The QRPer Board

Just got my general ticket and excited to get my first rig and do POTA. Have my eye on the KX2 and learning CW. Being highly portable and operating outside appeals to me, but experienced hams are warning me against starting out with QRP and suggest I start with a 100W rig. Anyone here start out on QRP and what was it like? Thanks!

I started with QRP. I was a single parent, money was tight. I found a Heathkit HW-7 for 35 bucks and was on my way!
It took 2 weeks calling CQ before I made my first contact. It was more me trying to figure out the radio than anything else. Turned out the first contact was only 2 blocks away!
If you don't have a radio or experience with CW and QRP, I would go with something less expensive to start. The K2 does hold it's value if you decide to sell it, though. The Venus SW-3b would be a good start, or one of the QRP Labs offerings, maybe.
Try to find other QRP guys locally. Working with them a time or two can really show you a lot of possibilities! They may also have a used rig you can grab up.
For me, simpler is better. It's hard to get a setting wrong if there are only three knobs! I graduated to the MFJ single band rigs and used them for 20 years before I got the original MTR-3b. I don't think I'll upgrade from that.
Congratulations on your upgrade to General. Now the fun starts! Hope to hear you on the air.

I forgot to add that this is a great time to try QRP and POTA. The solar cycle is in your favor. With POTA, you can spot yourself on the websites and people will be searching you out!
Have realistic expectations and good antennas

it's only as hard as u make it. 1st rig here was HW16, Max 75w input in olden novice days. 2nd rig was a tentec515 w 5w out on a good day.
qrp has been a mainstay in over 50 yrs of operating.

obtaining a rig with a good receiver is very important. if ucant hear them you can't work em; 1w or 100w.

500mw with cw and u can work the world. be patient and know u can do it
72s

Thanks for the encouragement and advice!

72,
Christy KA3STK

As mentioned above, now is a good time to try QRP cw.

You might take a look at the Penntek qrp transceivers. Last summer I got back into amateur radio, after a long lapse, with a Penntek TR-35 (factory assembled). It's done a fine job chasing POTA activators with 5 watts into an MC-750 portable vertical antenna. There is also a Penntek TR-45. WA3RNC.com

Good luck.

Chuck
WD9EGW

Power isn't as important as a good antenna and a good rig. When I was first licensed, I floundered for a couple of months with a Johnson Viking Ranger II transmitter and a gigantic blue receiver (I can't remember what make). My antenna was a dipole strung between my house and the house behind us at about 30 feet. After a couple of months like this I convinced my dad to loan me the money to buy a Yaesu FT-101E from one of my elmers. That radio made all the difference - I was able to make QSOs all over the world - with the same antenna and about the same power out.

I wouldn't start with an HW-7 or HW-8, but pretty much any modern QRP rig with a decent VFO should work. After you get proficient with making contacts, you can start looking for more challenging rigs to operate!

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 one was intense and I required some help to repair a mistake or two when all was said and done. If I was starting over, I would have started with a QCX-mini or two (40m/20m?). They're supposed to be a lot easier to build. All the QRP-Labs kits are very reasonably priced, with good directions and a supportive community. Right now, they're all CW-only.

I've also cast my eyes longingly toward the Penntek rigs.

I've been starting to operate with the K1USN Slow-Speed Test, a twice-weekly "contest" designed for beginners. Two months with the CW Academy was helpful, as well as providing a community of similar-skilled people with whom to practice. Just yesterday I made my second and third POTA contacts.

I will note that CW Innovations, which gets rave reviews from a local ham, rejected me outright because I don't have a QRO rig.

73 de Todd W2TEF

Todd:

I was the one who responded to your application for CW Innovation's Comprehensive ICR Course. CWI has no problem with QRP in general. In fact, we have quite a few facilitators and alumni who enjoy and use QRP on a regular basis. The reason we require a QRO setup for the Comprehensive ICR Course is because of the code buddy component of the curriculum. A code buddy is someone with whom you have regular QSOs each week. We require a QRO station (up to 100 watts) to assure you are best able to participate in these QSOs. Dealing with QSB, QRM, and QRN is challenging enough without adding QRP into the mix. The class participants who engage in consistent and regular code buddy QSOs make the most progress toward the goal of the course - conversational CW.

I hope this better explains our requirement.

72,
Teri KO4WFP

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 original poster (KA3STK), that's precisely the cost of sticking to QRP. You just have to be OK with not being heard sometimes. (Well, I assume everyone has to be OK with that, but in QRP-land I have to be OK with it a little more often.) Since this is an amateur pursuit rather than something you depend on for safety or livelihood, the tradeoffs might be acceptable for you. It's all about attitude and expectations. (My attitude of disappointment about CWI indicates I'm still coming to terms with my own choices!)