99 QSO's with the Ten-Tec on 14 MHz

I got the Ten-Tec 1320 for 20 meters from a fellow HAM, who ended the hobby.  Tnx Henk.
I used the Ten-Tec 1320 in CW Contest QSO's.

Look at the Table below, at the end of the post, to see all the DXCC's that I worked with the Ten-Tec.
(At the moment, I have made a total of 99 +1 QSO's with the Ten-Tec.)

Set up of my station with the Ten-Tec 1320 for 14 MHz

MorseMachine  -  Ten-Tec 1320  -  Attenuator 0, 10 or 20 dB  -  PWR-SWR meter  -  Bencher

Power 

As a low power enthusiast I always (very often), use the lowest possible power in contest QSO's.

I use a supply voltage of 12 V to reduce the output power of the Ten-Tec to 2.4 W.

For very low power I used a the Ten-Tec followed by the PA1B attenuator of 10 dB or 20 dB.
When signals are strong, I reduce my power.

With an attenuation of 10 dB, I reduce the power of 2.4 W to 240 mW.

With 20 dB the power is reduced to 24 mW. hi.

Unwanted sideband

In QSO's I discovered that the unwanted sideband, isn't completely suppressed by the crystal filter.

I have adjusted my working method. I go from high to low frequency, to avoid, to answer on the wrong sideband. hi.

Contests
I used the Ten-Tec in the 4 contests.

In the Russian DX with 3 Watts to get a feel for the Ten-Tec.

In the Marconi Memorial contest I used 2.4 W and  made 1 QSO with 240mW.

The conditions were good for low power in the IARU HF Championship.

With 11 QSO's with 2.4 W and 44 QSO's with just 240 mW.

In the YO-DX contest I started with 2.4 W in 14 QSO's.
When condition got better I reduced to 240 mW in 7 QSO's. 

Further I could even make a QSO with 9A3YT with just 24 milliwatts.

For 24 mW I switch to 20 dB. With an attenuation of 20 dB the power is divided by 100.

Table

I had great fun with low power. 

Every time I use the Ten-Tec I find out new things.
Look at this nice table of worked DXCC-counties in 99 (+ 1) QSO's

CQ WW DX CW 2025

In the CQ WW DX CW contest 2025 I used my new FT-818 for the first time.

I had great fun with low and very low power. 
To work with very low power I use the PA1B 10 dB attenuator behind my QRP set.

I made a total of 83 QRP QSO's.
On Saturday, I started late and made 6 QSO's in half an hour, using an output power from 98 mW to 5 watts.

On Sunday I started on 7 MHz with 5 W. Then I went to 20 m.
Propagation on 14 MHz was good, so I started a series of QSO's with 98 mW.
Later I used 98mW, 250mW and 980 mW alternately.
In the last half hour of my activity, I returned to 7 MHz.
There I made 6 QSOs at 5 watts.

The Table


The DXCC countries in the table are partly in alphabetical order. At the top are the DXCC countries with the lowest power (98 mW from 9A till YU). Followed by DXCC countries with more power.

The QSO with Kazakhstan (UN) is special, because of its low power.

Patience and perseverance
I sometimes have to call 5 times before I am heard.
Especially when it's busy on the band.
Then it's very tempting to increase the power, when I am not heard.
I often must wait until the frequency is absolutely clear. Hi.

43 dB Attenuator built by Kees PE0CWK

Kees PE0CWK

I met Kees PE0CWK on a meeting of the Benelux QRP Club in Harderwijk. 

He has successfully built the PA1B 43 dB Attenuator.

When Kees showed me his 43 dB attenuator, I took a few pictures.

Kees tolt me that attenuator works great and is very pleased with the attenuator.

I made photo's of Kees and his attenuator.

43 dB Attenuator built by Kees PE0CWK

Step Attenuator
The PA1B 43 dB step attenuator is a very accurate attenuator.
Built with good available resistors from the E12-series.
The attenuator is built with carbon resistor of 2 W and 400 mW.

Schematic
Visit the Webpage with the:  PA1B 43 dB Very Accurate Attenuator

PA1B 43 dB Very Accurate Attenuator