100w vs. 5w: PART 2 (SSB)
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- čas přidán 1. 02. 2024
- In this video, I show an example of transmitting SSB at 100 watts and then turning down the power while listening to the results. A nice ham (Bryan, WZ5DX) gave me some audio feedback from 466 miles away.
I also discuss some philosophical concepts about QRP and the unreliable nature of propagation that makes it hard to predict where your signal will be strong on any given day.
This video also underscores the difference between SSB and CW. At QRP levels, code is easier to copy than is the human voice. So, if you want to be heard long distances, consider learning the code.
More fun too 73 KF0KA
This is the reason why I am enthusiastically studying code.
And also so I can be the coolest kid at the dance... 😉
You're spot-on on all points. Ignore the trolls and negative comments, I do.
Qrp is going fishing, sometimes you get something, sometimes not. Qro is buying fish at the supermarket.😊 I love both. I'm a subscriber and I've really missed you.
Well said, I like the analogy.
I like your analogy, Carlos. I have sometimes said that QRP is like fishing with lightweight equipment. Even if you only hook a medium sized fish, it feels like you’ve really done something great! -Cliff
@@QRPSchoolFor about 6 years (naturally, through the bottom of a sunspot cycle 🙄), I did QRP Mobile. That was like fishing without bait! However, I did work several Europeans. Poland was the most distant but it was a German station that I’m most proud. A special event station in a 20m SSB pileup. I broke it with 2.5w and it was partly because I correctly added “QRP Mobile” to my callsign. I was 57 to him and he was 59+ to me.
There is a difference in fishing off the dock at the local lake, and fighting a raging storm to troll the ocean. I remember making a contact with a German station on 40m LSB at night, I was using 1,200 watts and he was using 800 watts, and we barely made the QSO at all. That night, DX required close to a kW just to get anything. Sometimes it takes that kind of power just to go fishing.
@@kingduckford I hear you, brother. If it's important to make that contact, and low power isn't cutting it, crank up the power! - cliff
You are so right! Small Radio, QRP power, small battery and a (random) wire in a tree...this is real Ham radio. I am a licensed ham since 1978 and I work below 10 watts for most of that time... 😊 73, Stephan, DF6PA
QRP is a wonderful challenge of skill and knowledge and there is lots and lots to learn about all sorts. Please keep teaching us🔥Love it
I've learned in ham radio, 99% of Answers to questions are "it depends".
So true!
Very much so ;-)
Exactly!!!
I have become a diehard cw qrp operator decades ago !
QRP works great to conserve power !
Perhaps maybe remember when we were supposed to conserve electricity ?
Conserve just went away !
There also used to be the type of fella who was a listener !
I think a QRP operator puts a bit of effort into being a listener !
A half a watt works for listeners !
The coolness factor increases as the power output decreases. Making a DX contact on 100mW would be a "mike drop" moment for me. Of course I'd drop my cheapest mike. 73 Cliff
Thanks, Marty. Good to see you at our recent WFD. -Cliff
I agree, years ago I had run 250mW with a single transistor and crystal on 40m for several years and worked the entire east coast and Cuba with a basic dipole. Just like fishing, just choose the best conditions and bait ;-)
I used to run 100 Watts for about 15 years, sold it, moved QTH, then later made my 4 Watt h/b ssb/cw tcvr about 30 years ago.
For the last 8 years I couldn't do much because of internet QRM on 160m to 20m. Hooray, it cleared up in January when it went to fibre optic cable. I've got my hobby back. 5 Watts and less now, so I'm really just getting back into it.
The beacons are good and there's a lot on 28.200 to around 28.300 MHz in various countries.
Mainly used c.w. on 17m and 10m with 5 Watts into Europe, with 1 Watt getting 1400 miles to Sicily and Bulgaria..
An ssb QSO to Sicily, 1400 miles using 5 Watts.
Nobody in 35 years of living here has ever asked what is the purpose of my wire in the sky.
G4GHB.
I love this topic ❤. Please record more video. Thank you very much
Glad I saw till the end. Learned something new about the beacons.. I’ve used WWV and websdr to hear conditions on bands but didn’t know about beacons doing the 100w to 1w beeps. I’ll add that to the tool box. Thanks!
