100w vs. 5w: PART 2 (SSB) 

This video also underscores the difference between SSB and CW. At QRP levels, code is easier to copy than is the human voice. So, if you want to be heard long distances, consider learning the code.

You're spot-on on all points. Ignore the trolls and negative comments, I do.

You are so right! Small Radio, QRP power, small battery and a (random) wire in a tree...this is real Ham radio. I am a licensed ham since 1978 and I work below 10 watts for most of that time... 😊 73, Stephan, DF6PA

Qrp is going fishing, sometimes you get something, sometimes not. Qro is buying fish at the supermarket.😊 I love both. I'm a subscriber and I've really missed you.

I've learned in ham radio, 99% of Answers to questions are "it depends".

I used to run 100 Watts for about 15 years, sold it, moved QTH, then later made my 4 Watt h/b ssb/cw tcvr about 30 years ago. For the last 8 years I couldn't do much because of internet QRM on 160m to 20m. Hooray, it cleared up in January when it went to fibre optic cable. I've got my hobby back. 5 Watts and less now, so I'm really just getting back into it. The beacons are good and there's a lot on 28.200 to around 28.300 MHz in various countries. Mainly used c.w. on 17m and 10m with 5 Watts into Europe, with 1 Watt getting 1400 miles to Sicily and Bulgaria.. An ssb QSO to Sicily, 1400 miles using 5 Watts. Nobody in 35 years of living here has ever asked what is the purpose of my wire in the sky. G4GHB.

I have become a diehard cw qrp operator decades ago ! QRP works great to conserve power ! Perhaps maybe remember when we were supposed to conserve electricity ? Conserve just went away ! There also used to be the type of fella who was a listener ! I think a QRP operator puts a bit of effort into being a listener ! A half a watt works for listeners !

QRP is a wonderful challenge of skill and knowledge and there is lots and lots to learn about all sorts. Please keep teaching us🔥Love it

The coolness factor increases as the power output decreases. Making a DX contact on 100mW would be a "mike drop" moment for me. Of course I'd drop my cheapest mike. 73 Cliff

I enjoy 100 watts and a wire on SSB! I don't understand why many hams run 1000 watts or full power into a beam just to chat over a few 100 miles. I've hit 70+ countries in the 6 weeks I've been on HF. I understand propagation and luck, but if you listen around and be patient, your 100 watts or less can get you anywhere. Great video sir!!!

I love this topic ❤. Please record more video. Thank you very much

If I spent hundreds to thousands of dollars to gain a couple S units, I would be butt hurt by your reality videos too LOL

Excellent someone with sense .. my record is I worked Zimbabwe on 250 Milli Watts HW8 BFY51 PA ...inverted Vee dipole centre up about 30 feet up on a tree

Glad I saw till the end. Learned something new about the beacons.. I’ve used WWV and websdr to hear conditions on bands but didn’t know about beacons doing the 100w to 1w beeps. I’ll add that to the tool box. Thanks!

Nice video Cliff, I’ve been into QRP for many years, just because I love a challenge, the least power used is definitely the way togo.

I’m a qrp weirdo too. Nice video series Cliff!

Spot on! I wasn't really being critical on the last video's topic, just observations. On 40 we have a little rag chew get together every weekend. We are all in about a 500-750 mile radius. Many times 5 watts is all it takes for most stations to make it happen. One OM even laid his antenna on the ground and most stations still copied him fine! Some of the station's locations, antenna config, or noise makes it more difficult for them. 73

Greetings from Tasmania :) . When out with my Mountain Topper it's not uncommon to contact mainland US stations, so I don't think distance is the issue. I would suggest it's more a numbers game for you to get us in the log; despite a vibrant local amateur community, there would only be a handful of active CW operators. P.S. It's great having you back making videos.

