Confirmed DXCC countries with QRP

This table shows all the confirmed CW QSO's from September 2003 - August 2014, that I made under the call PA1B.

As a milliwatt enthusiast, I lower my power when the S-meter goes up. I often use the lowest possible power in each QSO. I use QRPp, when ever I can, but also use QRP when it is necessary to make the QSO. In most QSO's, I use S&P. This is search and pounce. I search on the band and answer a CQ of a loud station. I start with a low power and only increase my power when I am sure that my signal is not heard. I use attenuators to lower the power for QRPpp and QRPp. In every QSO that I make, I note my power in my log.

The table shows 12 power categories from 1 mW up to 5 Watts. But please notice that a QSO in the power category of 50 mW, can be made with a lower power than 50 mW. A power of 30 mW, 36 mW, 41 mW, 45 mW and 50 mW, are all  displayed in the power category of 50 mW.

Conformed DXCC-countries with QRP  -  PA1B

The total number 8 x 10 + 7 = 87 DXCC's.
I have made this table with great care. Please let my know, if something is not, what it should be.

The Booster

First light for the Booster (hi)

The Booster is a cylinder dipole. The two cylinders, are each made from 6 Energy Booster cans from aluminium, that are cut open and bolted together.

Cutting the Energy Booster cans. Click to enlarge

I built the Booster to experiment with larger cylinders and a larger coil to work on 14 MHz and 7 MHz.

The Booster has twice the size of the Red Bull antenna.

The length of each cylinders is 22 cm. The wing span of the dipole is 22 inches. The coil former has a diameter of 110 mm and the coil has 15 turns. The taps are two turns apart.

The Booster resonates just above 10 MHz.

Giving CQ on 40 m with just less than 3 W on the Booster, resulted in contest QSO's with  DL (1), HA (1), OE (1), OK (4), SM (1) and UA (3)

The Booster in the dormer window (dakkapel) PA1B

Taps two turns apart. PA1B

What is QRPpp

QRPpp is the (not official) term that I use for a power of less than 100 milliwatt.
Here is a nice diagram on QRPpp, QRPp and QRP.

How is it possible to use QRPpp?
Read the post QRPp How is it possible

Notes from the SP DX contest

I never use a fixed power, but adjust my power from QSO to QSO.
Before I answer the CQ, I adjust my power to:  500 mW,  1 W, 2.5 watts or 5 watts.
If the signal is very strong, I use the S-meter to determine the power that I wil use.

For example: a signal of:  S⁺ + 10 dB, I can answer with 50 mW,
To make such a low power I use an attenuator of 10 dB.

To enter the call or write down  the call and to set the power at the same time, is impossible,
So I am always too late for the first opportunity to answer.
And sometimes, I even switch to the wrong setting, which can be to low or to high. hi

Using the lowest possible power is great fun, but can also be a nerve wracking enterprise.

Interesting Experiences      Wow's and Woo's from my handwritten notes, made during the SP DX 2014
* In the QSO with SP8HW I realized that listening is very important.
    When I started to answer a CQ, I heard an other station answering, in the background.
    When he stopped, I gave my call twice, in the clear and made the QSO with 500 mW.
* I worked 3Z50AYP in a hurry. I was so excited, that I used 500 mW instead of a lower power.
    After the QSO it was quiet on the frequency. But a dupe will be impossible. ;-(
* SP6EIY can not hear me with 500 mW and 1 W. Maybe later.
* I seized the opportunity to switch back to 500 mW, while waiting  for a very loud station.
    It's important to immediately adjust to 500 mW, after a QSO with 1 W or 5 W.
* I had to push to make a QSO with SP2GJV with just 50 mW, which is quite remarkable.
    There was a lot of QRM in the background.
* Station after station, visited SP3FYX.
    I had to have a lot of patience, not to increase the power to 5 watts.
    And finaly, to use just 500 mW.
* I love chirpping stations. I work SP7.... with 5W.
* Worked SP9YFF with 500 mW, before I got the call complete.
    I realized that . . . FF was a new one.
* After the QSO with SN8N, I realize that I should have used 50 mW instead of 500 mW.
    The signal was earsplitting loud. S⁺⁺
* One station after the other goes in to the log. It 's a mix of 500 mW and 5 W.
* It's very busy. I have to look for stations that are calling CQ with no takers.
* SP6ZDA At the last moment, I decide to switch in the 10 dB attenuator.
    Resulting in a QSO in the clear, with just 50 mW.
* Now I recognize new stations by the last letters of the call.
* 3Z8Z fades. I need 5 W.
* The numbers of my computer program and the Morse Machine differ.
    I correct the Morse Machine.
* SP9MZS Earsplitting signal. But the setting is wrong, so 500 mW instead of 50 mW.
    Next time better.

