{"id":3540,"date":"2023-12-29T06:36:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T11:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/?page_id=3540"},"modified":"2025-09-19T05:49:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T10:49:04","slug":"qrp-operations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/?page_id=3540","title":{"rendered":"QRP&#8217;ish Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As discussed elsewhere on this site, my operating setup in an HOA and tiny lot environment is challenging. Operating at even lower power levels or QRP appears foolish. It has been said &#8211; it is the journey not the destination. Building these small radios from a kit (maybe in the future from scratch) was the main focus of my 1.5 to 10 watt adventure, but it looks like good old fashion rag chews are gaining favor.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/?cat=24\">(Link to QRP Blog posts.)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>My philosophy of QRP operations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Never send \/QRP.\u00a0 If I cannot work a station on the level of my signal, then I just move on.<\/li>\n<li>If the other station I am working is struggling to copy my weak signal end the QSO clearing the way for the other station to work a copyable station.<\/li>\n<li>Do not set goals beyond reason.\u00a0 Keep it simple &#8211; work what I can and enjoy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Current QRP&#8217;ish dedicated equipment<\/strong> (The links below take the reading to related posts on my blog that includes comments and pictures.)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/?cat=14\">Penntek TR-25<\/a>: This kit was built in September 2021. It is small well designed and great quality with excellent customer service. I have trouble setting the side tone level and so far, the keyer leaves something to be desired. However, I mainly us a manual key with this radio. In all fairness I have not tried very hard to deal with these two issues.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/?cat=23\">NorCal 40B<\/a>: This kit was built in January\/February 2024 (picture below centered). This unit has a deep heritage and is a capable little radio.\u00a0 The red button is to activate the FREQ-Mite addon, so I have a good idea of the tuned frequency.\u00a0 \u00a0It was fun to build and has a future in K4DS operations. \ufffc<a href=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/semi-finished-NorCal-40B-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3672 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/semi-finished-NorCal-40B-1-300x149.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/semi-finished-NorCal-40B-1-300x149.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/semi-finished-NorCal-40B-1.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/?cat=26\">Heathkit HW-8<\/a>: This rig from yesteryear (pictured below and to the left) was purchased in April 2024.\u00a0 It looks to be unmodified, and I plan on keeping it that way.\u00a0 It works and is fun to operate but takes a different skill level as compared to my other radios. \ufffc<a href=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/HW-8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3706 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/HW-8-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/HW-8-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/HW-8.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/?cat=35\">Yaesu FTX-1 Field<\/a>: This rig is the most modern radio in the shack. \u00a0Its use is for in the shack, on the back deck and the occasional portable operations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Elecraft W-1 Power Meter: This kit was built January 2023.<\/p>\n<p>My definition of QRP&#8217;ish: in my ham radio world &gt;1 watt but =&lt; 10 watts. \u00a0(True QRP is 5 watts on CW.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As discussed elsewhere on this site, my operating setup in an HOA and tiny lot environment is challenging. Operating at even lower power levels or QRP appears foolish. It has been said &#8211; it is the journey not the destination. Building these small radios from a kit (maybe in the future from scratch) was the\u2026 <a class='read-more' href='https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/?page_id=3540'>Continue Reading &lsquo;QRP&#8217;ish Operations&rsquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3540","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3540"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4082,"href":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3540\/revisions\/4082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wa2bsw.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}