ARRL int DX CW 2017

I was hoping to make QRPp QSO's in the ARRL international DX CW contest 2017. I did not make many QSO's, because I had very limited time on both days. But I did enjoy the contest very much.
A week ago I made an End fed antenna to work in the PACC. The antenna is sloping down to the east, so I was curious how the End fed would do to the west. I am not disappointed.

Saturday
Because I was away for most of the day, I started late on Saturday on 14 MHz.
In the first 3 QSO's I had to use 3.6 W and 1.8 W. After that I could reduce to 800 mW.
When the band closed on Saturday evening, I had made 11 QSO's all with Search and Pounce (S&P). The signal of K1ZZ was very strong, so I reduced to 360 mW before answering his CQ.
The response was immediately correct.

Sunday

When I started on Sunday I could hear European stations. On 14 MHz I could only hear stations that I had worked before on Saturday, so I went to 21 MHz. On this band I could work 6 stations all with just 800 mW, as you can see in the table below. I could work with W3LPL with 360 mW. His response was also immediately correct. hi.

ARRL int DX CW contest 2017 PA1B
Numbers in red are "more than 1000 miles per watt QSO's"

599 001      001?

Working with QRP and QRPp is great fun.
In the ARRL DX CW contest the DX stations like myself give their power in the report.
When I reduce to less than 1 watt, I will give the report 599 001.
This report can create some confusion. When I use 3.6 W I will give 599 004.
I will give 599 001, when I use a power of 800 mW, but also with 360 mW.

One operator was quiet for one full second after receiving my 599 001, before he realized that my power was about 1 W.  Hi.

Excellent ears

When I met K5ZD and N1TA, their  signals were not that strong and the QRM was increasing. I was really surprised that they could hear my 800 mW at all. But we could complete the QSO with no trouble at all. FB. Probably they had less QRM than that I had.

End fed

I am very pleased with my End fed. It works fine to the east and to the west.

ARRL International DX CW

I started late, because the grand children stay with us this weekend.
This afternoon we went to the park in stead of participating in the ARRL int. DX contest.

My inverted Vee is still temporaly fixed after a storm last year.
One wire lays on the roof.
But I can still make QSO's even with low power in many different contests.

I need more power than the usual 1 or 2 watts, that I use most the time.
So I use the maximum power, that is about 4 or 5 watts.
Even the stations that I receive with S8 are more difficult to QSO than last year.

After a few hours in the contests there are 15 QSO's in the log.
But it's still fun to participate in this fine contest.
There was only one station, that was puzzled by my exchange 599 003, when I use about 2.5 Watts. hi
Let see what tomorrow brings.

PA1B winner in ARRL int. DX CW contest

I was surprised by the large number of QSO's that I made in the
ARRL int DX CW contest in February 2013.
Yesterday I received the September issue of Electron of the Veron.
I found out, that I am the winner in the QRP, all band section for the Netherlands.

I like this contest very much since the DX stations, like myself, give their power in the exchange.
The receiving station is immediately aware, that I use QRP or even QRPp. hi
The maximum power of my FT-817 is 2.5 watts, since I had a serious mismatch.
Most QSO's were made with 2.5 watts. 9 QSO's were made with 800 mW and 7 with 360 mW.
Some operators were at first confused by my exhange 599 003 for a power of 2.5 watts.
In that case I will give an additinal 3W 3W until it's clear that my power is really that low.
My antenna is an Inverted Vee

Exchange
For a power of 2.5 watt my exchange is 599 003
For a power of 800 mW or less my exchange is 599 001.

Curious how I do it:  Read the Blog article on the ARRL DX CW 2013

Part of the results for stations in the Netherlands

In many contest QSO's, I use the lowest possible power in each QSO.
When the S-meter goes up, my power goes down.
Thank you all for the activity in the contest.

ARRL internationl DX CW 2013

Looking back, after  nearly  two weeks, I am still confused by the great results.