    I could make all these fine QSO's, thanks to all the fine operators in the from Poland.

/QRP

I always use QRP, which is 5 watts or less in CW.  But I never use the tag /QRP.
In contest QSO's in CW, I rather send my call a second time in stead of /QRP.
In the BSCI contest I made a QSO with a station that was not in the contest.
I met a station from Guensey (GU) which is rather rare.

The signal was very strong, so I immediately reduced my power to 50 mW.
The FT-817 was set to 500 mW and I switched in the 10 dB attenuator.
The 10 dB attenuator reduces the power with a factor 10.
So my power was 500 mW diveded by 10 = 50 mW.
I received the usual 599 and I was happy to log MU0RGU.

But when I looked again at the S-meter after the QSO, I was surprised by the signal strenght.
Then I realized that I could have made the QSO with 5 mW.
In a contest it's (almost) impossible to make a second QSO (dupe).
But I decided to give it a try, because this was no contest QSO.
I switched in the 20 dB attenuator and gave my call PA1B/QRP, now using the tag /QRP,
now with just 5 mW.
To increase my luck, I decided to use the tag /QRP for a second QSO.
I thought that if I did not use the /QRP, I could not make the dupe, but MU0GRU came back for me
and I could make the second QSO, now with 5 mW. hi
Thanks to the friendly operator of MU0RGU.

I hope to receive a QSL. Until now I received a card for a QSO with 500 mW from Guensey.

CQ WPX SSB

On Saturday I made 7 QSO's in the CQ WPX SSB.
I wondered if I could make QSO's in phone with my crippled inverted V.
Last year the top broke.
I temporarily repaired the antenna, but one wire lays flat on the roof.
In the last months, I noticed that I need more power than before in CW contest QSO's.
Also I had to rediscover the "tuner settings" for each band, after the antenna had changed.

SSB also works
Using SSB in stead of CW gives a lot more QRM in the house.
Sometime I want to hold the microphone to my ear, to listen. hi
Saturday afternoon I had one hour to operate, in which I made 5 QSO's on 21 MHz with
LZ, IS0, I and EU.    I responded to signals that were S+.

Tuning
In the evening I went on, but could not be heard. The in coming signals were S+, thus strong enough, but my QRP signal could not be heard. After not being heard by 3 different very loud stations I checked my power.
After tuning with CW, as I always do, I had forgotten to switch back to SSB, so I had no power at all.
After that I made two additional QSO's. Then I had to QRT, since the XYL went to bed.

Your signal is weak
On Sunday morning I easily made 5 QSO's on 7 MHz over short distances with DL, ON , PA and G.
Many operators told me that my signal was weak. But I have no tower, no Yagi, a less than perfect Inverted Vee and QRP and still managed to make QSO's, somtimes pushing the operating pratice to the limit at both ends.
Using QRP and a simple antenna, shows that Progation is more important than the Antenna. hi.

CQ WPX SSB contest 2013 - 1000 Miles per Watt

I had great fun in the CQ WW WPX SSB contest 2013.
I worked with 58 stations from 21 DXCC countries from all over Europe.
But I also met 19 stations outside of Europe.
I did not expect to work so many DX stations and certainly not from South America. hi

Click to enlarge

To be sure that I would be heard with SSB, I choose to
use the highest available power of 2.7 W.

As a 100% CW operator, until now, I discovered in this
contest, that working with phone, is much easier and faster 
than operating with CW.

