I used my Weber Tri-bander from Hendricks during the contest. It did well and I got a few countries but I'm still very slow with CW so jumping in full bore wasn't going to happen. It was fun though and all QRP DX contacts are exciting to me.

No, it was dot ORG for sure. I did double check after you wrote that because that would be a mistake I would make :-).

Hey All,

I wondered if any of y'all took part in the Freeze Your Buns Off contest on Saturday and knew how to submit your log. I tried the email address listed on the SQRPions website and the WA7BNM calendar and both came back to me.

72,
Christian KF4LXB

Barry,

That is an idea I had toyed with but the cost of remote tuners is prohibitive at this point. Hopefully, in the next week or two I will be installing the antenna. I checked with a scrap piece of the twin lead and it will shut in the window without damage to either the wire or the window so I think that is the way I will go. Plus, the window frame is some kind of plastic so it should be non-conductive. The whole run from feed point to tuner (ZM-2)should be around 10ft. I will update on any results. Thanks to all!

72,

Christian KF4LXB

Good afternoon all,

I recently purchased an Argonaut 509 which has been loads of fun so far. One of the things I would like to think about adding is a CW filter. The one in the radio is something like 2.5 KHz and that is dandy for SSB but I can already see the advantage of having a narrower one for CW, especially since my operating habits have been moving more and more in favor of CW. There seem to be a few options out there from MFJ, Vectronics and a nice looking kit from the 4 State QRP club (Hi-Per-Mite). If possible I would like to stay away from any heavy mods to the rig. If anyone has any suggestions or experience in this area it would be greatly appreciated.

72,
Christian KF4LXB

Thanks again guys for all the input. As it stands now I have finished the construction of the antenna and am waiting to install it. I may end up painting it to match the siding on the house and running it through the window or I may just run it through the eave and the attic. I think that will be a game time decision. The latter would be more stealthy but it would require more feedline. I'll let you know. Thanks again.

Christian KF4LXB

I think I understand what K8AXW is trying to say and it comes from my experience in the military. The main gripe, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, is that we seem to engaging in a recruiting scheme that paints a rosier picture than the reality. No recruiter ever told me about the hours upon hours of "hurry up and wait" that I would face in the Army and they certainly never told me how hot it was in the Middle East. I signed up anyway and found out what the military was all about. It was lots of hard work, sweat, sometimes activities that seemed utterly pointless and time spent away from the people I love. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. If that is really what we are doing here then shame on us. However, speaking for myself only, I don't get any benefit or kickback when more people operate QRP so I am only going to share what has actually happened in my experience.

Physics, attenuation and S-meters aside I find an incredible amount of enjoyment in working QRP. I've been a ham for over 15 years and I will freely admit that I'm no tech guru. I'm a liberal arts kinda guy and while science is fascinating to me I'm no expert. That means that the challenge for me is not only making the difficult contact but also understanding the principles that drive my hobby. Due to my lack of technical expertise my joy comes from what would otherwise be second nature to many hams. When I finished my tri-bander kit and it actually turned on I was tickled pink because I'd never done anything like that before. My interest in QRP comes from a challenge/satisfaction equation (here I am talking math like I know what I'm saying).

Challenge in building= satisfaction in operation.
Challenge in operating = satisfaction when I make the tough contact
Challenge in understanding propagation = satisfaction in long haul contacts
Etc., etc.

A year and a half ago, if someone had told me I could make the kind of contacts I have at 5w or less I would have thought they were crazy. The science can help make the case and support the results but nothing can make a QRP believer out of someone other than first hand experience.

The beautiful thing about ham radio is that if you try something and don't like it then you can always turn the amplifier on/off, get a new rig, or build/buy a new antenna. If you're up for a challenge, give QRP a shot. If its not for you then go QRO and no one is going to fault you either way...at least I'm not.

Incoherent rambling done,

Christian KF4LXB

Awesome! Thanks WX7G, I may end up going that route. It would certainly simplify the installation.

Greetings all,

I am currently working on setting up my home QTH to run all QRP and have decided on an inverted L arrangement for the antenna. In my research I have decided that this will be the best possible setup for stealth operations in my restricted neighborhood. The vertical leg is made of white 22 gauge wire to match the trim on the house and the horizontal leg is made of the same wire only in black. This will be run to a tree in the front yard and I think it will be all but invisible to most prying eyes. The antenna is fed by 300 ohm TV style twin-lead. My question concerns the matter of running the feedline into the shack. I have read that twin-lead is fairly sensitive to contact with window frames and I wonder if it would be a bad idea to simply run the line through the window and close the window on top of it. As I see it I have a few option and any input would be greatly appreciated.

1) Do as I just said and run the feedline through the window (10-15 ft run for the feedline).

2) Run the feedline up through the eave of the roof into the attic and use an existing hole in the closet ceiling to get it into the shack (30-40 ft run).

3) Add a piece of wood to close the window on and pass the feedline through a hole drilled into the wood. This is my least favorite of the ideas because it would require painting the wood to match the window frame and doing the same thing for the adjoining window so that they look even (same run as #1).

Also, in my grand plan (should it come to fruition) I would be running a maximum of 10w on SSB. An attic antenna is out of the question for me because I currently use one for QRO operations and my goal is to get one outside of the house. Thank you in advance for the help.

72,
Christian KF4LXB

P.S If this is a topic better suited for the "antenna" forum I understand and it can be moved.