QRP Works, and yes propagation does play a major factor. But like you, I really enjoy taking out my 2 watt Wilderness Radio SST-20 and seeing who I can contact. Or my 5 watt QRPLabs QCX (Classic). It's just fun. And yes, sometimes it can be a challenge. But for me that's half the fun. Throw a wire in a tree on a nice sunny day from a park, with a light weight station I built myself and talking 100 to 10,000 miles. That really raises the cool factor for me. I still get that "First Contact" excitement even if it's only a short distance contact. Radio is magic and I love it. ( yes I know how it works, but it's still magic :-) ) Don't let the trolls and the naysayers get you down. You are sharing an aspect of this great hobby that you enjoy. I think that's awesome. Let them have their 1500W amps, that's what they enjoy. Do what you enjoy. That's the great thing about this hobby there are so many different ways to enjoy it. One way is not better than the another. IMHO. Love the channel, and I can't wait for more. 73

I have a item in my log where I talk to a W7 station west coast from Belgium using an SunSDR QRP radio 5 watts and a dipole for 20 meters at 60 feet in the air. Sometimes those gods help you out ;-) Great channel and videos. 73 Phil ON4VP

Hey great video, you actually answered my question from the first video you did... on difference from say cw to phone... thanks, I learned alot. Now as far as the sad hams, and It seems to me they are more and more of them today, No matter what test you do, there is ALWAYS going to be different variables and scenarios..... thats HAM RADIO... no way can ANYONE do a test to cover all the different variables.. that said Thanks a million for all the videos sharing your knowledge, 73 NS9T.

Love the video and loved part 1. Great points and great example on both videos transmitting to an SDR and seeing the results. It has always amazed me when I am pushing 100W and lucky to make contacts and I hear these guys out there making the trip on 5 and 10W. I recently purchased a QRP rig, Lab599 TX-500, and made a 10W contact to stations 600 miles away, and that was on SSB. I purchased the rig as my CW rig, which I am learning now. I am very excited about CW and the low power world. New subsciber, love the videos.

Cliff, practical real-time testing and experience is the most important testing to me. How to attain the best results on any given day and conditions is the challenge and fun ham radio. QRP helps test your limits.

So good to hear such common sense, excellent.

Another great video on the topic. Long term SWL here. In the process of getting licensed in Japan. I think it would be fun make my first contact a DX contact pushing just 1-5W CW rather than attempting to squeeze myself into the local 40m SSB evening rag chew. Have a decent summit or two nearby. A home brew CW transceiver is a simple weekend project. Have my antenna already built and tuned. This is what the hobby is about.

I have both kinds of stations .. K3S with 500W and Hexbeam vs KX3 with 10W. Both are cool, fun and totally different. I like QRP but it’s different, however, that’s why this hobby is so cool! Good videos!!

thanks for the part 2! I use 20 watts a lot with my G90. I had a Xiegu X6100 and I just had too much trouble with it and getting good results on activations with it consistently. I'm sure part of that was it being made of cheap Chinesium. I'm sure a IC705 or Elecraft would do a better job. But for now I'll stick with my G90. I have great results talking to people in Europe. The approaching solar maximum certainly helps the QRP game right now.

I am with you Clif, one other thing, working QRP will make you a better Ham radio operator, now that statment ruffled a few feathers I am sure. OK if you are working QRP you pay more attention to making sure your antenna is working well, you are most likley not using a tuner when working DX, a well matched antenna is far better than one that requires a match box. Then working QRP makes you a better listener, I mean you train your ears to hear week signals, to draw the signals out of the noise. Then Last if you Love QRP, then most likley you also LOVE CW mode, and we all know CW mode is real Ham radio. Now the feathers are flying, ha ha.

Very helpfull. Qrp is very nice for outdoor activity.

Greetings from Essex County, England. I'm still learning the basics, but last weekend, I spoke to a station in Italy (678 miles away) using my IC-705 on 5w. All I've got is a Chameleon MPAS mounted on a 2.5m tall wooden pergola in our tiny garden, with 3 x 10m and 3 x 5m elevated radials. I could hear him very clearly, and so could he. Power is a very fluid concept... Keep up the great work. 73 de 2E0HJN (Manny)

Totally agree 👍 Interesting about the tone beacons, never knew about those

Thanks Cliff….very encouraging to keep working at it on cw and lower power. Tnx es 73 Bart N4KGY

I had forgotten about the beacons! Thanks for the reminder. 😂

I hop on my small motorcycle with one of my QRP radios in a backpack head to the hills, throw a wire in a tree and make contacts just using a 9 volt transistor radio battery. Simple small Fun. And it is fun to be setting five feet off a trail, sending and receiving signals talking to someone far off while people are walking by not even awair I am right there.