In this contest I discovered that working in SSB with QRP
takes about the same patience and perseverance as
operating with CW in QRPp *.
* QRPp is a power of less than 1 watt.

The advantage of CW over SSB is about 13 dB.
(20 x in power)
So 2.7 Watts in SSB, can be compared
with 2700/20= 135 mW in CW.

In Europe most of the QSO's were made on 20 m.
Most of the QSO's outside of Europe were made on 15 m.

1000 Miles per Watt QSO's
The table  below shows only the QSO's that were made with more than 1000 miles per Watt.
The table shows the day and the time.
UTC= 14 means the QSO is made between 14:00 and 14:59 UTC.
This is interesting, since the table also shows changes in propagation.
You can see that I could reach North America from 14:00 UTC on Sunday. (KU1T)

Every time I heard Gilles, VB2T on the band, I tried to make a QSO.
At first he could not hear me, but the propagation slowly got better, so I managed to make
a QSO after 18:00 UTC.

The first station from South America, Rogerio, PY2OE, could be worked after 18:00 UTC.

The QSO with the PQ5B contest team was made in the 5th band sweep.
In each band sweep I encounter the same stations again and again. Usually I call a few times.
When I am sure that my signal is not heard, or when the station is uninterrupted answering
other stations, then I continue the sweep.
After 19:00 UTC the propagation was good enough to make the QSO with PQ5B.
It took a lot of patience and perseverance, but I really enjoyed it.

Click to enlarge

Since I worked with a fixed power of 2.7 Watts in this contest,
every QSO over a distance of more than 2700 Miles is good for
1000 MPW.
In total 11 out of 77 QSO's were made with more than
1000 miles per Watt.

CQ WPX SSB Contest 2013

Most of the QSO's that I make are contest QSO's, all in CW with the lowest possible power. Last year I made 29 QSO's in the CQ WW DX SSB contest with phone With the CQ WW WPX SSB contest comming up, I decided to participate in this phone contest.
I was inspired to use phone by fellow bloggers. Bas, PE4BAS who works from his car with 5 watts in SSB and Bill N2CQR, who was is working with a double side band rig,
with 3 watts. Listen to SolderSmoke #150.

Since I always use CW, phone is very unusual to me.
I had to figure out how to adjust the FT-817 for SSB.
I even had to look up the microphone. After that I placed a small power meter behind the set, to monitor my power while speaking. My maximum power is 2.7 watts, since a serious mismatch more than a year ago.
The antenna is an Inverted Vee.

I started on 15 m. After 6 QSO's most over more than 1000 kilometers with UR, UA TA and 4L, I knew that all was working fine and my wife and I went shopping. After a rest I made a few more QSO's later in the evening on 20m with VE3EJ over the largest distance and good for more than 1000 Miles per Watt. hi

On Sunday I worked European stations in the morning.
The signals had to be at least S9, for my signal to be heard. But I noticed that when the signals were S⁺ or S⁺⁺ that my signal was not always heard. Probably because the signal were not stronger by a better propagation, but by an extra amplifier. hi

For me it's still a strange experience to hear the operators voice in a QSO. In CW no one ever told me that my signal was very weak. hi
The speed of the QSO's is higher than in CW. 
I could easily adopt to the style of the calling operator. Nervous or relaxed. I was surprised how easy it is to remember the received number in phone even with four digits.

Sunday after 14:00 utc I could also make a few QSO's with Canada and the USA. With more than 2700 Miles these QSO's
are all good for more than 1000 Miles per Watt. Click to see the interesting overview.

Later that evening I heard stations from South America. I never believed that I could make a QSO with 2.7 watts and the Inverted Vee in phone, but I did. With every band sweep I tried. First came the QSO with PY2OE and in the 5th band sweep I made a QSO with PQ5B. So my patience and perseverance payed off. hi
I will give an overview for the 11 more than 1000 Miles per Watt QSO's in a later article.

Thanks to the CQ WW committee for the great activity in the CQ WW WPX contest.
I had a lot of fun with low power.

