23 years under his belt!

As my regular readers know, I often mention John K3WWP here in the pages of this blog. No doubt, I'm a fan of his. John is a "QRPer's QRPer".  His whole Amateur Radio career revolves around QRP, Morse Code and simple wire antennas.  He is dedicated to showing that you do not have to have an overly elaborate set up to enjoy Amateur Radio; and that in fact, it can be done with very moderate or even meager means. He is dedicated to showing how much fun and rewarding all this can be. If there was ever anyone who deserves to be in the QRP Hall of Fame, without a doubt, John Shannon K3WWP deserves to be there.

Tonight, John will embark on trying to begin his 24th year of making at least one QRP CW contact s day.  Allow your mind to wrap around that.  It's easy to read it, it's easy to say it. But take some time to think about that. That is over (not sure how many Leap Days are in there) 8,395 daily QRP QSOs in a row, completed.

Over 8,395 days uninterrupted. That's quite the feat when you take into account all of the multiple solar lulls, CME's, solar flares, bad weather, equipment mishaps, and personal circumstances that could have easily ended this streak early on. Nevertheless, John endures and persists through it all, and continues to make the QSOs - with 5 Watts, or less. I'm sure this streak will never be equaled or surpassed. It will probably never make the Guiness Book of World Records, or even be acknowledged by those outside the QRP Community.  But it's there and we know, for a fact, what can be done with QRP.

So the next time someone tells you that QRP is a joke, or it's a waste of time, that it's a matter of luck and not skill; or that all the success is totally due to the receiving station, OR that "Life's too short for QRP" ....... stand fast and unwavering and think of John K3WWP. Chuckle quietly to yourself and move on, knowing that the power and worth of QRP and CW have been more than adequately proven - over 8.395 times in a row.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!