Glad I could help! - Cliff
Greetings from Tasmania :) . When out with my Mountain Topper it's not uncommon to contact mainland US stations, so I don't think distance is the issue. I would suggest it's more a numbers game for you to get us in the log; despite a vibrant local amateur community, there would only be a handful of active CW operators. P.S. It's great having you back making videos.
I’m a qrp weirdo too. Nice video series Cliff!
Love the video and loved part 1. Great points and great example on both videos transmitting to an SDR and seeing the results. It has always amazed me when I am pushing 100W and lucky to make contacts and I hear these guys out there making the trip on 5 and 10W. I recently purchased a QRP rig, Lab599 TX-500, and made a 10W contact to stations 600 miles away, and that was on SSB. I purchased the rig as my CW rig, which I am learning now. I am very excited about CW and the low power world. New subsciber, love the videos.
CW opens up a new world. You will not regret the time spent learning it. Congrats on giving QRP a try. It doesn’t always work as well as 100 watts, but it somehow seems more satisfying! Like catching a fish on ultralight tackle…
QRP Works, and yes propagation does play a major factor. But like you, I really enjoy taking out my 2 watt Wilderness Radio SST-20 and seeing who I can contact. Or my 5 watt QRPLabs QCX (Classic). It's just fun. And yes, sometimes it can be a challenge. But for me that's half the fun. Throw a wire in a tree on a nice sunny day from a park, with a light weight station I built myself and talking 100 to 10,000 miles. That really raises the cool factor for me. I still get that "First Contact" excitement even if it's only a short distance contact.
Radio is magic and I love it. ( yes I know how it works, but it's still magic :-) )
Don't let the trolls and the naysayers get you down. You are sharing an aspect of this great hobby that you enjoy. I think that's awesome. Let them have their 1500W amps, that's what they enjoy. Do what you enjoy. That's the great thing about this hobby there are so many different ways to enjoy it. One way is not better than the another. IMHO.
Love the channel, and I can't wait for more.
73
Thank you for the great comment. I think I could do a short video that argues that, one of the reasons QRP is so fun is because it DOESN’T always work!
If I spent hundreds to thousands of dollars to gain a couple S units, I would be butt hurt by your reality videos too LOL
Excellent someone with sense .. my record is I worked Zimbabwe on 250 Milli Watts HW8 BFY51 PA ...inverted Vee dipole centre up about 30 feet up on a tree
Wow! I wish I could have been there to see that!!!!!! There’s one that you’ll never forget. Way to go! -Cliff
Cliff, practical real-time testing and experience is the most important testing to me. How to attain the best results on any given day and conditions is the challenge and fun ham radio. QRP helps test your limits.
Spot on! I wasn't really being critical on the last video's topic, just observations. On 40 we have a little rag chew get together every weekend. We are all in about a 500-750 mile radius. Many times 5 watts is all it takes for most stations to make it happen. One OM even laid his antenna on the ground and most stations still copied him fine! Some of the station's locations, antenna config, or noise makes it more difficult for them. 73
I have a item in my log where I talk to a W7 station west coast from Belgium using an SunSDR QRP radio 5 watts and a dipole for 20 meters at 60 feet in the air. Sometimes those gods help you out ;-) Great channel and videos. 73 Phil ON4VP
Well done. Yes! The Gods are on our side, but they're a bit lazy it seems. They help us just often enough for us to keep chasing DX and not get discouraged. Thanks, Phil. - Cliff
Another great video Cliff, thank you very much for what you do for all of us.
Thanks, Rene.
The last couple of minutes of this video were right on the money. Good work brother! (I had to laugh actually, all those locations that you said you can't work any time, like Tasmania, or Japan.... As an Australian, we can work those guys QRP all the time!) I'd be happy to work Ohio occasionally... hihi... 73
Nice video Cliff, I’ve been into QRP for many years, just because I love a challenge, the least power used is definitely the way togo.
Greetings from Essex County, England.
I'm still learning the basics, but last weekend, I spoke to a station in Italy (678 miles away) using my IC-705 on 5w.
All I've got is a Chameleon MPAS mounted on a 2.5m tall wooden pergola in our tiny garden, with 3 x 10m and 3 x 5m elevated radials.
I could hear him very clearly, and so could he.
Power is a very fluid concept...
Keep up the great work.
73 de 2E0HJN
(Manny)
Thank you, Manny!