CQ WW WPX contest

Just for fun I entered the CQ WW WPX contest. I was getting enthusiast for this phone contest by my fellow bloggers who work with phone most of the time. This is the second time that I participate in a contest in phone.

As a QRPp enthusiast I participated in many contests in CW using the lowest possible power.
Even when I prepared for the contest, I noticed that I only had worked CW in the past.
I had to program VFOb of the FT-817 for the SSB segments of the 40 m, 20 m and 15 m band.
Further I had to search for the microphone. hi

I tune with the MorseMachine and the set switched to CW and then I have to switch back to phone before I can use the microphone. When I forget I don't have any power. So I use an extra power meter behind the set, to monitor my power. hi

I started on 15 m. My power is 2.7 watts and the antenna is an Inverted Vee.
After 6 QSO we went shopping.
I was very curious how it would go in this phone contest. But now I found out, that just as with CW with very low power, the signals in phone also have to be S9 or better.
At the moment there are already 38 QSO's in the log. Not bad at all. hi

Award for the IARU HF 2011

I enjoyed participating in the IARU HF World Championship 2011.
After I came home from my holiday, I discovered that I had not sent in the Log. At first I was disappointed, but then I realized that the activity that the contest offers, provides the opportunity to make interesting QSO's.  I had great fun with QRP and QRPp in 125 QSO's, of which many are 1000 Miles per Watts QSO's. Despite the deadline I sent in.

At the time I sent in the Log, I wondered whether my log would be marked as check log or would be ignored.
The contest robot immediately replied with a e-mail, in which he stated that the Log was received ***AFTER DEADLINE***. And in the same mail the robot kindly thanked my for participating and for submitting the log. hi.

Click on the
label: IARU HF
at the right to see the
related Blog entries.






A while back, to my surprise, I received a beautiful
Award for the IARU HF World Championship 2011.
Country winner:  First place - Single operator - CW only - QRP
It's great fun to participate with QRP and QRPp, but it's even more fun to receive an Award.
I very much like this gesture of great sportmanship.
So my thank goes to the Contest Commity of the IARU HF World Championship. (VE6SH and his team)

BQC marathon

Every year I participate in the BQC Marathon. The purpose of the BQC marathon is to promote the activity of the members of the Benelux QRP Club.
The marathon runs over a year. The aim is to make as many QRP QSO's as possible, on all bands, with the lowest possible power. The lower the power, the higher the points.
By participating in the BQC marathon, I discovered working with very low power for myself. In the last part of the marathon, I have done my best to finish in the top three. Below you can see the results from the QRP Newsletter of the BQC.

This year the marathon was won by Robert PA0RBO, with spectacular score. No less spectacular is the score obtained by Adriaan PA0ATG. Because Adriaan organizes the marathon itself, he ceded his price and converted it into an incentive. This award goes to Erwin PA7N who participated for the first time. Look at the enthusiastic response of Erwin on the price, on his website. By yielding of the price by Adrian I came just in second place.

Elk jaar doe ik mee met de BQC Maraton. Het doel van de BQC marathon is, het bevorderen van de activiteit der leden van de Benelux QRP Club.

De marathon loopt over één jaar. Het is de bedoeling om zoveel mogelijk prefixen te verzamelen op zoveel mogelijk banden, met zo min mogelijk vermogen.
Door mee te doen in de BQC marathon heb ik het werken met zeer laag vermogen voor mijzelf ontdekt. In het laatste deel van de marathon had ik extra mijn best gedaan om bij de eerste drie  te eindigen. Hier onder zie je de uitslag uit de QRP Nieuwsbrief van de BQC.

Dit jaar werd de marathon gewonnen door Robert PA0RBO, met een spectaculair aantal punten. Niet minder spectaculair is score die behaald werd door Adriaan PA0ATG. Omdat Adriaan de marathon zelf organiseert, heeft hij zijn prijs afgestaan en omgezet in een aanmoedigingsprijs. Deze prijs gaat naar Erwin PA7N die voor het eerst mee deed. Kijk naar de enthousiaste reactie van Erwin op de prijs, op zijn interessante website. Door het afstaan van de prijs door Adriaan kwam ik zo maar op de tweede plaats.