The QRPer Board

Welcome Doug! It is a great time for 10m, and CW is a blast! There are lots of folks here who can help with troubleshooting.

This is a great configuration for the KX2! Great to hear good results. How long is your second counterpoise? I’m assuming you are using coax between the radio and 9:1. LOL! Second counterpoise was15 ft of RG316 in a bit of a curly-cue configuration. WX here kept me in the truck for my activations /...

I built and tested an EFRW / 9:1 Unun antenna with 29.5 ft (9m) radiator and single 17 ft (5.2m) counterpoise. With Elecraft KX2 internal tuner, I can reliably tune 60m to 10m bands. I am using it for QRP CW field (POTA) operations, and have had a respectable number of contacts. Deploying it is very...

It's been a challenge, but for the past two years I've successfully made clean sweeps of the event operating CW at 5 Watts. de K5UTM I managed to do so also running 5 watts with a wire antenna. I had to use all of my knowledge, skill, tricks, and persistence to pull it off. Use spotting and Hamaler...

Hi MedMan4040, Welcome! A few things in the low cost / no cost price range: 1. CWMorse.us makes and sells a variety of 3-D printed keys. They work adequately for practice and field use. They also sell code practice oscillators. You will need to decide on straight key or paddles, both for the key and...

Hi Tom, Welcome! I am not a trUSDX user, but I expect others can help. Also, try searching for trUSDX among prior posts. There may be something useful there. I do want to commend you for testing out your system before setting out for your first activation. When it works, it will give you confidence ...

Thanks Andrew, When I bought the AX1, I also bought an AE1 extension coil. When added to the coil for the AX1 and used with the longer 33 ft counterpoise wire, the AE1 permits tuning on the 30 and 40m bands. I have used the extension a few times. It will tune and make contacts, but requires more are...

Thank you Andrew! I had expected a stronger directional effect from the 2m whip, but your analysis lines up well with the QSO Map. The AX1 is not the best, but it is not a dummy load either. I guess even 5 watts of RF energy has to go somewhere.

Best 73 de Brian - K3ES

Thanks Mike,

I was uncertain, but the AX1 continues to amaze me. A compromised antenna is, first and foremost an antenna.

Brian - K3ES

Whip length of the VHF/UHF antenna is 32-3/16 inches or 82 cm.