The QRPer Board

Robert, Welcome to CW! I use that SP4 paddle some (mostly at home). If you're going to learn to send with a paddle, you may appreciate having a keyer to generate a sidetone. I have built a few that use the K3NG software . Alternatively you can buy one from CW Morse or a kit from 4SQRP . I'm told the...

Paul, Newly re-licensed this month last year, this is a question I've wondered about. In 2024 I've made 150 POTA activations so far (and a few "mini-" activations: less than ten QSO's). Adding a LOTW location for each park seemed tedious. So I've defaulted to creating special "POTA&qu...

Lovely photos, Sam! My kit is very similar. I use a resonant EFHW for 20/40 to avoid carrying a tuner. My first POTA activation was in April this year. Now, at 100 activations and nearly 1600 QSO's, nearly all on the QMX, I'm still perfectly delighted by it. As you say, size, price, features, energy...

What I have observed among others with masts like that is they used a small strip of plastic. Drill a hole sized to position it where you want it to rest on the mast. Drill another hole to secure your wire. Slide the plastic strip over the top of the pole when you go to deploy it. I suppose you coul...

I just noticed the 13 colonies; got my first one yesterday during a pota activation without realizing what it was. Read about it this morning, picked a couple more on purpose. In the field with QMX, at home with K2 dialed down to 5w: all QRP.

But those are some ugly pile-ups!

Thanks, Rick. That's a clean, well-designed operating kit! Lots of good ideas in there.

Rick: those gift cards are brilliantly cut! Please forgive my ignorance: I understand keeping some windings on the card depending on the resonance you want for the antenna. But how do you make the connection to the radio? I'd be leary of hosting the winding card with the extra wire up into a tree le...

(Looks on qrz...) Oh, THAT Teri. What a small world. Thanks for your entertaining and educational posts on qrper, Teri! GL with your 2024 goal!

Teri -- Thanks for the note. I assumed this was the case. Indeed, sked's with far-flung CWA classmates sometimes worked and sometimes didn't, depending on conditions, when I didn't have a QRO rig to punch through. Occasionally we would revert to QSO's via Signal (i.e., videoconference). For the orig...

My first rig (1998) was a Small Wonder 40. Without any elmers nearby I managed to string up a dipole and get on the air with less than a watt and make contacts in multiple states at 5wpm on a good day. Like Chuck, I've recently re-entered and am using a QRP-Labs QMX. I enjoy building kits, but this ...