Great video and so glad your making videos again:)
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
Thanks, Patrick. When the station you're trying to contact sounds really strong to you, there's a good chance that conditions are favorable for using lower power to contact them. It doesn't always work out, but it often does. QRP folks reduce their power in order to feel a greater sense of accomplishment/fun when they make contacts. Maybe like shooting from the three-point line in basketball. I have three 100-watt radios on my desk, so I'm not opposed to using more power when needed or desired. It's all good. Have fun out there! - Cliff
"cool story bro" 😃 Excellent practical video. Point to point scheduled communications require special planning. It was covered by some ham preppers on CZcams
First off, thank you for your videos! I have been watching your videos for quite some time now and have to say thank you for inspiring me to try more QRP. Second, I have been getting on the air with my 817 while I’m living here in Japan. I have been doing mostly FT8 and JS8call, but only at 5 watts. Yesterday I was able to make a few contacts on 15 meters. One to Uruguay (11800+ miles), one to southern Australia (about 6000 miles), and one to Okinawa (about 700 miles). Key up and let key up! QRP is fun and amazing to see what you can do! Keep up the great videos! PS- I’m just like everyone else out there trying to improve my CW! Gambatte! JQ3IWM/K7PEW
11,800 miles with an 817! Fantastic!!! Congrats! -Cliff
I have both kinds of stations .. K3S with 500W and Hexbeam vs KX3 with 10W. Both are cool, fun and totally different. I like QRP but it’s different, however, that’s why this hobby is so cool! Good videos!!
I love QRP but I also have three 100 watt HF radios on my ham desk. Sometimes I need those extra S-Units! 😊
Another great video on the topic. Long term SWL here. In the process of getting licensed in Japan.
I think it would be fun make my first contact a DX contact pushing just 1-5W CW rather than attempting to squeeze myself into the local 40m SSB evening rag chew.
Have a decent summit or two nearby. A home brew CW transceiver is a simple weekend project. Have my antenna already built and tuned. This is what the hobby is about.
Great to see your videos again
Thanks, Cliff. I've never owned a QRO radio, but I'm a QRP weirdo, in part, thanks to you. I really enjoy your videos. Thank you, and 73, de K7RNJ
An excellent follow up, thank you.
I had forgotten about the beacons! Thanks for the reminder. 😂
Good to have you back Cliff. Good production and explanation. Hope to see you again at FDIM. Dave K8WPE from Traverse City, MI.
I’ll see you there, Dave.
Very helpfull.
Qrp is very nice for outdoor activity.
Excellent video! Your demonstration of the difference between power output levels in that first half of the video shows a huge difference. I might try a little SSB on my next SOTA outing.
It’s definitely worth a try. I know some POTA folks have been using the Xiegu G90 in the field with good results… and that radio has a maximum power output of only 20 watts. 5 watts is only 1 S-unit down from 20 watts. So, definitely doable.
@@QRPSchool - I have an IC-705 and a FT817ND, but similar thing. I usually just do 5W FM on 2m. I’m not looking for a load of contacts normally, otherwise I tend to get a bit cold. Might give SSB a go, maybe just on 2m as a trial.
QRP for me builds my skills as an operator. I also love QRP. Thank you for your channel and presentations. K5NR
I am with you Clif, one other thing, working QRP will make you a better Ham radio operator, now that statment ruffled a few feathers I am sure. OK if you are working QRP you pay more attention to making sure your antenna is working well, you are most likley not using a tuner when working DX, a well matched antenna is far better than one that requires a match box.
Then working QRP makes you a better listener, I mean you train your ears to hear week signals, to draw the signals out of the noise.
Then Last if you Love QRP, then most likley you also LOVE CW mode, and we all know CW mode is real Ham radio. Now the feathers are flying, ha ha.
CW really does makes QRP more effective and more exciting. It definitely takes some time to learn it, but it’s worth it!!! Thanks.
Let em fly.....I love CW. I started as a novice back when we had to be Xtal controlled. I had an nc 300 and about 50 wts. Most fun I ever had with ham radio.