I got hooked on QRP on my first SOTA (Summits On The Air) activation. Due to a technical difficulty we were only able to operate with my step-father's ATS-3 which I'm pretty sure puts out less than 5w. I worked a station in Eastern Europe and was like "Okay, this is for me." Then the addiction really took over when I built my Hendrick's Weber Tri-bander a little over a month ago. Putting this whole thing together and then turning it on and actually hearing something was amazing! Now on those nice days I look at the Kenwood in the shack (not mine but on loan) look at the Tri-bander, look back to the Kenwood and then grab the tri-bander and head for the outdoors and listen to dots and dashes caressing my eardrums like a sweet sonnet.

I will freely admit that part of the draw to QRP for me is the $$. I can buy two kits, put them together and be ready to rock for somewhere around $400, a little more when you throw in antenna parts, tuner, etc. I don't even think they'll let you touch a commercially built HF rig for that kind of money. "No sir, maybe you should consider our dual-band VHF/UHF handy talkie."

On top of that I enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of working the world on low power. Be careful though, as with so many other aspects of ham radio, QRP can be addictive.

Hope to catch on the air sometime!

72,
KF4LXB Christian 

I second N4FZ. I just built the tri-bander as well, 15,20 and 40m. This was my first kit and went together well. Great radio and budget friendly. I bought it for hiking and backpacking operations but I like it so much I may make it a part of the home station.

From my very limited experience I think these guys are running a first class operation. I was able to pick them out of the noise on 15m yesterday and worked them with 50W from a dipole in the attic. Wasn't sure I got through on the first QSO because I had some fairly significant static. Checked the log and wasn't there so I worked them again (probably a dupe, who knows) when no one else was interested. Now I'm in the log for sure. I know for alot of guys this isn't a station they need but for me, since I've only been working DX since May, it was thrilling! Add to that the fact that I rarely hear stations from the Pacific (my dipole is facing N/S so stations directly E and W are not picked up that much) and I was all excited. Each contact like this one insures that the DX bug is firmly rooted in my system.

Godspeed,
Christian

Hey Steve,

I'll definitely be looking for you. I spend a year at Camp Taji in 2004 with my National Guard Unit so it would be cool to talk with someone at my old stompin' ground. Godspeed and we'll look for you on the air.

73,
Christian

This is probably less that $.02 worth but I"m going to say it anyway. I just got on HF for real about 2 weeks ago. I do live an a covenant restricted neighborhood and so my antenna options were...let's say...limited. We put up a center-fed dipole in the attic which I'm running with a TS-930S. I'm also keeping the power turned way down so that I don't even peak at 50W most of the time. Yet, I've still had alot of good reports from Europe and South America on 17m. The longest haul was to European Russia to an op down near Kasakhstan (I'm in central North Carolina). In my limited experience the stations to the west have come in the best late in the evening here. I agree with someone else who said that DXing should be a fun experience and that is exactly how I look at it. For me I have an environment that brings with it certain challenges compared to having a tower and beam set-up. While I do hope to get DXCC someday I'm just having a ball talking around the world with a homemade antenna in the attic pushing 25-50W. The fun of it is what it is all about to me.

To keep up the hunting metaphor, I enjoy hunting primarily because I get to be outdoors. If I don't shoot anything it was still time well spent and for me that carries over into radio. If I get a rare DX station then I will be overjoyed and if I don't I'll just talk to someone stateside or down in the Caribbean. I only hope I can keep that attitude when I've got 150 or 200 countries under my belt  .

73,
Christian

Wow! These responses have been awesome folks and I want to thank you again for all the input.

I did have the chance to listen a work a pileup on 10m the other day where the op was in Nicaragua and it was really interesting. First of all, the op was extremely professional in his handling of the situation. He would call QRZ and then pick two or three callsigns and put them in a cue. Even when people would break in in the middle of one of the QSOs he would ask them to standby while he finished working through his list. After working those two or three stations he would QRZ again and pick another two or three out of the mix and line them up. He even stopped after about 30 minutes and asked for QRP or mobile stations and worked a few of them. The second interesting things was that I was able to hear alot of the pileup when I listened after the QRZ. Most of my experience with 10m was hearing just one side of the conversation but the band was fairly open across the US and so I could hear a bunch of the stations calling him. It gave me an appreciation for a) what the DX op was dealing with on his end and b) what I was trying to fight through. In the end, after about an hour of trying to get through, my number was never called and propogation was shutting down for me anyway so I shut down for the day. I was disappointed but not upset because the pileup was handled in such a professional manner and there were gobs of people in it.


This is good stuff N3OX. I tend to lean more towards homebrew antennas and I suppose I should never sit back and think "Well, that's good enough." I do live in a restricted neighborhood so I'm  going to have to be extra creative with my aerials. Not to mention the fact that I'm probably not going to want to run more than 50-100W or maybe even less. I'm hoping that I can improve my skills under less-than-ideal conditions here and then when we move back out to the country I'll have stronger skills and better conditions.


Amen and Amen! I was shocked to hear some of the conversations going on on 10m the other day. I'm not going to mention subject matter, language or callsigns (I don't remember them anyway) but what was being said did not conform to what I understand ham radio to be about. The bottom line was that there were some folks who were pretty bent out of shape with some other operators who were doing things by the book. Proof of the above statement. I know not everyone is going to like me but my concern is upholding the standards of ham radio. There's a reason people get into this hobby over CB radio and not all of it is power output and worldwide communication, at least it wasn't for me.

Anyway, thanks again and I really appreciate the community here.

Godspeed,

Christian