The last couple of minutes of this video were right on the money. Good work brother! (I had to laugh actually, all those locations that you said you can't work any time, like Tasmania, or Japan.... As an Australian, we can work those guys QRP all the time!) I'd be happy to work Ohio occasionally... hihi... 73

"cool story bro" 😃 Excellent practical video. Point to point scheduled communications require special planning. It was covered by some ham preppers on RU-vid

An excellent follow up, thank you.

I’m a QRP weirdo too 😂. Great video Cliff! 73 de KF7SEY

QRP is a hobby within a hobby and a lot of fun. -- Love your videos. 73/K7KWW

Another great video Cliff, thank you very much for what you do for all of us.

QRP for me builds my skills as an operator. I also love QRP. Thank you for your channel and presentations. K5NR

First off, thank you for your videos! I have been watching your videos for quite some time now and have to say thank you for inspiring me to try more QRP. Second, I have been getting on the air with my 817 while I’m living here in Japan. I have been doing mostly FT8 and JS8call, but only at 5 watts. Yesterday I was able to make a few contacts on 15 meters. One to Uruguay (11800+ miles), one to southern Australia (about 6000 miles), and one to Okinawa (about 700 miles). Key up and let key up! QRP is fun and amazing to see what you can do! Keep up the great videos! PS- I’m just like everyone else out there trying to improve my CW! Gambatte! JQ3IWM/K7PEW

Excellent video! Your demonstration of the difference between power output levels in that first half of the video shows a huge difference. I might try a little SSB on my next SOTA outing.

Who cares what the QRO Bros say. Next thing, someone will complain about the net guy… “No one owns a frequency including nets!” 😂😂😂 Nice of that station to help out with the signal reports, and great comparison video again.

Thanks, Cliff. I've never owned a QRO radio, but I'm a QRP weirdo, in part, thanks to you. I really enjoy your videos. Thank you, and 73, de K7RNJ

Great video. Thank you for presentations and information. QRP works as you describes. 73s

Great to see your videos again

Great video and so glad your making videos again:)

Another great video!

Very nice video. I'm an advocate for QRP and very familiar with the 6dB per S-unit rule. I often explain to fellow hams than earning 1 S-unit more is costly and there are other ways than increasing the transmit power. One of them, on SSB, is to use a good audio compressor which can bring up to a 10dB increase in your audio S/N ratio, which is 1.5 times more than what 4 times more power could bring. I guess with compression on your modulation, you would have been perfectly audible down to 1 watt.

Great post

This was great (and funny) - thank you.

Thanks for another great video. There are some digital modes like JT 65 that have error correction and integration gain that work well over long distances if you want to impress your neighbor but you might have to schedule the contact to get it done. Thanks for your video it has motivated me to order a 20 watt SDR transceiver to play with FX-4CR. Best regards WA1HGS

Much better than the first video imo great job😊

All this had to be said. Thank you!

I checked out the beacon web page and spent a few minutes listening to the beacons via a WebSDR. Next time I'm in the field, I'll take time to tune WWV and these beacons as well as checking the solar weather. I need to make some notes to carry into the field. I've been playing a little POTA while visiting some of my family here in Missouri. The last three activations were done with my KX2 and either a wire in a tree or the Chameleon MPAS 2 and five watts CW. I made my quota each outing and did not need a lot of station to do it. I find that fun. It is nice to be able to setup and recover the station in ten minutes or so. Thanks for the show!

Good to have you back Cliff. Good production and explanation. Hope to see you again at FDIM. Dave K8WPE from Traverse City, MI.