73 kf0ka
I must admit that the CW video had me wondering, "Sure, but how would it sound on SSB?" Thanks for creating this video. I only wish that you had shared a 50W sample. I suspect that it might have sounded identical to 100W. I'm a mobile-only operator. So, I'm working with a "compromise antenna" that is probably making me about as effective at 100W as you are at QRP. 😉 I've considered an ALS-500 many times, but I'm successful enough with 100W that I don't think I need the extra sophistication or current draw from the battery. Thanks for sharing! 73! -Scott, KE4WMF
Thanks for another great video. There are some digital modes like JT 65 that have error correction and integration gain that work well over long distances if you want to impress your neighbor but you might have to schedule the contact to get it done. Thanks for your video it has motivated me to order a 20 watt SDR transceiver to play with FX-4CR. Best regards WA1HGS
I checked out the beacon web page and spent a few minutes listening to the beacons via a WebSDR. Next time I'm in the field, I'll take time to tune WWV and these beacons as well as checking the solar weather. I need to make some notes to carry into the field.
I've been playing a little POTA while visiting some of my family here in Missouri. The last three activations were done with my KX2 and either a wire in a tree or the Chameleon MPAS 2 and five watts CW. I made my quota each outing and did not need a lot of station to do it.
I find that fun. It is nice to be able to setup and recover the station in ten minutes or so.
Thanks for the show!
I’m a QRP weirdo too 😂. Great video Cliff! 73 de KF7SEY
Totally agree 👍 Interesting about the tone beacons, never knew about those
thanks for the part 2! I use 20 watts a lot with my G90. I had a Xiegu X6100 and I just had too much trouble with it and getting good results on activations with it consistently. I'm sure part of that was it being made of cheap Chinesium. I'm sure a IC705 or Elecraft would do a better job. But for now I'll stick with my G90. I have great results talking to people in Europe. The approaching solar maximum certainly helps the QRP game right now.
Who cares what the QRO Bros say. Next thing, someone will complain about the net guy… “No one owns a frequency including nets!” 😂😂😂 Nice of that station to help out with the signal reports, and great comparison video again.
Hey great video, you actually answered my question from the first video you did... on difference from say cw to phone... thanks, I learned alot. Now as far as the sad hams, and It seems to me they are more and more of them today, No matter what test you do, there is ALWAYS going to be different variables and scenarios..... thats HAM RADIO... no way can ANYONE do a test to cover all the different variables.. that said Thanks a million for all the videos sharing your knowledge, 73 NS9T.
Much better than the first video imo great job😊
Thanks. The first video really needed that second one in order to tell the whole story. -Cliff
So good to hear such common sense, excellent.
Great video. Thank you for presentations and information. QRP works as you describes. 73s
Love it. I'll talk to you anytime conditions are favourable. I have several SSB QSOs at 5 watts with a homebrew rig into Europe from southeast Tassie, cheers, 73, Ian, VK7IAN
Another great video!
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.. ))
This was great (and funny) - thank you.
Great post
I hop on my small motorcycle with one of my QRP radios in a backpack head to the hills, throw a wire in a tree and make contacts just using a 9 volt transistor radio battery. Simple small Fun. And it is fun to be setting five feet off a trail, sending and receiving signals talking to someone far off while people are walking by not even awair I am right there.
That IS a very cool way to play radio! - Cliff
Very nice video. I'm an advocate for QRP and very familiar with the 6dB per S-unit rule. I often explain to fellow hams than earning 1 S-unit more is costly and there are other ways than increasing the transmit power.
One of them, on SSB, is to use a good audio compressor which can bring up to a 10dB increase in your audio S/N ratio, which is 1.5 times more than what 4 times more power could bring.
I guess with compression on your modulation, you would have been perfectly audible down to 1 watt.
Thank you. Good info! I did have some compression applied, but maybe not as much as I could have used. Also, If I had made this video at a time when propagation was more favorable, or less favorable, the results would have been different. I just sat down and made it at a random time with no thought to try to maximize the results. -Cliff
Thanks Cliff….very encouraging to keep working at it on cw and lower power. Tnx es 73 Bart N4KGY
I promise that it's worth the time and trouble to learn CW, Bart. Those little CW-only radios are so much fun. - Cliff
Good video!! Takes patience and good propagation for QRP. Have not tried it yet. Will get there one day. Currently chasing DX barefoot with 100w on a compromised flagpole antenna. Would like to add an amp eventually so I can ragchew at night. I will say it makes my day when I add another country to my list. Keeps getting harder and harder. Up to 88 and counting. 73
Keep doing what you're doing. You're having fun, and that's what really matters. If you are physically able, you might try setting up a portable station and activating a park as part of the Parks On The Air program. It's a hoot to have 4 or 5 stations trying to work you at the same time... it's like being DX! And a number of people find that they can make plenty of contacts using lower power during these POTA activations. Even if you just go ahead and run 100 watts, I promise you'll have a blast. Take care - Cliff
Thank you! for your shared knowledge and experience. I would ignore your those w their negative comments. Lots of people on CZcams-land need to grow up.