I made much more QSO's, than I expected. I worked much more states.

Morse Machine

I had programmed the Morse Machine for two different reports.

For QRP: 599 003 003 for QSO's with 2.7 Watts and 599 001 001 for QSO's with 800 mW or less.

Further I programmed a button to give my power instandly, 3W 3W, if any one should ask my power. 

Click to see the States

21 MHz and 14 MHz

I did not start early.
I first went to 21 MHz and answered 8 CQ's
per hour for 3 1/2 hour.
I started on 21 MHz because on 14 MHz
there was more activity, but on 21 MHz
it was more relaxed.
After 3 1/2 hours I had 30 QSO's in the Log.
Not bad. Since I hoped to make between
60 and 90 QSO's. hi
Then I went to 14 MHz and the speed increased
to 12 QSO's per hour.
So at the end of the evening I had 83 QSO's in the Log. WOW

On Sunday I first made some QSO's on 21 MHz.

At the right moment to 28 MHz
When I went to 28 MHz, there were not that many stations on the band.
The longer I stayed on the band the more stations also came on the band,
so I continuously met stations, that I had worked before on 14 and 21 MHz.
At first with 12 QSO's in a hour and later with 16 QSO's per hour.

When 28 MHz closed there were about 150 QSO's logged.
After some more QSO's on 14 MHz and 21 MHz, the final number of QSO's is 162.

QRP
In 144 QSO I used a power of 2.7 Watts and
gave 5NN TT3 TT3.
I programmed the Morse Machine to give the 003 twice in each QSO.

QRPp
In 9 QSO's I used 800 mW and in 7 QSO's I used 360 mW.
For these QSO's, I gave an exchange 5NN TT1 TT1.
In all most other contests, I use the lowest possible power in each QSO.
But in this contest, I only reduced my power, when the signals were much stronger than usual and only when the station was calling CQ continuously. So I did not make that many QRPp QSO's.
But I am very content with the results

3W FB  -and-  QRP GL
On many occasions the operator on the other side informed me, that he was aware of the fact that I was using QRP. From a simple CFM TU, to 3W FB or QRP GL. hi

Repeated exchange
The exchange 599 003 can be an confusing experience.
Just for fun I kept note, of the times, that I had to repeat or explain my exchange.
On Saturday I had to repeat in 8 QSO's on 21 MHz and later in only 2 QSO's on 14 MHz.
On Sunday I had to repeat my exchange only in 3 QSO's.

Antenna
My antenna is an Inverted Vee for 40 meters. which also works very well on  higher frequencies.

QRPp in the ARRL int DX contest

In my first ARRL international DX contest, I used 5 watts. My exchange 599 005 gave no problem for the receiving station.  In CW of course given as:  5NN TT5.
It was obvious, that I was using QRP.

I very much like the ARRL international DX contest. In this contest, the DX stations, like myself, will give their power in the exchange. So the receiving station knows immediately, that I am working with QRP.

 When the S-meter goes up my power goes down. 

In most contest QSO's, I often use the Lowest Possible Power, in each QSO, using S&P.
When I hear a station calling CQ, I look on the S-meter to determine the power with which I will answer.

In later years, I reduced to 500 mW, when the propagation was very good. The use of 500 mW in a contest QSO is no problem, because most of the time, the response will be immediate and correct.

pwr? . . .100? . . . 1kW?  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 1W FB

The lowest value for the power in the Cabrillo file is 001.
Over the years, I found out, that when I was using 1 W, it was best. to use the exchange 599 001.

How to indicate, that I am using only 500 mW? Well, that's simple. The DX station give their estimated power. So for a power of less than 1 W, I also give the exchange : 599 001.

