Really, how difficult can QRP be?

[KJ4RQV]

I am a General class operator and use a Kenwood 520s for my base rig. I want to do some portable comms and sure can't lug the 35 pound Kenwood around to do it. I am looking at several options and the FT-817nd is one of them as well as The ft-847 or Icom 703+.
If I go with the 817nd I see that I will have portability even with a gelcell. Actuall, I would have that with any of the three. Assuming the same Dipole antenna system for each rig, will I really have a much harder time making contacts with 5 watts vs. the higher wattage portable rigs? Not really into DX unless it just happens.
My main interest is rag chewing on SSB and emcomms.
Thanks, Don
KJ4RQV

[K9IUQ]

Assuming the same Dipole antenna system for each rig, will I really have a much harder time making contacts with 5 watts vs. the higher wattage portable rigs?

My main interest is rag chewing on SSB and emcomms.
Thanks, Don
KJ4RQV

Of course it is much more difficult. You will have a portable antenna which will probably not be as good as your regular antenna. We have pretty poor condx lately which makes even 100 watts marginal.

Most SSB ops do not have patience for 5 watt stations, expect short QSOes.  

Just turn your TS-520 down to 5 Watts and see how much fun it is.. 

Stan K9IUQ

[AE4RV]

It's quite doable but Stan is right. There's a reason why most QRP ops use CW.

[KJ4RQV]

Thank you. I still want to be able to go portable for camping and the 520s won't work very well for that so I guess it will have to be something besides the Ft-817. Maybe the Ft-547 or something comparable.

[K7RBW]

I went through the same puzzle and ended up getting an FT-857. It's got 100W like an -897 but is 1/4 the size. It'll do 5w if you dial it down and you can run it off a gel-cell. If you ground the brown wire in the power cord, it limits the power to 20 w and does some other battery-saving things.

The FT-817 is sure cute, but I figured by the time I tricked it out to go portable for more than an hour or two, I'd have spent as much or more than the comparable 857 and it would be almost as much gear. That's not to say you can't have a very minimalist rig with the 817, just that I realized I wouldn't.

[WB6RQN]

I run portable QRP all the time. Whenever I travel I take my QRP rig, a laptop (I need that anyway for work when traveling), an autotuner, and a LOT of wire. Modes like Olivia and DominoEX work amazingly well. But I don't even bother to pack a mic. The extra link margin necessary to make a solid SSB contact usually precludes QRP operation.

73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL

[K9IUQ]

I am a General class operator and use a Kenwood 520s for my base rig. I want to do some portable comms and sure can't lug the 35 pound Kenwood around to do it.
Thanks, Don
KJ4RQV

I worked DL7MST near Frankfort, Germany late yesterday afternoon on 17 mtr SSB. He was portable with a Kenwood TS-870 running off a couple of batterys. I talked with for 15 minutes. He had a couple of buddies with him and they were sitting around a campfire in the woods drinking German Beer and making a QSO every now and then..They were having a great time.

IMO, that is the way to go Portable.  

Stan K9IUQ

[WB6BYU]

The degree of difficulty probably depends to a large extent on your antenna and the presence of
interference and/or noise.

I carried a Ten-Tec Argonaut around Australia in a backpack years ago and made lots of fun contacts
on SSB at 2 watts output.  (While I've done a lot of other QRP work, most of it is on CW.)  We also use
portable HF SSB for local EMCOM work.  QRP SSB can be quite successful if you follow a few basic rules:

1) use an efficient full sized antenna, especially on 80m and 40m.  I've nearly always found space for my
80m wire dipole (and even 160m when I've used it.)  For the ARES team I've made some half-sized loaded
dipoles for 160m, but that is about it.  Several team members got a fancy kits with Hamstick dipoles for
portable use, and nobody has ever gotten one to work successfully on 75m.  (They are usable on 40m,
but a wire dipole still runs rings around it.)  Too many people presume that "portable operation" means
compromised antennas, which is the last thing you want for successful QRP work.

2) Use the right antenna for the path.  A vertical antenna is great for DX over salt water, but a dipole
is much better for local NVIS operation.

3) choose a band that is open for the desired path.  While the "conventional wisdom" is 40m during the
day and 80m at night for local work, here in Oregon for the last several years it has been 80m during
the day and 160m at night due to low sunspot activity.

4) You are more likely to make contacts when QRM/QRN are low.  During a contest your signal may be
lost in the background noise, while the same signal strength on a clear band can be 100% copy.  You'll
be surprised how small of a signal you can copy with a low noise floor.

[KB1GMX]

w6byu hit the high points..

I run 4W SSB on 20 and 10 (or 40 with outboard amp).  More power makes it easier
but I've busted 20M pileups to make a contact running only 4W SSB. 

The trick if there is one is a decent antenna high up.  you want to radiate all of those few
watts not heat coils or the ground.  For 20M that means a full length halfwave dipole or
PAR EF20 (same thing for signals) at least 30ft up.   For 40M it's do same but get the far
end higher 50-60ft and slope it or run near vertical.  At 10M a halfwave vertical works
well and I've used a K6STI 10M loop hanging from a limb 30ft up (its about 12ft tall
wire rectangle).

I've also had good results on 40 running an inverted L against a counterpoise
on the ground. 

More antenna the better.

Allison

[KATEKEBO]

QRP is more difficult than running a 1kW QRO station, but it is also very rewarding.

I operate exclusively QRP (5W) SSB.  I see no point in being one of the big-rig "all mouth, no ears" guys.  If you want to chat with somebody on the other side of the world easily and without any technical challenge, why not just use an Internet chat or a cell phone?

I LOVE the challenge of QRP.  And it's not exceedingly difficult.  But it requires to be technically competent,  precise, disciplined and VERY PATIENT.

