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Tuesday, August 29, 2023

So what does a QRPer need an amp for, anyway?

 Good question!

And actually, this might surprise some, but there is an SSB (eeek!) net on 75 Meters (double eeek!) that I try to check into on Sunday evenings - that would be the St. Maximilian Kolbe Net.

The net meets each Sunday at 8:00 PM local time here on the east coast and it's a gathering of Catholic gents who also happen to be Amateur Radio ops like Fr. Max SP3RN was.

Net control is Lloyd K3QNT who is located in Pennsylvania. Realistically, 5 or 10 Watts QRP is not going to make it on 75 Meter SSB - unless I had a 100 foot tower with a beam atop it!  The KXPA100 allows me a boost up the power to about 75 Watts, which is sufficient enough to make me heard by Net Control, as well as other members of the net.

The bonus was that while I was getting ready last Saturday for the Skeeter Hunt, I actually stumbled upon my MH-3 microphone for the KX3. I hadn't used it for so long, I had forgotten that I had stowed it in my QRP backpack.

I was able to check into the net on Sunday evening for the first time in a real long time. I hope to make it a weekly happening. I've always found HF nets to be kind of a "weird" thing. Unless you're centrally located between all the participating members, odds are you're not going to hear everyone. They're still kind of fun, though, and if nothing else, they provide a little lesson on propagation.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to end the very least!

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