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My QSO from Kapaa, HI to Peoria, AZ on 500 Milliwatts made me a believer. 2800 NM.

Ask to the neighbor and the call to Tasmania, you should have handed him your cell phone ! Lol...! 😂🤣😂

Not to be argumentative, I really believe you are casting aspersions, on generalities, or what your average Joe believes ! Having been off HF for several years, I recently began playing CW on 40 meters, as that is the only band offered with this particular transceiver, an MFJ - 9040. Back story is, I purchased 135 feet of 18 gauge wire, known as MS 135 Super Wire, with the idea of using it solely as a receive antenna for the Belka shortwave radio, that I had recently purchased ! And I did in fact use it that way for sometime . Then I remembered my days running QRP, and it motivated me to drag out the 9040 ! Too, I remembered that I had purchased an Emtech Z M - 2 Antenna Tuner ! One thing led to another, and I'm like a giddy kid again, making my first contacts ! Obviously biten by the Radio Bug again ! This is where my experiences rub with your take that QRP requires favorable conditions ? I began this trek just a couple months ago, if that, and it was during the week after week of terrible Solar Flares, that went on , week after week ! Obviously effecting the HF Bands, too include 40 meters ! And I will openly admit, until these events, I was pretty much in the bag with everyone else, about thinking the band conditions, " Must " be favorable before you can work QRP ! But my experience has been quite the opposite ! Thru all of the trials and tribulations associated with QRP and band conditions, I was, and still do, work plenty of stations running Four (4) Watts, into that 135 foot, Long Wire ! Also participating in the 13 Colonies contest for my first time ever, and working 11 of the 13 ! Again fighting sometimes not so great band conditions, but still able to work them ! And I've heard most of the comments from the Neanderthal Hams, that the receiving stations are doing all the lifting, lifes to short for QRP, etc., etc. ! To each their own ! But I say, " Try it, you'll like it " ! My proof I have to offer, is the resulting reports from the Skimmer stations thru the Reverse Beacon Network ! Where even if the band is seemingly dead, I will still be heard, typically in many compass directions ! I have found this true, many times, mid - morning on 40, where it's like everyone believes the lie, that the band goes away at that time of day, so no one listens there, apparently ? As after sending CQ various times, with no response, and tuning up and down the dial with not a sound, except for some Digital signals, when I check info on RBN, there are the reports where my QRP signals are heard ! Hopefully word will spread, and less Operators will fall for the lie ! And investigate these things for themselves, instead off going with this, " Herd " mentality, and essentially throwing the Baby out with the bathwater ! Just thought my experiences of QRP were Worthy of mentioning ! As it is responsible for lighting a Fire under me, once again ! And had the results been poor, I'm guessing I would have returned the gear back to the boxes ! Oh....did I mention I added a Ten meter rig to the mix with the same antenna ? I'm having a Ball ! Lol ! 👍😉 Just My Two Cents ! Figuring for inflation, of course ! '73 !

Very cool results. One watt did preform better than t thought It would. It would be interesting to see the results given a larger distance to the WebSDR let's say 1000 miles.

MORE WATTS ARE BETTER.!!!!!

I carry my KH1 in my work backpack. Several times at the end of the day on the way out to the parking lot I have stopped, set up and made a couple of POTA contacts within the space of minutes. It's really fun.

Lol. He listed British inventions

I rarely use my amp. I take my qrp rig a short walk away from residential qrm and break pileups on 2w and a couple of cheap steel washing lines. 5w just wastes battery

Good to see you back in the ring! I missed your luminous sensible perspective.

I'll take the 100 watts when I'm trying to break through a pileup as a POTA hunter. Also, I live out west where the population isn't as dense, and if I'm activating, I'll get lot's more northeast and southeast region contacts vs. QRP. I do like to do both though just to mix it up. I'm learning CW too, so those QRP labs kits I'm building, I'll be able to use with QRP CW. Mike ND7E

Excellent explanation of propagation/favorable conditions. I subscribed based on the information, your delivery, and your voice is easy to listen to. I've only been in ham for a couple of years. So much to learn and do. I'm having a blast with it. And, I've yet to try QRP. I hope to make contact sometime in the future. Patrick, KE8VEG

well that was impressive. since when do HAMs sport that kind of talent. And Cliff: keyboards and vocal? you might have another career there!!!