And there you have it folks...
That is what we call the proverbial " Mic' drop" 😂
Great job!
Nice video!
Great video, as always. Very educational. Make some bike mobile videos this summer, please.
Great video Cliff. If it was easy everyone would do it.
I wondered what the propagation gods looked like. So I can assume that when the bands aren’t great they are at the gym.
As a ham that got started with the FT-818 in 2020, you can find someone to talk to with QRP or I would have given it all up. Thanks for the vids!
QRP is a hobby within a hobby and a lot of fun. -- Love your videos. 73/K7KWW
Thank you! -Cliff
I am going to say something that is probably going to sound very stupid now, but here goes. I used to tell people I loved taking my FT-817 out and about and how much I loved the radio. I used to, and still do, get feedback along the lines of "I own one" or "I have owned one" and quickly followed by "I can't get anyone on it, the power is too low". It took me a bit to figure out what I was doing, and why was it that I would always get contacts every time. Well, the thing is I look for the strongest signals. So, and this is where I am going to sound a bit stupid I think... I tell people now, if you want to QRP, first make your radio as deaf as you can. And then find someone strong. Then call them. I have worked thousands of miles in all directions on non-resonant end fed wires driven through a 9:1 unun at low height ( if you are a new ham, all of this is bad ) and all with 5w on SSB. My favorite was running the wire along my mothers washing line, in the rain, the wire trapped in the door with the unun in the house... from UK I worked spain and had a very very long QSO with someone who had a small antenna on a balcony. The propagation was just such that it lined up perfect for us. But really, and this is where my advice ( although maybe stupid ) comes from, all I was doing was looking for strong signals. Honestly, I love QRP, it always feels like I have activated some sort of cheat code when I work thousands of miles doing seemingly everything I can to fail. I guess I am just good at failing at failing itself.
817ND here and QRP to QRP is great.
Yesterday my one Watt on 10m to Finland and it turned out he was also using one Watt, my attic dipole and his inverted vee. About 1200 miles.
G4GHB.
All this had to be said. Thank you!
Sad you got a bunch of negative people on your feedback, but I really appreciate seeing the SSB follow-up. The CW vid inspired me to work on my mic shy some and run tests SSB to Wisconsin. Decent propagation at probably the outer edge of my 1-hop zone, decent setup with a linked EFHW on 20m... 80W fine for convo. If not ragchew, I probably could have dropped to around 20W/25W for a basic contact. 20-80, was clear difference to my ear over websdr. 40-80, just sounded a little thinner. Thanks for teaching. 😎👍
Thanks for sharing your experience, Brian. -Cliff
I like your take on both cw and ssb. I have run only qrp for many years and my only hf rig right now is a Heathkit HW-8 and making contacts on 40 or 15 meters with a dipole is not a problem, even Europe and the middle east, if allowing for band conditions. I have even made a lot of dssc phone contacts on 80m with my qrp Wee Willy homebrew at 1 watt so given the right conditions, qrp is usually just fine and fun to boot 😀 73 de wa4jat coastal nc
Mark, I love that in these days of the do-it-all, fancy rigs, you're using the classic Hot Water 8 and having fun doing so! And congrats on your 80m 1 watt contacts. That's really an accomplishment. - Cliff
@@QRPSchool Hello Cliff. Just to update, I just put up a end fed half wave in a more or less horizontal L config for 80m and making solid contacts as expected. Long live QRP🙂
Excellent!
Wow. Cliff is back AND he has a K4!
I told my wife, “I promise, this will be the last ‘good radio’ I ever buy.” That K4 is fantastic. That said, I still love my old Flex 6300 because the software for it gives you a panadapter that is as wide as your computer monitor. What’s your “dream radio”?
I enjoy 100 watts and a wire on SSB! I don't understand why many hams run 1000 watts or full power into a beam just to chat over a few 100 miles. I've hit 70+ countries in the 6 weeks I've been on HF. I understand propagation and luck, but if you listen around and be patient, your 100 watts or less can get you anywhere. Great video sir!!!
