what is the best qrp kit to make?

[HOMEMADE]

just wanted to know what is the best qrp kit to make,is it from mfjenterprises?i am new to ham,and i need all the help i can get.thank you for your time,73
                    homemade.

[KC9HOZ]

Best?  It all depends.

Here are a couple of suppliers that have popular kits (there are lots of others, try Google):

www.smallwonderlabs.com

www.qrpkits.com

Scott kc9hoz

[N0IU]

There are many from which to chose. It all depends on your skill level and your budget.

How experienced are you at soldering?
Do you want a "paint-by-numbers" kit or can you build one from scratch?
Do you want a mono-band unit or multi-band?
What is your budget?

The ARRL has a deal where you can buy their Low Power Communications book AND the MFJ 40 meter QRP kit for $100. Unfortunately, they are sold out of them at this time.

http://www.arrl.org/catalog/index.php3?category=Low+Power%2FQRP

You will see the book by itself and then you will see the book with the kit.

Looks like a heck of a deal!

Scott N0IU

[AA4PB]

Best - the Elecraft K2 of course. Be prepared for sticker shock however. Next comes the K1 and (if you want small) the KX1.

[K7PEH]

As bob says, The best is elecraft but I would put more emphasis on the KX1 given that it is CW and QRP and although expensive for QRP it is cheaper then the other elecraft rigs.

However, the guy on the other end of the QSO may not know that your rig is the best unless you tell him.  So, if you want to save money, another choice would be the Norcal 40 kit which is fun to build as well as a nice little QRP rig.

[AG4RQ]

"what is the best qrp kit to make?
by HOMEMADE on December 7, 2007
just wanted to know what is the best qrp kit to make,is it from mfjenterprises?i am new to ham,and i need all the help i can get.thank you for your time,73
homemade."

It all depends what your needs and wants are. When you ask what is the "best QRP kit to make", are you looking for quality with bells and whistles, or something simple that a newbie can easily put together that will work? Do you want to operate on a single band? Or do you want a rig for multi-band operation? There are plenty of modestly-priced kits for monoband QRP rigs. The multi-band kits are more expensive and are more complicated to build. The Elecraft kits are nice but pricey.

The easier kits to build are of course the monobanders. Quality wise, the best bang for your buck would be a Small Wonder Labs SW+ Series Transceivers. They cost $55 each and are available for 20m, 30m, 40m and 80m.

For a newbie to kit-building, it is best to start with a monobander. Most hams would suggest the Small Wonder Labs SW+ Series Transceivers. Best band would be 20m or 40m for starters. Here are some URLs:

Elecraft
http://www.elecraft.com/

Ten-Tec
http://www.tentec.com/

Oak Hills Research
http://www.ohr.com/

Small Wonder Labs
http://www.smallwonderlabs.com/

Norcal
http://www.norcalqrp.org/

MFJ
http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?catid=19&subcat=xcvr

Vectronics
http://www.vectronics.com/products.php?catid=2

Ramsey
http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/hk/default.asp?page=ar

Wilderness Radio
http://www.fix.net/~jparker/wild.html

I hope this helps.

73 de Mark
AG4RQ

[HOMEMADE]

i want to thank all of you for your help.i just picked up an old heathkit HW-16 with an HG-10b VFO for $15.00 at a thrift store.it had all the books with it.the copywrite on the books said 1967.got tapes and keys with it to.thank you for you time.
                 homemade.

[W8ZNX]

LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY

the HW-16 is a great little set
suprising good QSK,
good receive on 80 es 40
not so good on 15

plenty of power

with the matching vfo

you did well

make sure the key way
is not busted when you plug in the
vfo power cable

yours truly

mac

[HOMEMADE]

w8znx (mac),
     thank you ,and i looked it over.and it is all good.works good(i am happy).i am new to ham and when
i got it ,i got an antenna matcher with it.don`t know how to use the antenna matcher,any help about it would
be nice.thank you for your time.
                 james.