Glad to see you back! It was your original videos that got me in to QRP, and since starting down this road 12 month ago I have been having the most fun I have ever had in Amateur radio. I have been amazed (and so have some of my receiving stations) how far 5 watts can take you. Next challenge, CW. Thanks for what you do.

You should repeat the same test with websdr 2000 miles and more, for long distances the power would be more significant!

Nice job , so just Hi for big gun to easy dx , or possible dx to low power ... my station for 6 meter =) Icom ic-726 , +/- 10 W SSB to little antenna Gp 1/4 home made - easy dx and very good rcv to propagation ... other band ... 15 / 12 meter , 35 W / 25 W to only Gp 15 meter & +/- limit for 12 meter ... easy dx to Europ and other dx ; 17 meter to Dipôle +/- 25 W , nice dx so just little band 17 meter is easy for small station , very Happy ; 20 meter is band very Queen for big Dx so possible low power ... 10 / 25 w ... ; 40 meter ... max 25 W to short dipôle 30 m and tuner box ... easy dx for Europ contry ... listening , listening & long listening for good dx , not hundred Watts ... Thank for information , good dx all - - - ) F4pzn ... old station , start one to 1994 ... many tks 😉

2,5w SSB from Pretoria, South Africa to India and Israel on 15m, FT817ND, internal battery and a 5' Miracle whip on the vehicles roof.. not too shabby. ZS1K

There are also ZeroBeat tuning assist modules which can using an Aural or Visual Aid ie Son of ZeroBeat or GrandSon of ZeroBeat. It was much easier in the days past when we had separate Receive / Transmit devices prior to the Advent of SSB ZeroBeating was just that ZeroBeating with the incoming signal. using SSB XCVR is a little more complicated but the newer units have somewhat simplified the process. Cheers 73 VE6LX

I've daydreamed about doing POTA atop Coit Tower in San Francisco...the KH1 looks made to order for that.

I had a stellar first day out with my KH1. I did two SOTA peaks here in southern California. On the first one I got F4WBN (France) and on the second peak I managed to eke out a contact with 7N1FRE (Japan)!

Now that was laugh out loud funny! Remember, QRP is like fishing with a flyrod. QRO is like fishing with dynamite. Have a little finesse!

Interesting demo. Now do the same thing but at a further distance like say 300 plus miles or more on a band where you can be heard for starters. I'm thiinking the power level test will differ considerably then.

Thanks Cliff I saw one of these at field day and just gotta build one!

Cliff, thanks for all the great educational videos. Sir, I am finnally learning CW. Do you know a QRP radio that decodes CW, so I can learn ... see what Iam sending? I can learn the characters by listening... but Iam trying to find a cheap way of learning to send... but if I cant see what I am sending??? how do I know ... what I am sending. Thanks for any help, advice, thanks again NS9T Bob.

LOL!! Love the naysayers.. shooting skip with less than 10 watts is half the fun. Used to do it all the time, on AM.. 11m. (( didn't have ham license in college.. ))

I have always wanted to be a champion weightlifter and win lots of prizes........But they wouldn't let me use my forklift.

The kh1 is amazing to me. I've never run qrp before in 30 years. It looked so cool I had to buy it. Fun ever since. Worked 3G0YA split on 15 sitting sitting in a park with the whip. And during the WPX worked VK1A on 40 through my dx commander both 3w very capable and under estimated

I've noticed down through the years that there's something about Radio, Photography, Computers and music that draws a lot of us together. It's like an illness with us :D I'm currently head first down the EMACS rabbit hole and I bet you've been there too. That was a great tune Chris, very well done.

Isn't that the kit where packaging is a beast because the knobs are out of alignment ?

Cliff thank you very much for your very clear explanation of the power to signal difference I am like a QRP guy like you.