Thats right. You get the best bang for the buck with 100 watts. I really dont need more than 50 watts 90% of the time. In all honesty 1000 watts vs 100 watts isnt going to make alot of difference from my experience.
@@Jeff-sp7bg if you want more power, 500 w is probably the best value over a hundred. You get over 7 db increase. That next bump to a thousand only gets you another 3db. For a lot more money too.
Depends on the band, conditions and whether or not you're a contester. I'm not a contester, but if I'm trying to break though a pileup to contact an operator in another country, I'll run high power. Or if on 80 meters to cut through static crashes. But, yeah, just short distances with decent conditions, I see your point.
I operate most days during the week on the 17m activity group with my IC-705 and a half size Hamstick on my work truck SSB. I’ve never not been heard. Occasionally there will be one or two European stations and one in New Zealand participating and I’ve gotten signal reports back from them. It’s all about the propagation.
Thanks for doing this! I could still hear you, on the video, at 0.5w.
Thanks especially for pointing out the beacons! Such an underrated tool. Unfortunately, the FT8 “operators” almost always destroy the 14.100 beacon.
My SSB QRP Mobile station consisted of a FT-817ND into a one-off Diamond antenna with a 20m element on top, on a 4 magnet mount. Even though I was on during the bottom of a sunspot cycle, it convinced me that “QRP works!”.
Question for you: What rig were you running that goes from 100w to 0.5w?
Best 73’s!! 😊 WB3CFN/m
The things you demonstrate, in this video, as well as the one with CW, are long standing scientific and mathematical facts. We have known the relationship between power and relative dB and how it's perceived for many decades. Those who are in disagreement and/or trolling are ignorant. It's not a debate, engineers have understood how this works since the early days of the telephone network. This should be common knowledge to every ham!
I have to laugh when I hear guys having a conversation and one of them switches on a kilowatt amplifier and asks the other guy how much difference it makes, and it's maybe 1 S-unit and they're all confused as to why the guy didn't go from S6 to S9+20dB. It's embarrassing that so much of the ham community doesn't understand this.
BTW, these same principles apply to loudness in audio equipment as well. A 100 watt amplifier is only barely perceivably louder than a 50 watt amp. 3dB, which is just BARELY perceivable if you're listening intently. That's why potentiometers are available with linear and audio tapers. Audio taper pots increase and decrease exponentially so that they have a noticeable effect to the listener without excessive movement being required. It's basic engineering and math principles which have been well understood for as long as anyone reading this has been alive. Unless you're a Ham, apparently. It's shocking that you have hams in your comments essentially arguing that well understood physics don't apply in practice.
It’s now April 2024, and i can tell you that almost evry day, and bein in northern France, I can hear people from the U.S ( mainly Ohio and tenesee) on CB channel 19 AM; and I hear them as if they were sitting in my car with me !!!
Thank you, Serge! - Cliff
Thats awesome I live in Ohio. I love making contacts. This is an awesome video
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
Fantastic!!! - Cliff
Really nice points. My issue is, you are the little guy on my right shoulder whispering in my ear, "turn the power down David, you really don't need all of that extra power anyway". Then there's the other guy on my left shoulder who whispers stuff like Tim the tool man Taylor "More power! arg arg arg!". I find we are just creatures of habit, and generally repeat certain behaviors because of those habits, regardless of what we know could be better. It takes a conscience effort to break those habits.
It's going to be a nice day today... Are you doing a POTA activation? I live in Mt. Juliet, and can meet up.
To each his own. I don't own an amplifier... but, I've certainly wished I had one when trying to compete with high-power folks in trying to snag a DX station in a pile-up! There's definitely a time an place for an amplifier. Yesterday, I took a new ham on his first POTA activation. He doesn't know CW, so I took a 100 watt radio into the field and had him run SSB. He made 70+ contacts in every corner of the US. He is hooked, and we both had a blast!!! He would have made plenty of contacts at 10 watts with my KX2, but he made more contacts at 100 watts, and that's what I wanted for him on his first HF and first POTA experience. It's all good. I say, "Use that amp with a clear conscience, but turn it off and experiment sometimes." (and let me borrow that amp someday when I can't work Easter Island in a pile-up!) - Cliff
Very good info and video Cliff. Thank you. 73 de Kn4vvy
I must say that I am not a QRP fanatic but out in the fields I just use whatever is available to me. It can be 3W from my MTB3b or can be 15W from a KX3 when I have luxury to cary enough electrons alone with the KX3. When portable I use maximum available to me power just to make life easier for my correspondents. I consider that in QRP the skill is mostly on the other side of a QSO, but patience should be present on this side of it. But again, I am a CW operator and it is hard to imagine that in 2017 when I got licensed the 3w SSB with a wire antennas was a reasonable option.
