The QRPer Board

I had difficulty deploying a wire antenna at my home QTH with slingshot/fishing sinker/fishing line, when the sinker had too little mass to pull the line down to the ground easily. So when I got my first arborist throw bag, I opted for a 14 ounce model. The line comes down every time, but I have to ...

I have TR-35 coming. Is it best to use a 3.5mm Mono to Stereo adapter when using earbuds or just use one earbud. I’m interested in whether you just listen with one ear or two? Max -WG4Z Hi Max, I took delivery of my TR-35 in early March, and it provides sound in both ears using earbuds equipped wit...

Hi Andrew, I understand. For multi-band antennas, I have been working with linked EFHWs to extend resonant capabilities to other bands. They trade off time for raising and lowering the antenna to manipulate links against access to more bands. You might be interested in the Frequency Agile Antennas t...

Hi Andrew, I can only speak for myself, but I have and use both 9:1 random wire and 49:1 EFHW antennas. I prefer using resonant antennas (EFHWs or dipoles) for radios without a tuner to avoid carrying extra kit. I love the random wire with my KX2, because it has an excellent built-in tuner. The 9:1 ...

Is anyone else having trouble with the tuning encoder? Mine tunes downward just fine, but when spinning the knob quickly to tune upward, it skips pretty badly, sometimes even ending up on a frequency lower than where it started. It's probably a $3 part, so I'm not offended, just curious if anyone e...

I sent my TR-35 in for the firmware update with $15 for return shipping, and it was back in my hands in about a week. The process went very smoothly, and I am really happy with the memory keying function. It really helps my workflow during POTA activations by giving me a pause to catch up on logging.

I would stick with the IC-7300 and a QRP rig, then add a 2m/70cm HT. In fact, that is my shack in a nutshell. Footprint for the 7300 is just the end of my desk next to the computer. The radio takes less space than the computer, which would be needed even if the radio went away. I installed a stack o...

I prefer brightly colored throw line and throw bags, because I can always find the far end, even in heavy foliage.

I just finished a POTA activation at K-1345. I ran the TR-35 at 5 watts into a linked EFHW inverted V at 30 ft. The tally was 43 CW contacts on 40, 30, and 20m in 1 hour 40 minutes. Great fun, courtesy of the park hunters.

When retrieving my throw line from a tree, I remove the throw bag before pulling the line back. If pulled back with the line, the bag can swing wildly. If it flips over or around a branch, it can make a hopeless tangle.