9H1XT in LZ DX with 3.6 mW

The propagation on 10 m is getting very good. Earlier this morning the signals were S9 in the LZ DX contest. When I came back on 10 m, the signal of 9H1XT was S9 + 20 dB and sounded very strong. I repeatedly used 3.6 mW to answer. I had to force myself NOT to increase the power, every time John did not hear me, but answered an other stations. After 7 or more times my perseverance payed off and the QSO was made with 3.6 mW. Tnx John.
It is a long time ago that a power of 5 mW or less could be used. This reminds me of the propagation in 2001, when I could frequently work over thousand miles with 2.5 mW or 5 mW.

OK-OM DX Contest

Last weekend I participated in the OK-OM DX contest. Saturday I started on 80 m and made 23 QSO with 2.7 W. Sunday morning I made just more than 10 QSO's on 40 m. The propagation was disappointing on 40 m. Often I can use just 80 mW on 40m in the morning. But in nearly all the QSO's, I had to use 2.7 W. Only one QSO could be made with 360 mW.

Then I went to 20 m. It was fabulous. I started with 360 mW and later I could reduce to 8 mW in a QSO with OM3IAG. The stronger the received signal, the further the power can be reduced.
I received OL2W and OK7T with 20 dB over S9. This is S9 through the 20 dB attenuator. I noticed that OL2W and OK7T are great listeners with Excellent Ears and both really took the time to answer my 8 mW signal.

The frequency must be absolutely clear, when I answer with this low power. I was hunting for OM3RRC, calling him more then 10 times in vane. Suddenly I was the only caller and he immediately answered to my 36 mW signal. hi

NAQCC 1000 Miles per Watt Award

For years I am a member of the NAQCC. (#2038) The NAQCC club activities are dedicated to QRP and QRPp operation, using CW. When I visited the Award page in August 2011, I got excited by the extensive Award program for QRP and QRPp. Over the years I have made hundreds of confirmed QSO's with more than 1000 Miles per Watt, but untill now, I had not yet applied for an award.
So I decided to apply for the 1000 MPW Award. I choose to apply for the QSO with the highes Miles per Watt. This QSO with RT6A was made in the Russian DX contest in August 2007. A few days later, I recieved the beautifull NAQCC Simple wire antena 1000 Milies per Watt Award, sent by e-mail, from the Award manager, Rick AA4W.

NAQCC Awards Manager, Rick AA4W wrote in the NAQCC Newsletter 153:
Bert, PA1B (NAQCC # 2038), claimed our most popular award in August. The 1000 Mile Per Watt award. But Bert didn't stop at 1000 miles/watt or even 3000 miles/watt, he worked RT6A, from his home in the Netherlands, at a distance of 1584 miles while transmitting .000085 watts (0.85 mW). This calculates to 1,863,803 miles/watt! And he has the QSL card to confirm the contact. Bert has been experimenting and operating at the Milliwatt level for quite a few years. His motto is: "As the S-meter goes up, my power goes down". He uses step attenuators on the output of his Yaesu FT-817 transceiver to give him accurate stepped outputs from 5 watts down to 5 mW. His web page http://a29.veron.nl/pa1b-07.htm tells a wonderful story of his exploits at the Milliwatt power level and he has loads of information about his homebrew attenuators at http://a29.veron.nl/pa1b.htm.
Bert has set the bar for any of us to try some Milliwatt operating.

Ukrainian DX 2011

I had great fun in the Ukrainian DX contest with low power. The 20 m, 15 m and 10 m bands were doing very well. I used a power of 2.7 W down to 36 mW and an Inverted Vee. I used the lowest possible power in each QSO.
I love these DX contests, in which I can work any station that I want.

I found out that 20 meters is still the best band for milliwatting.

CQ WW DX SSB

I took part in a major contest for the first time with the microphone.
In my entire HAM career I made a few phone QSO's on HF.
As a 100% CW operator this was a big thrill for my.

When I started, I did not know what to expect. The power of my FT-817 is limited
to 2.7 W, but I still managed to make QSO's in SSB. It was hard work with a fixed power.
In CW QSO's I often use the very low power, so I can always increase the power with 3 dB,
when my signal is not heard.
In this CQ WW DX contest I worked 17 DXCC countries in 29 QSO's.
In total 15 European countries, Canada and the USA.

Despite the large power, the QSO's with Canada and the USA are good for more than 1000 Miles per Watt. hi