K5DZE ALL QRP - This page provides information about activities at K5DZE.  My favorite mode is CW which works out particularly well for QRP.  (I must admit that PSK-31 operation is becoming a favorite as well!)  While there seems not to be a complete agreement on what constitutes QRP operation, I think most QRP enthusiasts agree that for CW, AM, FM and data modes the transmit output power should not exceed 5 watts. For SSB operation the maximum output power should be no more than 10 watts PEP.  (Some operators strongly hold that the power limit should be 5 watts on SSB as well.)  A lot of QRP operators are known to often use even less than five watts, sometimes operating with as little as 100 milliwatts (1/10th of 1 watt) or even less!  Extremely low power of 1 watt or less – is referred to as QRPp.

There are many QRP rigs available and the low cost (particularly for kits) makes it quite affordable to add a QRP rig to your Shack's equipment line up.  It also makes it practical to have several different QRP rigs to operate.

QTH:  My home location is in Union, Kentucky, (EM78qw) which is almost surrounded by Florence, KY.  We are about 18 miles southwest of Cincinnati, OH. 

 QSL:   I QSL for all cards received, or anytime I am asked for a card.  QSL direct, LoTW, or if you are in a hurry,  I can send a 'paper' QSL via email.  Like most Hams and beacon ops, I enjoy getting/sending QSL cards or email reports, so please let me know if you catch the beacon on the air.   It will be appreciated, and it will be answered.  

 STATION EQUIPMENT:  Here are the QRP rigs and other gear at the station: (Click on thumbnail pictures for large view of most of the rigs shown. )

• Elecraft KX1

• Icom IC-703Plus

• SGC-2020/SG-211

• Ranger RCI 2985DX (10 Meters)

• HTX-100 & ID-O-Matic (10 M Beacon)

• Signal Link USB PSK-31)

• Yaesu FT-7800R

• ICOM PCR-1000 Receiver

   QRP: The incredible KX1 by Elecraft (pronounced ele-craft as in ele-phant) is probably what every spy in years past would have wanted for Christmas!  I can only say that if you like QRP or think you would, just buy one!  Sell an HT or some piece of gear you aren't using very much and order one!  My KX1 is the standard 40 and 20 Meter version, but you can add more bands if you need them.  Imagine...1-4 watts on two or more bands running only AA batteries and working CW from most anywhere with a rig the size of a QSL card!  It even provides some out-of-band shortwave receiver coverage. 

I use this rig often with just a "Hamstick" antenna on 20 meters tuned to the QRP freq. I mount the antenna on a small photo tripod and use a single heavy braid radial just stretched across the outside back deck at the lake.  It works very well and I can make a bunch of contacts on 20 CW. For more reviews, see the eHam Review site or Elecraft home site.  The KX1 is one of my favorite QRP rigs!

  QRP: The Icom IC-703 Plus is a great little rig for QRP work. I like the receiver and it has all the menus to give you most of the options of a higher powered, full featured HF rig but in a QRP package.  It runs all HF bands and 6m on SSB/CW and works digital as well.  If you really need more power and don't have a larger rig, you could add a 50 or 100 watt amp to this and have the extra power when you need it while retaining a nice QRP rig.  For more serious reviews, see the eHam Review site. 

 

  BPSK: Signal Link USB is a high quality digital interface that allows any rig to operate on PSK-31, SSTV, RTTY, and all other forms of sound card digital modes.  If you haven't tried the digital modes, particularly PSK-31, you ought to give it a shot.  Its a natural for QRP operation and the Signal Link USB makes it easy.  All needed controls are on the front panel and it has its own sound card built in.  Just set up a few internal jumper plugs, plug the unit into your mic connector with the rig specific cable, plug a second cable into your computer's USB port, then load the software (CD included) and your set up for digital operations!  I highly recommend the digital modes and this little unit (3"W x 1 3/4H" x 3 1/2"D) to get you there.  