I read some comments below and would like to correct myself: there is still skills required to be QRP op - one thing understanding your equipment (antenna in particular) and propagation.
Also use the QRP frequencies, both c.w. and s.s.b.
G4GHB.
Great Video as was the first in the series... Required learning for new hams. 73 K5AZZ
I'm perplexed the operator about to run a net (presumably within the US only) needs 600W and a beam. But there's lots I don't know. I agree with all your statements.
I secretly think it would be awesome to have Bryan’s (WZ5DX) station! Don’t tell anyone. Mostly, I just really covet his antennas! Look him up on QRZ.com to see pics. I can’t have nice antennas like he’s got, due to HOA restrictions. Bryan, if you ever read this, thanks for your kindness and willingness to help out a QRP yahoo like me. -Cliff
@@QRPSchool I openly agree.
Net control needs to be heard by all check-ins. Usually that means power and an omni antenna, like a dipole or a vertical. And he may have a beam ready to point at somebody having trouble hearing him. I could never do it with my modest station. Good stuff here, im going to subscribe. tnx and 73 KF0KA
@ralphnunn3 JFYI CW vs SSB is about 15db difference in readability. Thus 5W CW ~ 150W SSB one may consider that a noticeable difference
If you're making contacts and having fun, the rest doesn't matter (so long as you're doing it legally, of course).
Last week I made the "coupe du REF" SSB contest with 5W and a simple magnetic loop from my balcony.
I made contact from France to Guyana, Canada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Brazil, Morocco.
Of course, it easier with hams wich take the time to listening, and I had to repeat few time my call and number, but it's was not really hard.
Well done! When propagation is good, the success rate is very good. - Cliff
QRO is the way to go!!
Bottom line is the band is either open or it's not. As you stated "conditions". If the band isn't open running 5KW or 10KW won't open the band or change the atmospheric conditions. Or to reduce it to simple CB terms, the skip is either in or it isn't. All the power in the world isn't going to change that fact.
From Arizona I work into Europe on a modest dipole up 15' and with 1.75 watts CW. Today I worked a station in Bulgaria on 10 meters. Gave him a 599 and got a 559 in return. Not sure what he was running in terms of power but I was running 1.75 watts. For the "nice story bro" types, tell them to look up or Google a law of physics called "The Inverse Square Law." It doesn't matter if it's sound, light, radiation, or RF, this law applies to all energy waves.
73, and keep up the good work Cliff!!
Well said, Sam! - Cliff
You give the power out of the radio? What is your antenna Db gain and cable loss? Power out for this demonstration should be at the antenna.
Antenna is a Hustler vertical, so a quarter-wave vertical. It's the only antenna I'm allowed to have in my HOA... and I'm lucky to have THAT. See it here: czcams.com/video/UqUdav1yp4Y/video.htmlsi=EfVTr4qfRt2ysCYl&t=237
Good video. Your Tanzania story on favorable conditions is true. But even with favorable conditions 5 watts is not going to bust a POTA pileup like 100 watts will. You would definitely have to work harder. I love QRP and three of my 4 radios are QRP. Only my 7300 is QRO. I would love to see a beacon video.
We are agreed. “Busting” a pileup requires a signal that is louder than others. The 2 extra S-Units you get from 100 watts (vs. 5 watts) will be louder, all things being equal. Of course, not everyone with 100 watts will be able to even hear the POTA station, much less work him. Getting into a pileup while QRP requires clever timing, calling slightly off-frequency if CW so you aren’t bending in with everyone else, or waiting until the loud stations peter out, leaving the POTA station with weaker stations to work. Oh, and luck helps! ;-)
Your antenna is your station - show me the antenna.
What nonsense are you talking about? Did you see my video where 8 of 11 contacts were >5,000 miles on 3 watts with a wire dipole? This video uses a ground-mounted 1/4 wave vertical.
If you live in a country with a very large number of hams your going to have a larger number of them that have an environment that compensates for your low power. Either a beam/Yagi or they live in a very low background noise environment.
