This is one of the most important concepts in ham radio… the relationship between transmitted power and received signal strength.
Sadly, many hams aren’t familiar with this topic and falsely believe that buying a 1,500 amplifier will make their signal LOUD.
In this tongue-in-cheek video, I talk about how I’m swarmed with women when I work portable in a park.
The idea came about when a local realtor left a bag of marketing materials on my front doorknob. The bag also contained a package of “Peeps”… those yellow marshmallow chickens that people buy at Easter. I thought, “These are the only chicks that a ham could pick up.”
I probably took it too far. If you can’t stand my stand-up comedy, skip to the last 30 seconds to see how to pick up chicks with ham radio.
In this video, I tell you why you should join the Straight Key Century Club. It’s a great place to have contacts with other Morse Code people who aren’t speed demons! This is a great group of guys who like to use Straight Keys and the speed is usually somewhere between 12 to 17 wpm. So, for anyone who’s just learned Morse Code, this is a great place to get your feet wet! Join the SKCC at http://www.skccgroup.com
The video also includes Bonus Footage that shows my office and gear used to shoot this video.
This weekend I worked some SSB QRP on the hill at Bobcat Ridge. I don’t do a lot of voice-mode QRP since it’s less efficient than CW or one of the Digital modes. Still, I did make several 2,000 mile contacts while running only 5 watts from my Elecraft KX2. The antenna was a SOTABEAMS dipole. All contacts were made on the 20m band.
What you DON’T see in this video are the many, many times I answered someone’s CQ only to have them not hear me at all. This is just how it is when working QRP voice-mode – especially in a contest when the station calling CQ has other stations overlapping their calling frequency. The QRM from other operators makes it harder to pick out a weak signal.