Tag Archives: QRP

Contests, CW, DX, Operating, Portable Ops, Soapbox

CQ WW WPX CW Contest – May 25th, 2019

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In this video, I get a chance to talk a little philosophy while driving to a local park. I then set up my Mountain Topper and SOTABEAMS dipole and work 11 stations… 8 of which were 5,000+ miles away! This will show you that a tiny, battery-powered radio can produce excellent results and allow you to have a ton of fun.

 

Gear seen in this video:

MTR-5B HF radio: https://www.lnrprecision.com/store/MT…

3Ah lithium ion battery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01…

Mini Speaker: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01…

Palm Mini Paddle – no longer available

Zoom H6 Audio Recorder: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/deta…

GoPro Hero7 Black camera: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc…

2″ Drive-On Mast Mount: https://tn07.com/mast-supports

Green 33′ fiberglass telescopic mast: https://tn07.com/telescoping-masts

Contests, Operating, Portable Ops, SSB

SSB QRP during the CQ WW WPX Contest

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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.

Contests, CW, Operating, Portable Ops

Biking and Playing Radio (NEQP 2018)

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On Sunday, May 6th, 2018 I rode my bicycle to a construction site with a good location for working portable. I set up my SOTABEAMS dipole and used my YouKits HB1B Mk III to make some contacts. The New England QSO Party event was being held that weekend and I worked 6 stations in a fairly short time.

It seemed like the sidetone of my HB1B devolved into lots of clicks and very little tone after a while. Not sure why but it was annoying. A great day for ham radio!

CW, DX, Operating

Easter Island on 5 Watts (from St. John USVI)

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I’m on vacation for a couple of weeks. I brought my KX2 to the Caribbean and made this quick video to show you my contact with Easter Island. I also show you my setup – which includes an unusual antenna. I hope to make many more contacts, as time (and the wife) permits! – Cliff

For more info on the antenna… see Page 9 of this manual… http://www.elecraft.com/manual/E740054%20KXAT1%20man%20rev%20B.pdf

Antennas, CW, Operating, Portable Ops

New England QSO Party – From Bobcat Ridge

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This past weekend, I took the Mountain Topper radios (3B and 5B) to Bobcat Ridge and worked a bunch of stations.  In this video, I show my antenna setup and work 5 or 6 stations. At the end of the video, I show all of the stations I worked.

Not bad for 3 watts and a wire antenna.  I was only transmitting for about 90 minutes, total.  The various contests running this weekend made it super-easy to work QRP!

Contests, CW, Operating

ARRL International DX Contest

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I played around in the ARRL International DX Contest this weekend for a total of about 8 hours. During that time, I worked 49 countries!

I’m NOT a contester. I’m not really even all that great at CW but I do enjoy it.  If I can do this, you can do this, too.

The contest exchange of information was:

DX Station: Call sign, Signal Report (always “599”) and Power Level

American Station: Call sign, Signal Report (always “599”) and State abbreviation.

In this video, I show you my station setup and then record my screen so you can see me working some DX stations via QRP.

Don’t miss the Bonus Track at the end of the video…

-Cliff

CW, General, Portable Ops, Radios

Using the Mountain Topper QRP Radio

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I got the last Mountain Topper QRP radio of 2015 from LNR Precision (according to Ryan).

I’ve been having a ball with this gem for the past 10 days.  In this video, I tell you about the radio and then show you how to use nearly every feature.  It’s a long video that I made for those who may be interested in this jewel-like little rig… which should be EVERYONE!