I live in Perth Western Australia. Look at it on a world map. There are 300 odd hams in the state outside of Perth. The next city with hams is 2500km away. Further the Hams outside of Perth and those in the eastern states don't point their Yagis in our direction. They are pointed to Europe,USA or Japan.
I have a G90 and a quarter wave vertical for 20m.
I've had one (only one) DX SSB contact, 18000km to Lady island South Carolina. Someone working long path with a beam pointed over the south pole.
With CW the narrow bandwidth will compensate the SNR to make up for your low power.
Regards VK6MIK
Roly ZL1BQD is closer to me than you are. VK6 should be (is) DX in my books.
de VK2NAP
dit dit
@@MidlifeRenaissanceMan yeah that's another thing. FT8 works every where. When I call CQ on FT8 most VK's won't respond. However they do if I answer their CQ even if it's CQ DX. Probably because it trips the FT8 auto sequence :).
I live in a rental in the city suburbs, so compromised anntena and rfi, have to use ethernet over power (home plug) and have a 50kw AM broadcast station 2km away.
So lots of other issues beside where I live.
Multi hop DX outside of the city should be the same as any other place in the world.
From hamalert app and some research I know WA hams living in the country (outside the city) get a fair amount of DX, they run Yagis and amps (most probably over 400w....).
@@moozoowizardI too am in the suburbs and get variable levels of ham depression with the RFI that blankets our world, especially after doing some portable stuff.
The _Backyard Banger_ which is a self supporting end fed vertical for 40 and 20m gets out quite well, but I wonder how much I miss with S8 unfiltered noise on 40m
A mag loop helps a lot, but it has its limitations.
I have an X-Phase kit to try. See how effective that is at nulling our local RFI
Most of my ops is with a straight key. I’m pretty ordinary, a bit slow, but I peck away and have a few QSOs, a few rag chews and even have some IRL Ham friends I have met via CW.
Web SDRs have saved my arse a few times. Let me pick out what I’ve needed when the signal has been buried in the hash, even with the CW filter.
I tend to run just 20W as it’s an S Point down on a dollar and I’m less likely to disappoint a station that could hear me but was buried in the hash from a thousand switch mode supplies in the near field.
Thanks for adding in the beacon network, it drives the point home. For me, qrp is fun because 100 watts has become easy and boring. I can now work on all states or dxcc again in qrp.
Those beacons are easy to have on in the background. It’s a cool way to check conditions when you’re looking for openings. Glad to help!
Yes, I got bored with 100 Watts and went QRP with my 4 Watt h/b ssb/cw tcvr.
Now also an FT817ND for portable, my h/b is too large.
G4GHB.
When I went from 100w to 1k I have to say my effort to make contacts dropped significantly and people saying a nice signal went up. Not science but I believe power makes a big difference. I think low watt contacts are fun and force better antenna placement / height but more power does help. I guess the best way to say it is if I can't make it with 1500 I ain't making it with 5. Different game at 5 vs 1500. Both are fun
Thank you. Well said. More power will definitely lead to more contacts. Those who delight in making fewer but (some may feel) more meaningful contacts with lower power will enjoy that aspect of the hobby. - Cliff
With my Xiegu G90 using 20 watts on SSB I can most of the time work any station I can hear. I mostly hunt POTA stations. Another local Ham just got a G90, and has found the same thing. If the propagation Gods smile on you you can work DX with 20 watts, 10 watts or 1 watt.
We are agreed! That little G90 is a sharp radio. Good choice. -Cliff
I've only owned a 100 Watt TCVR a few times in my life, when I broadcast with it I always felt like I was cheating, I don't blame exactly who, probably myself, I haven't bought such radios since. Just because 20dB often means more than 20Kg extra or 2 thousand dollars extra, or 22 Amps instead of 2 Amps. 73!
My Elmers told me for years! Forget watts peek. If you can hear them you can talk to them! Qrp is fun and challenging. That’s why all I need was the three tube 811 that’s it 🎙😎🇺🇸📡 KJ7TBR
🤣 Nice! - Cliff
Can't you find a friend or a subscriber who can make a video with a signal generator to send a signal to a radio with different power levels? This could definitely prove that.
Nice. I am in Sri Lanka.
Let's try to have a SSB QSO sometime. I am basically 100WAAW man... 👍