Great video again! I noticed you read my comment a few videos ago. : ) Another fun experiment I do is to listen to my QRP SSB signal on a remote SDR, adjust the power, and then enable and disable the external speech compressor. For example the external DYC-817. I can hear my SSB signal at 0.5 Watt with the compressor on better than at 5 Watt with the compressor off (and the SSB mic gain set back to 100%). Roughly speaking, the speech compressor gives more than 10*log10(10) = 10 dB of gain. Another way to put it is that my signal at 5 Watts with the external speech compressor on is similar to a 50 Watt signal without speech compression. And that's only 3 dB away from 100 Watts. That experiment taught me to use the external speech compressor on my FT-817, unless I already get a true 59 signal report without it. 73.

Love it. I'll talk to you anytime conditions are favourable. I have several SSB QSOs at 5 watts with a homebrew rig into Europe from southeast Tassie, cheers, 73, Ian, VK7IAN

Good video!! Takes patience and good propagation for QRP. Have not tried it yet. Will get there one day. Currently chasing DX barefoot with 100w on a compromised flagpole antenna. Would like to add an amp eventually so I can ragchew at night. I will say it makes my day when I add another country to my list. Keeps getting harder and harder. Up to 88 and counting. 73

I am going to say something that is probably going to sound very stupid now, but here goes. I used to tell people I loved taking my FT-817 out and about and how much I loved the radio. I used to, and still do, get feedback along the lines of "I own one" or "I have owned one" and quickly followed by "I can't get anyone on it, the power is too low". It took me a bit to figure out what I was doing, and why was it that I would always get contacts every time. Well, the thing is I look for the strongest signals. So, and this is where I am going to sound a bit stupid I think... I tell people now, if you want to QRP, first make your radio as deaf as you can. And then find someone strong. Then call them. I have worked thousands of miles in all directions on non-resonant end fed wires driven through a 9:1 unun at low height ( if you are a new ham, all of this is bad ) and all with 5w on SSB. My favorite was running the wire along my mothers washing line, in the rain, the wire trapped in the door with the unun in the house... from UK I worked spain and had a very very long QSO with someone who had a small antenna on a balcony. The propagation was just such that it lined up perfect for us. But really, and this is where my advice ( although maybe stupid ) comes from, all I was doing was looking for strong signals. Honestly, I love QRP, it always feels like I have activated some sort of cheat code when I work thousands of miles doing seemingly everything I can to fail. I guess I am just good at failing at failing itself.

Great video Cliff. If it was easy everyone would do it.

Thank you! for your shared knowledge and experience. I would ignore your those w their negative comments. Lots of people on RU-vid-land need to grow up.

Nice video!

I must admit that the CW video had me wondering, "Sure, but how would it sound on SSB?" Thanks for creating this video. I only wish that you had shared a 50W sample. I suspect that it might have sounded identical to 100W. I'm a mobile-only operator. So, I'm working with a "compromise antenna" that is probably making me about as effective at 100W as you are at QRP. 😉 I've considered an ALS-500 many times, but I'm successful enough with 100W that I don't think I need the extra sophistication or current draw from the battery. Thanks for sharing! 73! -Scott, KE4WMF

Great video, as always. Very educational. Make some bike mobile videos this summer, please.

And there you have it folks... That is what we call the proverbial " Mic' drop" 😂 Great job!

Thats awesome I live in Ohio. I love making contacts. This is an awesome video

I wondered what the propagation gods looked like. So I can assume that when the bands aren’t great they are at the gym. As a ham that got started with the FT-818 in 2020, you can find someone to talk to with QRP or I would have given it all up. Thanks for the vids!

