QRP

AZ ScQRPions Club 2013 Ft Tuthill QRP Conference

After my lack of success making any QRP contacts a couple weeks ago, I decided that I had some learning to do.  Coincidentally, a friend sent me the flyer for the AZ ScQRPions QRP Club Conference.  It was held August 2 and 3.  I was unable to get away on Friday (August 2) but I decided to drive up to Flagstaff Arizona and spend Saturday August 3 there.  It was well worth it.

I attended some really interesting sessions:

  • Scot Cowling (WA2DFI) presented a program on SDRstick HF Software Defined Radios, an in-depth look at the SDRstick series of simple SDR receivers.
  • Lyle Johnson (KK7P) of Elecraft gave a great presentation on the development of the KX-3.
  • Bob Proctor (N6YPE) gave a great presentation on the new Ten-Tec 506 Rebel.
  • Ward Harriman (AE6TY), author of SimSmith, a PC based Smith Chart gave a great demonstration of SimSmith.

I also received lots of advice and encouragement from some very experiences QRPers:

  • The band conditions the past few weeks have been lousy.  Don’t give up.
  • Switch my antenna configuration to an inverted vee in order to elevate the feed point.
  • Switch to the low end of 40M (7020-7055) where there are more low speed CW QRPers.
  • Don’t worry about my code speed being just 10WPM.  That’s just fine.

The conference was well worth the time spent.

QRP Portable Session 2

Undeterred by yesterday’s lack of success, I decided to try again today but shift my tactics a bit.

Last night I remembered that Thunderbird Park is not far from me, and there is an elevated spot with a covered ramada (shade!) that you can drive right up to and park.  No shlepping gear up a trail! I also decided to take both the KX-1 and the TS-590. My 7Ah gel-cell would provide a couple hours of operation  of the 590 and I could do a quick comparison of the two radios.

I left the hours at about 6:15am and by 6:45 was set up and operating.

Lesson 1: This non-huffing-and-puffing version of QRP operation is a lot more enjoyable.

Once again however, I could hear but know one could hear me.  I answered several CQs.  I called CQ myself several times. I tried both CW and SSB with the same (lack of) result.

I alternated between the TS-590 and the KX-1. Both rigs seemed to hear just as well. As long as the band is not crowded I think either rig will work just as well. Of course if the band is crowded or there is a lot of QRM the TS-590 with it’s DSP will run circles around the KX-1.

Lesson 2: I have a lot of learning to do. THis Saturday AZ ScQRPions are putting on a QRP conference in Flagstaff.  I think I will go.

Lesson 3: My CW speed needs to get to about 20wpm.

 

My First Attempt at QRP Portable

Now that I have everything necessary to operate QRP portable, I was anxious to give it a try.  The station consists of:

  • Elecraft KX-1
  • 7Ah gel-cell battery (too big and heavy, I know)
  • Antenna: 20 ft collapsable crappie pole and some speaker wire configured as a 20M dipole.

The weakest link on this chain of course was the operator. The next weakest link was the antenna, so I wanted to try to operate from a spot that was elevated. I live in Phoenix, AZ and Shaw Butte is not far from my house.  I’ve been to the top of Shaw Butte several times.  There is a ton of commercial repeaters up there, plus it’s quite a hike.  I chose a small hilltop that was about a third of the way up the trail as my operating position  You can see it in the photo below:

It’s Arizona. It’s summertime. whatever I did had to be early in the morning.  The temperature was 84 degrees when I left the house at 6:30am.  By 7:30 I was set up and operating.  Here is a 270-degree panoramic view from my operating spot:

Lesson 1: Trying to operate QRP portable for the first time while an IOTA contest is in full swing is not a good idea. I heard lots of signals.  Lots.  All at blinding-fast CW speeds.  After about an hour it was clear that my measly 4 watts and 10WPM were not going to get me anywhere that day.

I also decided that I do not like the KX-1 paddles.  The KX-1 paddles are touchy.  And the rubber sleeves on the paddles themselves stick to my sweaty fingertips. I guess I am spoiled by the light-but-solid touch of my Bencher paddles. Used Bencher paddles are about $60 so I’m temped to use one for this rig even though they are heavy.

By 8:30am the sweat was running down my face. It was also running off the brim of my hat and landing on the KX-1. I had consumed nearly all of the half gallon of water I brought along.  Though I had not made a single contact I knew the better part of valor was to call it a day.  I packed up and walked back down the trail to my car.  By 9:30 I was back in the air-conditioned comfort of my ham shack.

 

Giving QRP a Try

I’ve been getting the itch to try QRP operation. A nearby ham offered to sell me his fully-loaded Elecraft KX-1 for $400 and I could not pass it up.

I recently ordered this 20ft collapsable crappie pole from Amazon for about 20 bucks. That and some speaker wire will get me started antenna-wise.

Battery:

The KX-1 has an internal battery holder for six AA cells.  That provides about 9 volts which produces a little under two watts. At twelve volts the radio will produce about 4 watts, however.  Hmmmm.

A lot of guys rewire it to hold six of the 3.7V lithium batteries which gives 11.1 volts.

Since weight is not a huge factor at this point I’ve decided to go a slightly different route.  I’ve ordered a 7Ah gel cell battery and charger from batteryspace.com.  The 7Ah battery is really overkill.  Assuming 50% of the time is spent transmitting (which I think is pretty optimistic for QPR) then the KX-1’s average current draw will be about 400mAh, which means the gel-cell will provide about 12 hours of operation.

For another couple hundred bucks I can add a thin-film foldable 10W solar panel and charge controller, and I could operate indefinitely.  We’ll see how far I go with this.

There are some hills about 15 minutes from my house that will allow me to elevate my position by a few hundred feet. I plan to get up early some morning soon and give it a try.

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