodle will work DX when conditions are right.I'll bet that if yoy changed to a better antenna up about 40 feet or so you would be amazed an just how "good" that A99 was really working.