I like your take on both cw and ssb. I have run only qrp for many years and my only hf rig right now is a Heathkit HW-8 and making contacts on 40 or 15 meters with a dipole is not a problem, even Europe and the middle east, if allowing for band conditions. I have even made a lot of dssc phone contacts on 80m with my qrp Wee Willy homebrew at 1 watt so given the right conditions, qrp is usually just fine and fun to boot 😀 73 de wa4jat coastal nc

Sad you got a bunch of negative people on your feedback, but I really appreciate seeing the SSB follow-up. The CW vid inspired me to work on my mic shy some and run tests SSB to Wisconsin. Decent propagation at probably the outer edge of my 1-hop zone, decent setup with a linked EFHW on 20m... 80W fine for convo. If not ragchew, I probably could have dropped to around 20W/25W for a basic contact. 20-80, was clear difference to my ear over websdr. 40-80, just sounded a little thinner. Thanks for teaching. 😎👍

I operate most days during the week on the 17m activity group with my IC-705 and a half size Hamstick on my work truck SSB. I’ve never not been heard. Occasionally there will be one or two European stations and one in New Zealand participating and I’ve gotten signal reports back from them. It’s all about the propagation.

The things you demonstrate, in this video, as well as the one with CW, are long standing scientific and mathematical facts. We have known the relationship between power and relative dB and how it's perceived for many decades. Those who are in disagreement and/or trolling are ignorant. It's not a debate, engineers have understood how this works since the early days of the telephone network. This should be common knowledge to every ham! I have to laugh when I hear guys having a conversation and one of them switches on a kilowatt amplifier and asks the other guy how much difference it makes, and it's maybe 1 S-unit and they're all confused as to why the guy didn't go from S6 to S9+20dB. It's embarrassing that so much of the ham community doesn't understand this. BTW, these same principles apply to loudness in audio equipment as well. A 100 watt amplifier is only barely perceivably louder than a 50 watt amp. 3dB, which is just BARELY perceivable if you're listening intently. That's why potentiometers are available with linear and audio tapers. Audio taper pots increase and decrease exponentially so that they have a noticeable effect to the listener without excessive movement being required. It's basic engineering and math principles which have been well understood for as long as anyone reading this has been alive. Unless you're a Ham, apparently. It's shocking that you have hams in your comments essentially arguing that well understood physics don't apply in practice.

Thanks for doing this! I could still hear you, on the video, at 0.5w. Thanks especially for pointing out the beacons! Such an underrated tool. Unfortunately, the FT8 “operators” almost always destroy the 14.100 beacon. My SSB QRP Mobile station consisted of a FT-817ND into a one-off Diamond antenna with a 20m element on top, on a 4 magnet mount. Even though I was on during the bottom of a sunspot cycle, it convinced me that “QRP works!”. Question for you: What rig were you running that goes from 100w to 0.5w? Best 73’s!! 😊 WB3CFN/m

@ralphnunn3 JFYI CW vs SSB is about 15db difference in readability. Thus 5W CW ~ 150W SSB one may consider that a noticeable difference

It’s now April 2024, and i can tell you that almost evry day, and bein in northern France, I can hear people from the U.S ( mainly Ohio and tenesee) on CB channel 19 AM; and I hear them as if they were sitting in my car with me !!!

Also use the QRP frequencies, both c.w. and s.s.b. G4GHB.

Great Video as was the first in the series... Required learning for new hams. 73 K5AZZ

I must say that I am not a QRP fanatic but out in the fields I just use whatever is available to me. It can be 3W from my MTB3b or can be 15W from a KX3 when I have luxury to cary enough electrons alone with the KX3. When portable I use maximum available to me power just to make life easier for my correspondents. I consider that in QRP the skill is mostly on the other side of a QSO, but patience should be present on this side of it. But again, I am a CW operator and it is hard to imagine that in 2017 when I got licensed the 3w SSB with a wire antennas was a reasonable option.

Really nice points. My issue is, you are the little guy on my right shoulder whispering in my ear, "turn the power down David, you really don't need all of that extra power anyway". Then there's the other guy on my left shoulder who whispers stuff like Tim the tool man Taylor "More power! arg arg arg!". I find we are just creatures of habit, and generally repeat certain behaviors because of those habits, regardless of what we know could be better. It takes a conscience effort to break those habits.

QRO is the way to go!!

Wow. Cliff is back AND he has a K4!

Last week I made the "coupe du REF" SSB contest with 5W and a simple magnetic loop from my balcony. I made contact from France to Guyana, Canada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Brazil, Morocco. Of course, it easier with hams wich take the time to listening, and I had to repeat few time my call and number, but it's was not really hard.

