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!

A Tip o' the Hat

I really have to extend a hearty "tip o' the hat" to all you QRP SSB guys out there.  Not being used to SSB operations, not being used to QRP SSB operations has provided me with a learning experience. In your writer's most humble opinion, QRP SSB has a difficulty factor of 10X compared to QRP CW.

Today during lunch time, I was hunting around for NPOTA stations on 20 Meters.  Not hearing anything on the CW bands, I moved on up to the realm of voice - foreign territory, indeed!.  There I heard two stations. K0USA on 14.260 MHz and K0RP on 14.340 MHz.  K0RP was very weak, with QSB making it worse. K0USA was a good 5X5 into NJ and even 5X7 when QSB would let up. I decided to  concentrate on Mary, who was the op behind the mic.  It took the better of 15 minutes, but I got in the log - and it was a new one for me, MN46, the Homestead National Historical Monument in Nebraska.

For her part, Mary did a superb job dealing with my weak signal.  Only 5 Watts to the Buddistick has gotten me decent results on SSB in the past, but today, with the monstrous QSB, it was their beam (which was pointed south, by the way - I was off the side) and her great ears that made the difference. I owe her a ton of gratitude for sticking with me and granting me the ATNO.

Getting back to the topic of SSB vs CW ..... I'm pretty confident in my CW skills. From past practise, it's pretty easy for me to gauge who is workable and who isn't. I still get surprised from time to time; but I've gotten pretty good at figuring out who I am able work and who I am not..

QRP SSB is still a crap shoot for me. Like I stated, it's foreign territory.  To make things even worse, shall we say that patience is a "hard won virtue" for me?  Living in New Jersey all my life, I'm used to the fast pace of the Northeast. Things, especially at work, are wanted yesterday.  I'm used to dealing with that, and delivering those kind of fast results.  The downside is, that I've come to expect that, in return.  Waiting is still a battle for me.  Not in all situations, but in many - especially when I am dealing with myself.

QRP SSB is an extra hard challenge for me and will be for quite a while. The upside is hopefully, I'll become more skilled at it; and I'll also gain more patience, because of it..

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

A beautiful day!

I got up this morning for my daily walk - well, actually, I don't do a daily walk, anymore.  Saturday and Sunday, I get up early and go for a walk. Monday through Friday, I spend a half hour on my elliptical machine in the basement - but I digress.

I woke up this morning to the beginnings of a beautiful day!  Yesterday was positively tropical, hot and humid, with the threat of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes all day. One minute it would be sunny, the next it was dark and threatening. While other areas in the North East were not so lucky, I praise God, that in South Plainfield, all we got was some really heavy rain from about 5:00 to 6:00 PM yesterday evening.  After that, the temperatures dropped, dry air moved in and you can honestly say that today is one of the "Ten Best of the Year".

Weather issues aside, the object of this post is to relate that I did something yesterday that I have not done in a very long time - about 9 years to be exact.

I made a contact using SSB.

Yes, I know - totally out of character; but I did it and surprised myself in the process.  After mowing the lawn yesterday, I had a little bit of down time, so I went down to the shack to spend a little bit of quality time behind the rig.  Alas, 12 Meters, 15 Meters and 17 Meters were a vast wasteland.  20 Meters was not bad; but had very little activity in the CW portion of the band.  So I decided to switch the K3 over to USB, and went "up" the bad to see if perhaps there were any special event stations doing their thing.

Didn't hear any of those, either.  But I was hearing a lot of loud European stations working the WAE contest. So I thought to myself, "I wonder if one might hear me ........ hmmmmm".  I twiddled the dial looking for a particularly loud one - there were a good number of them.  Then I heard a call sign that sounded interesting - 3Z2X.  AC log informed me that it was Poland.  All the better, the country that my ancestors came from!

Using my noodle, I pumped the K3 up to 10 Watts - still QRP by definition (I may be a little crazy; but I'm not insane - SSB and QRO? No way!). Then, I picked up that funny looking little box that you speak into - I think it's called a microphone and pressed the button thingy on the side.  Announced my call sign and actually heard him call me back!  I gave the contest exchange, got his and then sat there kind of amazed.  10 Watts via SSB all the way to Poland - and he heard me!  We spoke to each other, exchanged information and said good-bye. It worked. I was amazed.

I made a few more and it was fun but it wasn't enough to convert me from being a dyed-in-the-wool CW op.  But it did hold out hope for me that, in the future, I may be able to work Special Event stations that choose not to have CW as one of the modes that they employ.  It also encouraged me to maybe dip a toe into the pool when the QRP-ARCI holds their annual QRP SSB Sprint.  I never participated in one of those before.  This year just might be different.

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