  10 M: The RCI-2985 DX is a nice QRP addition to the Shack for dedicated 10 meter work.  It covers 12 Meters as well as 10 Meters and it is a rather large hefty rig with a built in AC supply.  It runs 5 to 25 watts on CW/SSB/AM/FM.   At 18" wide, it takes one back to the days when rack mounted radios were rather commonplace in Ham Shacks.   If you are a real fan of 10 meters, this can be a fun rig for any shack to operate or even use as a beacon transmitter.  This rig has been replaced by newer model that runs more power, but this model can be often be found on eBay.  With 10 meters "hopefully" about to take off on the upcoming solar cycle, now is the time to pick one of these units up and get ready for some fun on 10!

  BEACON: The Radio Shack HTX-100 10 Meter transceiver runs 5 watts or 25 watts on CW or SSB and was popular during the peak of the last solar cycle peak.  I use mine as the beacon rig on 28.228 MHz.  These rigs are often on eBay and again, if you shop carefully, you can pick up a nice one for less than $100.  It will work very well for dedicated 10 meter rig in the house or make a very nice little 10 meter mobile rig for your vehicle.  (Don't confuse this rig  with the HTX-10... The "10" has no CW option like the "100" and it is quite different from the HTX-100.)

    VHF/UHF: My VHF/UHF operation is done with a Yaesu FT-7800R transceiver.  This rig works well for home, mobile, or portable use. If you are interested in a dual band rig with a lot of features, this is a lot of radio for the money and certainly deserves a serious look. 

   GC RCVR/SCANNER: As my general coverage receiver and a scanner for the Shack, I use an Icom PCR-1000 wideband computer receiver connected externally to a laptop PC. This provides reception options from 10 kHz  to 1300 MHz (less cellular).  It copies AM, FM-Wide-Narrow, SSB and CW.   This rig is also connected to a dual deck cassette recorder for recording and replay of interesting signals.

  ANTENNA - Of particular interest to QRP operators and amateurs in antenna restricted areas are antennas that have the attributes of stealth, size, quality of construction and efficiency (ultimately it must work!).  Company support (if needed) is certainly close behind these.  With these in mind, I chose one of the PAR Electronics ENDFEDZ antennas.  These half wave end fed dipoles make use of a small antenna mounted matchbox and your coax feed line.  What particularly caught my eye was the fact it used coax rather than twin lead or parallel line for its end feed.  Coax is not sensitive to nearby objects which could be a problem at my QTH.  I also liked the fact that this antenna was both stealthy and bit shorter than a regular dipole.  My 40-20-10 model is only 40' long and can be used as a sloper, a vertical or a horizontal antenna.  It does not require an antenna tuner and in fact you should not use one... (great for my little Elecraft KX-1).  It is so small that it fits in a a Zip-Lock sandwich bag (!) and the black coated wire won't tangle or kink easily which is great for repeated portable use. The PAR ENDFEDZ are used by the military and Amateur antennas are made to the same standard according to the company owner, Dale, W4OP.  The 3 band model I use (shown in the picture above) limits operation to a max of 25 watts due to the matchbox's power limitation, but that is not a big issue for QRP ops anyway.  (Single band models can take up to 100 watts). 

The other thing that is impressive is that on eHam Reviews ( http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3632 and http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/5105 ) these antennas have a perfect rating of 5 out of 5 for 138 reviews on one version and 41 of 41 on the 3 band model!  That's about the best ratings I have seen for any antenna and this told me the antennas must work pretty well for QRP use!  They were right!  Check the eHam reviews to learn more if you need a small, effective antenna.  For more details on PAR antennas, go to http://www.parelectronics.com.  Incidentally, antenna cost is ~ $55 to $70 depending on the band and version you select. 

I am planning to relocate within the general area in the next few months and will have my trusty G5RV back up at the new QTH.  I will also be considering putting up a full-wave loop for 80-6 meters.  After this, the PAR antenna will be used for portable work only.

"WATERING HOLES" FOR QRP:  Like water holes in the desert, these CW Calling freqs are where many QRP Ops gather and its and where you can listen and snag one.  (These aren't all of the QRP freqs, but these CW freqs will get you going.)  NOTE:  If you run much over 5 watts or so, please stay well off to the sides and away from these freqs so the true QRP rigs and the QRPp flea power ops (less than one watt output), can be heard and not covered up.  Listen a while and get the hang of it and then dive in.  Hope to see you there!