You give the power out of the radio? What is your antenna Db gain and cable loss? Power out for this demonstration should be at the antenna.

Good video. Your Tanzania story on favorable conditions is true. But even with favorable conditions 5 watts is not going to bust a POTA pileup like 100 watts will. You would definitely have to work harder. I love QRP and three of my 4 radios are QRP. Only my 7300 is QRO. I would love to see a beacon video.

If you're making contacts and having fun, the rest doesn't matter (so long as you're doing it legally, of course).

Very good info and video Cliff. Thank you. 73 de Kn4vvy

Thanks for adding in the beacon network, it drives the point home. For me, qrp is fun because 100 watts has become easy and boring. I can now work on all states or dxcc again in qrp.

My Elmers told me for years! Forget watts peek. If you can hear them you can talk to them! Qrp is fun and challenging. That’s why all I need was the three tube 811 that’s it 🎙😎🇺🇸📡 KJ7TBR

I've only owned a 100 Watt TCVR a few times in my life, when I broadcast with it I always felt like I was cheating, I don't blame exactly who, probably myself, I haven't bought such radios since. Just because 20dB often means more than 20Kg extra or 2 thousand dollars extra, or 22 Amps instead of 2 Amps. 73!

I'm perplexed the operator about to run a net (presumably within the US only) needs 600W and a beam. But there's lots I don't know. I agree with all your statements.

With my Xiegu G90 using 20 watts on SSB I can most of the time work any station I can hear. I mostly hunt POTA stations. Another local Ham just got a G90, and has found the same thing. If the propagation Gods smile on you you can work DX with 20 watts, 10 watts or 1 watt.

If you live in a country with a very large number of hams your going to have a larger number of them that have an environment that compensates for your low power. Either a beam/Yagi or they live in a very low background noise environment. I live in Perth Western Australia. Look at it on a world map. There are 300 odd hams in the state outside of Perth. The next city with hams is 2500km away. Further the Hams outside of Perth and those in the eastern states don't point their Yagis in our direction. They are pointed to Europe,USA or Japan. I have a G90 and a quarter wave vertical for 20m. I've had one (only one) DX SSB contact, 18000km to Lady island South Carolina. Someone working long path with a beam pointed over the south pole. With CW the narrow bandwidth will compensate the SNR to make up for your low power. Regards VK6MIK

When I went from 100w to 1k I have to say my effort to make contacts dropped significantly and people saying a nice signal went up. Not science but I believe power makes a big difference. I think low watt contacts are fun and force better antenna placement / height but more power does help. I guess the best way to say it is if I can't make it with 1500 I ain't making it with 5. Different game at 5 vs 1500. Both are fun

I find I can work anyone with 10w if they are about a7 on my RX meter. Kind of depends if you want contacts or 30 minute QSO’s

Bottom line is the band is either open or it's not. As you stated "conditions". If the band isn't open running 5KW or 10KW won't open the band or change the atmospheric conditions. Or to reduce it to simple CB terms, the skip is either in or it isn't. All the power in the world isn't going to change that fact. From Arizona I work into Europe on a modest dipole up 15' and with 1.75 watts CW. Today I worked a station in Bulgaria on 10 meters. Gave him a 599 and got a 559 in return. Not sure what he was running in terms of power but I was running 1.75 watts. For the "nice story bro" types, tell them to look up or Google a law of physics called "The Inverse Square Law." It doesn't matter if it's sound, light, radiation, or RF, this law applies to all energy waves. 73, and keep up the good work Cliff!!

QRP is much easier, and I think more fun, when the sun is at the peak of its 11 year cycle. Sometimes it can be a real pain to have anyone to talk to, even at 100 watts, at the bottom of the solar cycle!

5 watts typically isnt enough on ssb at my QTH. Cw its plenty though

Your antenna is your station - show me the antenna.

Can't you find a friend or a subscriber who can make a video with a signal generator to send a signal to a radio with different power levels? This could definitely prove that.