Technical competence is a must in order to make the best use of the little power you have.  There is no room for "sloppy" antennas ("yes, my antenna sucks, but the tuner takes care of the lousy SWR and I have 1.5kW to silence anybody who gets in my way").  The antenna does not have to be big, but it must be well tuned, and you need to take advantage of your location, plus few other tricks like finding the optimum counterpoise length to maximize performance.  But it works.  I have made >5000 miles QSO with 5W and the Miracle Whip antenna (some people call it "an expensive dummy load") from the kitchen table in my house.  With a more substantial antenna (my favorite is PAR End Fedz EF-10/20/40) DX-ing is "easy" - when propagation is good it's easy to score several transatlantic QSO's in under an hour.  Also, things like properly adjusting your microphone gain are important.  Speech processing can help, but it's not a must (I don't have it).

You need to be precise and disciplined with your communications.  You need to know when to reply to a "QRZ" or "CQ" call in order to get through a pile-up.  Timing is of essence.  Otherwise the "big guys" will trample you over.  But it is possible to break through a pile-up, and the other station will be grateful for being able to log a real QRP QSO among the hundreds of QRO operators.  You also need to be careful with how you speak - slowly, clearly, repeat important parts twice, to make sure your message is understood among all the QRN and QRM.  DX "ragchews" are difficult, but possible. 

PATIENCE is the most important virtue.  You need to WAIT for right propagation conditions.  You need to WAIT for the right moment to make your call and get through a pile-up.  You need to WAIT and look carefully for stations that do not rely exclusively on power, but also have good receiving antennas in order to be able to pull you out of the noise.

I have very little time to operate - busy professional schedule, family, other hobbies.  So I can only operate few hours per month.  Here is how I do it.  First, I check propagation conditions.  I like www.vhfdx.info QSO Real-Time Maps.  If the bands are "dead" there is little point in trying QRP DX-ing.  Then, I start by listening and scanning the bands.  I look for DX stations that sound strong and clear, with little fading, and are getting good responses when calling QRZ.  A station that sounds strong, but appears to receive few responses to QRZ calls usually denotes a station with a lot of transmitting power, but poor receiving antenna.  Then I wait for the right moment to answer his/her QRZ call, clearly stating that I am a QRP station in addition to my call sign.  Sometimes, when there are many stations calling back it may be difficult to get through, but eventually the station will hear you and ask everybody to shut-up and give you a chance.  You will quickly realize that they enjoy getting a reply form a QRP station and typically spend more time "chatting" with you then with an average QRO operator.  I do get a fair share of "59" signal reports, but typically my signal report will be anywhere between "53" and "56".

[WB0FDJ]

Don (& fellow QRPers)

Our colleagues have covered the bases well and I am pretty much in agreement with whats been posted so far. Especially this quote:
 
   "it requires [one] to be technically competent,  precise, disciplined and VERY PATIENT."

Amen bro!

I would add this: QRP operation, for me and a number of other ops, is not only about turning down the power. It becomes a different way of doing things, a different way of thinking, a different culture. My operating skills and how I do just about everything I do with a radio changed when I bought my (then brand new) Argonaut 509. It was my only rig for two years. I had become very complacent in my operating practices and the Argo taught me a lot about doing a lot with very little. I think you will find that to be true also.

But...."difficult"?? As I am writing this I am monitoring the QRP watering hole @ 14.060. Stopped typing to make a nice QSO with a guy in WA state, both of us 599 on peaks, both running 5 watts. He told me to watch out for our notorious MN mosquitos. Naaahh...you'll need some patience but once you get the hang of it, IMHO, it won't be difficult. Hey enjoy!! Welcome to the fold.

72's de WB0FDJ

[NO2A]

It`s fun as long as you don`t get tired of calling cq for an hour before someone answers you!

[K9IUQ]

I operate exclusively QRP (5W) SSB.  I see no point in being one of the big-rig "all mouth, no ears" guys.  If you want to chat with somebody on the other side of the world easily and without any technical challenge, why not just use an Internet chat or a cell phone?

I LOVE the challenge of QRP.  And it's not exceedingly difficult.  But it requires to be technically competent,  precise, disciplined and VERY PATIENT.

BALONEY...

Here is the real deal. You are not the competent operator, the poor Ham on the other end trying to listen to a puny 5 watt SSB signal is the fellow that needs the Patience and the medal, not you.

You know - - the guy with the huge beam antenna that is trying to copy you.

Your Miracle antenna is no miracle and neither is the Par antenna. The miracle of it is that a "big-rig" not using QRP ham is trying to pull your puny signal outta the noise.

That is where the competent operator is. Calling a station that is running 100 watts or 1500 watts requires no skill. Anyone can do that.

But listening to a puny 5 watt SSB signal barely above the noise, now that requires the skill and patience.

 
Stan K9IUQ

[WB6RQN]

Stan, is it necessary for you to be rude to everyone? Everyone gets the opportunity to do what they want to do. No one is required to answer a CQ and probably won't if they can't hear, for whatever reason. Regardless it is the QRP op's prerogative to operate QRP and it is the other station's prerogative to answer or not.

73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL

[K9IUQ]

Stan, is it necessary for you to be rude to everyone?

Telling the truth is NOT being rude. Dispelling myths is not rude.

Surely you know rude as you have called me many names here on eham because my views do not match yours.

Thinking that operating a FT-817 at your kitchen table with a Miracle antenna on 5 watt SSB is going to get to get you contacts because you are "technically competent,  precise, disciplined and VERY PATIENT" is ridiculous.

Under those conditions the only reason you will get a contact is because some "big-rig "all mouth," guy is gonna give you one with his legal limit and beam antenna.

Stan K9IUQ