QRP Myths BUSTED: Power Levels Explained 

I’m not sure if I am serious or not either 😮

@@TheSmokinApe, there is indeed a very silly side to serious pursuits. Catch 22 described it all too well. The more serious people get, the more silly they get. I strictly follow the FCC regs, but everything else I will take pretty lightly. I find RF to be a fascinating hobby that I put a lot of time into. I build and experiment because I'm very curious about RF. I've built a 30 foot tall LowFER antenna with 2 miles of hand-wound wire in it, yes, 2 miles, and with a 3 foot diameter loading coil with 35 pounds of 8 gauge copper wire wound on it. That's pretty serious, but also quite silly. And I keep in mind that radio is still just a hobby.

You must have read my mind 😮

Exactly what I was thinking! And vegan......

😳

That is the first thing that crossed my mind too.

How do you know that someone is a QRP Vegan CrossFitter? They tell you every five minutes

I do the same thing sometimes, makes total sense 👍

💯

Right 👍

I would totally agree 👍

So it took you 45 years to figure that out.

@@placeholder-065 no just made a comment. figured that out first week!

@@keithhawkins4641 OK then. Take care.

3db is 3db doesn't matter if you get it from the antenna or the radio if you can hear the other side of the conversation. Biggest advantage to antennas is you get that gain on the RX end also, second biggest is they can be cheaper than a radio upgrade and you're gonna need a better antenna eventually either way since you can't radio yer way out of a bad antenna. Still a bit silly to start QRP if yer not up for a challenge.

Haha, glad you liked it 👍

That’s a great tip 👍

Great idea! I use KiwiSDR just to see where I’m being heard. Now I know how to improve the noise I’m making.

lol, right 👍

💯

800w on FT8 is like duck hunting with patriot missiles!

800 is QRP compared to my 1.5kw!

@@davidc5027Going from 800 watts to 1,500 watts gets you 1/2 of an S-Unit on the receiving end. Because math.

800W on FT8 is the bare minimum !

Thanks for watching AFR

That’s what is awesome about the hobby, something for everyone, thanks for watching 👍

Awesome David, glad you liked it 👍

Sounds like you are well on your way!

Hey MrBTc, I do operate QRP and enjoy it… my thing is that I don’t subscribe to some of the QRP dogma that seems to be floating around. Thanks for the comment 👍

Glad you liked it jwilly, thanks for watching…

Indeed it is, I saw your email…. You will have one coming your way.

Hey Thomas, thanks for watching 👍

Great point, thank you LGITW 👍

Good tip! Thanks for watching Hollywood 👍

Make sure you use gold contacts, Monster cables for your Ethernet and a dedicated power drop from your utility. Optical cables for your external speakers. I assume you’re using a tube-amp.

Exactly, it’s all about the antenna…

@@TheSmokinApe, I used to say that too, but after 1 good sunspot cycle I realized that it was even more about conditions, be it height up the mountain, atmospherics, or sitting out on the plains 9 miles away from the nearest power-line. I remember back in the early 1970's talking to the same group of Aussies and not missing a word, every evening after about 8:00 pm for a month or more on 27 MHz till about 11 pm when they would fade out. I was running a SSB CB putting out 18 Watts from my car in Colorado Springs, Colorado. When conditions are that good you hardly have to turn your radio on to get through.

I totally agree that band conditions, antenna and power all play a role in making contacts 👍

“Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast”

Sure is, thanks for watching Slick 👍

lol, thanks for watching Mr K 👍

Great point Les, thank you 👍

lol 🍻

The guy on the RX side gets the privilege of working a QRPer 👍

They just need a better receiver. Like an Elecraft.

I’m just taking about what I love, and that’s QRP!

@@TheSmokinApe as a QRPer, I approve of this comment.

