Does Anyone Live in Idaho?

A rookie QRPers quest for Worked All States!

By, Paul Huff, N8XMS

About a year and a half ago I built my first QRP transceiver kit. It was a Ten-Tec 1320. The 1320 is a very simple 20 meter CW-only rig. My version outputs something between 1 and 2 watts of power. I have it hooked up, through an MFJ antenna tuner, to an old Cushcraft R7 multi-band trap vertical antenna. Since completing the radio I have been using it exclusively for all of my QSOs. This article is a short account of some of my experiences and the lessons that I have learned while operating QRP.

I should first clarify that I am not a "power ham" who spends 18 hours a day in the shack. As much as I would like to play radio more frequently, the reality is that family, job, and church responsibilities often keep me away from the rig. As a matter of fact, during the school year (I'm a high school math teacher), I only average about 10 QSOs a month, and my log shows a total of only 401 QSOs over the course of the entire past year. I know that there are some hams out there who make more than that with two or three hours of effort in the November Sweepstakes!

From the very start I assumed that the low power and modest antenna would create a significant challenge, but I soon learned that it isn't as tough as I thought it would be. Oh, there have certainly been times when the band conditions were so poor that I closed up shop and found something else to do. But if the band is open I can usually make some contacts. They may not be exotic DX but solid stateside QSOs are usually possible and every now and then some nice DX will find it's way into the log. Over the past year I have managed to work 49 different DXCC entities and 31 of them have already been confirmed with a QSL!

Even when conditions are less than optimal QSOs are often possible. Once last January we had an ice storm that closed all of the schools and gave me an unexpected day off of work. With ice coating my antenna, and with the SWR jumping all over the scale, I still managed to enjoy some QSOs with hams in Kentucky, Maryland, and Illinois!

Calling CQ has not been as effective for me as answering someone else's CQ, or as calling a specific station at the conclusion of a QSO that they are having with someone else. Hearing their own call, even though it might be very weak, just naturally grabs their attention better than a CQ from a common 8th district US ham. I also find that fellow QRPers are usually more than willing to give a QSO a try. Many of them hang out around 14.06 MHz. There are popular QRP frequencies on the other bands as well. (See the ARRL's Operating Manual - ed.)

CW skills are obviously important in QRP operating and there is a lot of information available in various ARRL publications to help improve your skills. Probably the most important single thing that can be done is to concentrate on good character and word spacing and to not worry too much about the speed. High speed CW, which requires repeats to fill in missing information is actually less efficient than slower, well sent, code.

From the very beginning of my QRP operating I had the goal of earning the ARRL's Worked All States award. Of course at first almost every QSO gives a new state. But the early steep growth curve quickly starts to level off and after two months of operating I only had 15 states confirmed.

I am not much of a contester but I thought that a QRP effort in the upcoming ARRL November Sweepstakes might give my state-count a boost. Trying QRP among all of the "big guns" on the incredibly crowded 20-meter band was to say the least intimidating. As a matter of fact I almost quit after my first frustrating hour. But my very wise and supportive wife reminded me that the goal is to simply have some fun, and that with the proper attitude I had nothing to loose. So I kept at it. I slowly developed a search-and-pounce style that started to pay off for me, and by the end of my modest 10-hour effort I had 25 new states added into my log. Included in my new states were the relatively rare ones of Alaska, Rhode Island, North Dakota, and South Dakota!

With 40 states down and 10 to go progress once again slowed to a snail's pace. Over the next 7 months I slowly added to my counts. Vermont was logged in January, Wyoming was found in March, and my 49th state, Hawaii, was worked on an early Sunday morning in May. Now only a QSO with Idaho separated me from my WAS goal!

In the intervening months nothing has changed. My count still holds at 49 and, despite my best efforts, I remain Idaho-less! I've done things like adjusting my operating times to match local Idaho time. I have also spent a lot of time tuning up and down the band listening for 7-calls and then quickly checking an online callbook to see which state they live in. Nothing so far has worked! Does anyone live in Idaho?

Actually that last question is not quite accurate because I did once hear W7FNI in Hailey, Idaho. He was having a QSO with another ham. His signal was not very strong here in Michigan but I decided to give him a call at the conclusion of his other conversation. Unfortunately he didn't hear me.

I hope that I don't sound too frustrated because the hunt continues and I'm still having a great time. After all, if QRP WAS was easy it wouldn't be worth an award!

There is actually only one aspect to all of this that has been frustrating, and that involves requesting the QSL card confirmations. For first-time-state contacts I always send an SASE with my QSL request. I also usually enclose a picture of my QRP rig and a little note telling about my quest for QRP WAS. In spite on all of this, only 40 of my 49 states have been confirmed from the first QSO with the state. Nine people - almost 20% of my first-time contacts - have ignored my QSL requests, requiring another QSO later with a more obliging ham. One New Hampshire ham actually ignored 2 different requests sent about 2 months apart! What ever happened to the "final courtesy" of a QSL card? I know that my Michigan QSL is not exactly a "hot item," but the SASE should remove all excuses, and a handwritten confirmation on a piece of paper is just as good as professionally printed card. Even assuming some sort of mistake has been made, a short note saying "sorry, you're not in the log," would be greatly appreciated. In my opinion anything less than a 100% response to QSL requests is at best thoughtless and at worst down right rude.

While I'm on the subject of QSLs I want to mention one very special card that I received recently. In June I had a very enjoyable rag chew with Wayne, WDØGXI, in Carthage, Mo. I already had Missouri confirmed but since the QSO was so pleasant, and since I had recently visited the Carthage area, I decided to go ahead and send Wayne my QSL card. A couple of weeks later Wayne's card was in my mailbox. His wife, Linda, had filled out the card and on it she had written, "I hope I filled [this] out correctly. Wayne is now a silent key. Yours was his last contact logged." I was both saddened by her loss and touched by her thoughtfulness. The card is now a very special part of my collection.

Well, the QRPing continues, the search for Idaho continues, and the fun continues. 73

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