But don't think that all problems are gone with 599 001. Some stations keep asking pwr?, because they think that 001 is a number or they respond with 100? or even 1kW?.
In that case I will respond with:   599 1W 1W 

* I met operators, that fall out of their chair, when they realized, that my exchange 599 001 indicated, that I was using only 1 watt.
Two seconds of silence and an additional "1W FB", from a station that is transmitting not a letter to many, I consider a huge compliment. hi

Please notice that when you use low power, that any QSO between Canada or the USA with Europe with 3 Watts or less, is good for 1000 Miles per Watt.

Power of the FT-817 at PA1B's, after serious mis-match.

K3WW with 100000 Miles per Watt

When I went into the ARRL international DX contest, the first station that I heard was K3WW. K3WW is a station with Excellent Ears.
The signal of Charles was stronger than the usual S8.
The signal was over S9, so I decided to try a lower power than the usual 360 mW and I switched to 36 mW, using a 10 dB attenuator. I expected that I had to use more power, but to my surprise we made the QSO with just 36 mW in CW, using an Inverted Vee.
My FT-817 only gives 360 mW instead of 500 mW after a serious mismatch, but I still have great fun with low power and 1000 MPW.

The distance between my QTH JO22na and K3WW in FN20ii is 3725 miles.
With 36 milliwatts this gives 103000 Miles per Watt.
Thank you Charles for the fine QSO. Hpe cuagn in the next contest.

ARRL International DX contest 2012

I really took it very easy in this contest. I used to have great fun with QRP, but this year I spent limited time in the contest. I worked 9 different states in 12 QSO in CW with QRP.
With a power of 2.7 watts or less, all the QSO's are good for 1000 Miles per Watt. hi

Power in Cabrillo file in the ARRL int DX contest

I very much like the ARRL international DX contest. In this contest, the DX stations like myself, will give their power in the exchange. This is great for a QRP station, because my power is directly visible to the other station.

In my first ARRL international DX contest, I used 5 watts. My exchange 599 005 gave no problem for the receiving station. It was obvious, that I was using QRP.

As a milliwatt and low power enthusiast, I often use the Lowest Possible Power, in each QSO. When I hear a station calling CQ, I look on the S-meter to determine the power with which I will answer.
The higher the S-meter reading, the lower my power can be.
When using the lowest possible power, I do not call CQ myself.

In later years, I reduced to 500 mW. The use of 500 mW in a QSO was no problem, because I will often get an immediately correct response, but the problem was my exchange. How to indicated, that I was using only 500 mW.

Over the years, I found out, that when I was using 500 mW, I best could use the exchange 599 001. The value 001 is the lowest value, that can placed in a Cabrillo file.
But don't think that all problems are gone with 599 001. Some stations keep asking pwr?, because they think thay 001 is a number or they respond with 100? or even 1kW?. In that case I will respond with "599 1W 1W".

* I met operators, that fall out of their chair, when they realized, that my exchange 599 001 indicated, that I was using only 1 watt.
Two seconds of silence and an additional "1W FB", from a station that is transmitting not a letter to many, I consider a huge compliment. hi

Please notice that when you use low power, that any QSO between Canada or the USA with Europe with 3 Watts or less, is good for 1000 Miles per Watt.

ARRL International DX Contest 2011

The ARRL International DX contest is a very nice contest for DX QRP stations.

With a distance of more than 3000 miles to the USA and Canada, each QSO with 2.5 watts or less is good for more than 1000 Miles per Watt

The receiving station can also apply for this Award that is issued by QRP ARCI.
Click for info on the "1000 Miles per Watt Award"

I often try to use the lowest possible power in each contest QSO, so when possible, I try to use a power of 2.5 watts or lower.

All DX stations give their estimated power.
I give a report 599 3 when I use 2.5 watts and 599 1, when I use 1 watt or 500 milliwatts.
It is great FUN to hear a station, that is not sending a letter to many, to send an additionnal 3W FB

The report 599 1 can be confusing to station that only have met DX stations with a power of 100 watts to 1 kW.

I have heard operators fall out of their chair, with the report 599 1. hi