       80 M -    3.560 QRP CW

     40 M  -    7.040 QRP CW

     30 M  -   10.106 -- QRP CW

     20 M -    14.060 -- QRP CW

    17 M -     18.080 -- QRP CW

    15 M -     21.060 -- QRP CW

    12 M -     24.910 -- QRP CW

    10 M -     28.060 -- QRP CW (Beacon band is 28.200 - 28.300 MHz.)
 

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT QRP?  QRP isn't for everyone I guess.  Some ops sneer at low power and sadly, they can be down right condescending if you even ask for contact.  Fortunately, most non-QRP ops are very courteous and seem to get as big a kick out of working low power stations as QRP ops do running them!  Over the years, I have run everything from KW rigs with big antennas, to 100 watts with a dipole, but like a lot of other Hams I seem to have returned to how I started out.  When I began as a kid back in the late 50's, I  ran 20 watts with a Heathkit AT-1 (remember that one?) and a Windom antenna using an antenna tuner built in a coffee can (thanks to W5WQQ).  I had a blast with it!  Today, another fun way to operate is put an entire rig in a brief case so you can take it where ever you go.  I find the challenge of working folks with 5 watts or less to be a really fun!  Taking a rig camping, to the park, to the lake or mountains can be a lot of fun.  If you are a hunter, you might compare QRP operations to hunting with a handgun or bow rather than with a rifle or shotgun.  It takes a lot of skill, you don't shoot as often and you may not get something with every shot, but it's a lot of satisfaction when you do bag something.  In QRP, skill is always a key ingredient as you don't have hundreds of watts to help break through to make contacts.  Another thing I find neat is that for QRP DXCC and QRP WAS you don't need QSL cards... you just need a well kept logbook!

Well, all this is just my opinion of course, but I know its shared by many.  Why not try QRP in your operations at home or for portable work?  You may find it bringing back the real excitement of those first QSOs.

One other thing about QRP...CW is a mainstay for QRP work.  That is just a fact.  If you enjoy CW operation then QRP is a natural for you.  Likewise, if you just want to get more proficient at CW, QRP is a great way to get there.  But CW is not all there is to QRP!  SSB is very much in the QRP mainstream and it is great fun too.  One afternoon, I worked 23 countries in less than 3 hours during the ARRL DX contest.  I was running 10 watts SSB with my SG-2020 and a G5RV at 25'.  Do you like the digital modes?  A lot  of guys are also working the world with QRP digital modes such as PSK-31 too. 

For more information about QRP,  use your favorite browser and look up "QRP" and QRP related subjects on the Internet.  On the bands, go to the QRP "Watering Holes" on 40 and 20 Meters and listen to the ops that congregate there.  Fast CW, slow CW, strong signals and weak-hard-to-copy signals are all there to dig out as part of the fun. 

Today, there are many really high quality QRP rigs available so you don't have to build your QRP equipment if your aren't up to it or if you just don't want to take the time to do so.   One nice thing about QRP is that a lot of QRP gear costs much less than the bigger rigs too.  This is particularly true about the great kit rigs which are fun and very very capable. 

Here are several good QRP Clubs and some neat sites for you to browse around: 

http://www.qrparci.org/  QRP Amateur Radio Club International

http://www.qrpme.com/  (Fun starter QRP rigs)

http://www.fix.net/~jparker/wilderness/sst.htm (Imagine this rig in a military looking Cammo paint or a shiny Red or maybe even a bright Yellow! Quite a conversation piece!)

http://www.elecraft.com/index.htm (Home of the KX1 and K1, a neat pair of very small CW QRP rigs.  The K2 and K3 are also high quality rigs worth a real close look!)

Again, thanks for stopping by my QRP page... I hope to catch you on the bands !

                                                 QRPARCi - 10625             FISTS - 10636           10-10 72596

K5DZE - FIRST LICENSED IN 1956 AS KN5DZE (COLUMBUS, MS)

HELD NOVICE, GENERAL, ADVANCED AND EXTRA CLASS LICENSES

FORMERLY DA1EZ (LUDWIGSBURG, GERMANY), HL9EZ (CAMP CASEY, KOREA)

LIFE ARRL - ARRL VOLUNTEER EXAMINER

Last modified: 09/08/08