@@Mo_feezy 👍

100 > 10, can't argue math... 😳

Agreed, work with what you have and do what you like 👍

Hey Daniel. I do operate QRP and do enjoy doing it, what I don’t do is subscribe to the QRP dogma if it wasn’t obvious 👍

@@TheSmokinApe Can I gingerly ask what the "QRP dogma" is? I'm a big QRP nerd, but I've got three 100 watt HF radios on my desk. - Cliff

Hey Cliff. First, thanks for watching... I have watched many of your videos and respect the work you do to educate hams. You actually produce content that helps people be better hams vs the countless unboxing / affiliate link stuff that seems to be so popular. I tried to outline the QRP dogma behavior in my video but I'd be happy to expand, please keep in mind that I have three QRP radios on my desk... 1. Why the need to announce that you are operating QRP? I don't say "CQ 50 watts 20 meters 50 watts CQ" when calling? QRP operators are quick to say "it's about the antenna" when asked about why they do QRP. Why don't they announce "Dipole antenna, CQ dipole CQ"? No other group of operators choose to announce power level when calling CQ. It seems that there is some level of importance attached to the fact they are operating QRP... why? 2. Why the confusing rhetoric shifting between power measurement scales? It seems like QRP folks want to take a liner scale used for watts and translate it to db, which makes sense but they leave out the distinction of how exponential graphs work and their purpose. Then they take logarithmic derived values and apply them to a linear s-meter value. I appreciate the effort, but it feels like I am being sold a used car. 3. Why is it when a QRPer has a successful activation it is attributed to; skill, patience and antenna wizardry and when the activation is unsuccessful it's attributed to poor band conditions? Personally, I enjoy operating QRP to verify my operating skill and antenna building understanding. But I have ZERO desire to tell people that I am operating QRP when I do, it would seem that I am asking for a handout that I can later say I earned with expertise. If I choose to operate QRP, why would I want to make that known to the world unless I was looking for some form of validation? You see, I'm not against operating QRP, I just don't want favorable or special consideration for doing so.... I hope I haven't said anything upsetting and again I appreciate all you do to advance the hobby. Ape

@@TheSmokinApe Upsetting? No! I think I agree with everthing you're saying!!! (and thanks for the kind words) I NEVER use /QRP at the end of my call sign. I did many years ago and then I realized that some people are put off by it. If propagation is good between us, the receiving station might not even know I'm running QRP. Of course, a 100 watt (or even 1,500 watt) signal can be weak to the receiving station. When my signal is weak to the receiving station, maybe they'll have the patience to copy me. But, if I tell them I'm QRP up front, some percentage of those operators may be quicker to "turn the big knob" on me. Not pointing fingers... sometimes I don't have the patience to try to dig a weak signal out of the noise either. Fact: the one time I will absolutely "turn the big knob" is when someone with a straight key is sending poorly-spaced code! Life may not be too short for QRP but life is too short for me to sit here and try to figure out if you're sending an "A" or an "E" followed by a "T"! I know some may think I'm being unkind when I say that, but we all learned Morse Code by listening to perfectly formed code... so we are used to that rhythm (dot/dash ratio). Let's just stick with that instead of getting creative with longer than normal dashes, etc. Successful QRP-ing requires favorable band conditions. I don't really buy into the "special skill" thing. When conditions are good, anybody who tries can make some QRP contacts. When conditions aren't good, it's not much fun. Of course, some people have a higher tolerance for frustration than others. I don't really consider it a failure if I don't make many contacts. It was still fun to put the hook in the water and watch the bobber with anticipation. Sometimes the fish aren't biting. As far as antennas, I use a SOTABEAMS linked dipole 90% of the time. If propagation is good, my trusty half-wave dipole is all I need. I built a hex-beam a long time ago (made a video on it). At the end of the video, I tell people that a hex-beam antenna only gets you about an extra 1/2 S-Unit (3dB) over a dipole... so is it really worth dragging all those parts out into the field over a dipole??? (not to me) I'm not a fan of FT8, although it seems to have taken over most HF traffic. Live and let live. But, I have to say that I miss being able to have actual conversations like we used to be able to have regularly when PSK-31 was popular. It was good to type with you. Keep doing your thing! You have a lot of great videos. - Cliff