I think you forgot to say ten gallon hat with two pint head ha ha

Hey Cliff, thanks again for this. After watching your video I got some gear and headed out to a park this weekend. czcams.com/video/cFjyELEHG5c/video.html

"qrp is 50 watts". Kc6ubp 2023

I use my phone, a cheap Bluetooth lav and a cheap tripod.

Thank you so much for this video, very informative. :)

We Want More! We Want More!

What happened to the Tornado Observing and Safety video? I wanted to watch this with my son as he is interested in severe weather tracking and spotting, but it doesn't seem to exist anymore.

Nothing to add here Cliff, just a thankyou for the videos you did years back when I was getting into HF and only playing with QRP.

Thanks for the video. I could tell that you have production experience just by those comical videos you put out and even musical skills to boot. I have done professional shooting, editing, lighting and sound for a living (news media) for the last 30 years. I sometimes think about doing Witherspoon style videos. But, I don’t, because all that seems like actual work and I also don’t like myself on camera. But, the hardest part is actually thinking while speaking and having it come out smoothly. It takes a natural talent but that too can be learned over time. For now, I’m just a viewer.

Thanks Cliff! 73 de NM9O

You can drop that S-line off at my QTH!

Excellent! Thanks for doing this. 73, Charlie

Coffee and Ham Radio is a perfect example of a bad channel. They sit around and mumble at each other. No one looks like they want to be there. It's uninspired and quite sad actually.

I like QRP and used it off an on over the last sixty years. Never mentioned it was QRP to anyone but did say it was home-brew under 10 watts. Never did contests. I liked it when I was heard on the other side of the world but the only record of it was penciled into my log book. I didn't carry it around like an iPhone photo album. The only mode I've ever used is CW and RTTY. It is kind of sad to me how defacto segregation has overrun amateur radio in my lifetime. The qrp world I'm really diving in to is WSPR. I get to wake up in the morning as see how effective my gear is relative to others in my region which is nobody. Power transmitted and measured in db is exactly how the human ear works. Very non-linear and why digital modes (unheard except by the demodulator) and linear and can hear the difference in S-units. The demodulator for CW is the meat between the ears and why we can't hear a 3db change in CW transit power.

Hi Cliff, very interesting topic. I did photo and video for a while for a magazine and I am familiar with a lot of stuff you talk about in this great video. As always it's nice to combine one or more hobby's or passions with eachother. I'm curious in what kind of video editing software u are using to edit and produce your content. I tried different ones but came to the conclusion that for me Filmora Wondershare is a great piece of software capable of producing fantastic results even more with the latest releases. Besides that I was shooting my clips with dslr at start but got it down to a small decent mirrorless camera known for great photos and great video for less than 900$ us. I combined that with a external mic with windscreen also. I'm also using my phone sometimes. Indoor I often use my airpods pro. They sound very good but won't cancel wind noise outdoors. For indoor shooting I still use two small tripods and some softboxes. A led light circle for close-up works also works fine I think. It seems we have a lot in common ;-) 73 Phil from EU. ON4VP.

Thank you for all the practical information.

Excellent presentation. I will probably never record a YT video, but now I have a much greater appreciation of what goes into that process. -- Mark, KE6BB

Excellent video Cliff, thank you! I'll share this around. One thing I would add (I don't *think* you mentioned, but I could have missed it) is to turn one's phone to landscape mode. I see way too many videos online, inexplicably shot in portrait mode, leading to dead space on the sides of the finished video and a lot of unnecessary panning to capture the entire subject. 73 Richard VK2SKY

Thanks Cliff. That had more useful information than the last 5 vids I have seen on the subject. Just recorded a little clip that I think will make a decent short. And there you were with answers to most of my questions. Thanks again.

Great presentation at FDIM...seeing it makes this the perfect follow-up.

Absolutely fantastic! I love this song! Totally awesome arrangement and performance. Hot guitar too! Being a professional guitarist loving funk and jazz and a QRP HAM, this really gets me going. I was practically dancing in my chair. You were telling me you were a 'Yellow Jackets' fan and now I can tell. Well done, Cliff!