Sounds like we are on the same page, thanks for checking out the video Cliff 👍

Work with what you got and and have fun, that’s for watching FW 👍

Hey Ressy, I got my maps with the REL button on the bottom of the screen 👍

Thanks Chuck, glad you liked it 👍

Thanks for checking it out 👍

@@StanHirson awesome man, thanks for watching 👍

👀 Yeah, I was joking a little bit. Thanks for watching 👍

Thanks M J, glad you liked it 👍

Thanks bduff, glad you liked it 👍

Fair point 👍

Hey Mike, thanks for watching 👍

Thanks Duane, glad you liked it 👍

Thanks for watching hax, glad you liked it 👍

I need some of that BT line 🤔

Oof.

I’m pretty sure they will be more VOACAP videos 👍

@@TheSmokinApe Love your no nonsense approach and your damn good on man video production techniques. 👏

Hey Dylan, they do put the burden on the RX station

Sounds awesome, thanks for watching NWH 👍

Thanks for watching KT0ODW, glad you liked it 👍

Don’t forget solar conditions! Thanks for watching and the comment Mike 👍

It was hard to no laugh 👍

Whatever you are doing, a QRP guy will say you are wrong.

​​@TheSmokinApe And a non-QRPer will follow him to do the same. 😂 I don't QRP, but I think I've heard 'life is too short for QRP' a hundred times. Usually followed by FT8 isn't ham radio and telling me how CW is the best. Wires X isn't radio or real operators HF DX. All of this junk is too prevalent in thr hobby.

Hey Bill, thanks for watching the video 👍

Thanks for watching Keith, glad you liked it 👍

LOL

Glad you like it DS 👍

Thanks for watching and for the comment Robert 👍

I agree and I even operate QRP sometimes 😮

I should go into politics 🤔

lol, thanks for checking it out 👍

I don’t see why not… answering for a friend 👍

Am I falling for the quip?

​@@TheSmokinApein the words of Tom Petty, "Free Fallin'"

Ah

The g90 is a great and fun radio 👍

@@TheSmokinApe thnx for the vote of confidence. Thinking I was wishful not hitting 100W.

I don't think you can go wrong with the G90. Just don't think it will be your last radio. Buy it and have fun. Then save up for a 7300 or similar and keep the G90 for portable. Put the 7300 in the shack.

Right 👍

Ya know, I’ve never checked 😮

😮

A QRPer is someone who operates their radio at low power levels 👍

@@TheSmokinApe, but they asked what a QPR'er was.

Oh, I must have been typing at QRP levels and made a typo 😮

Someone who "Creatively" improves their antenna earth Ground plane resistance.....

Yeah.. and I like calling QC QC.. just to keep people on their toes!

And people wonder why the oceans are getting warmer…

I was kinda making fun of QRP

Thanks Daniel 👍

The 705 is a fantastic radio. Thanks for watching and for the comment 👍

The way the good lord intended!

Haha! Thanks for the comment 👍

But FT8 isn’t real ham radio 😮

Haha 😂

Hey paaao, thanks for watching 👍

I agree and thanks for the comment Tom 👍

Haha

Hey ve2zdx. You simply can believe everything you see on YT. I should do that video 🤔

Do tell. Which video? Don't be shy...

QRP QSL QRP

Glad you liked it Matt 👍

It was hard work but I got it done 👍

Just the sad ones. Most of us know when we're being silly and lean into it.

​@chublez It was a joke. I agree, sad hams have no sense of humor. Fortunately, I rarely meet one. Most hams are pretty nice folks.

Thanks dreupen, glad you liked the videos 👍

Not me

Well shucky darn. That antenna setup is HUGE

Yeah, 13db. Thanks for watching David 👍

That’s awesome, and you are 100% correct it’s got to be fun 👍

The g90 is a pretty sweet radio, I really miss the one I sold

Thanks Jeff, glad you liked it bro 👍

I have to admit, more power is more fun 😮

Hey Ralph, I operate QRP often because it is fun but I do think telling everyone is a little silly 👍

Lol

Right! We need to have established rules of what ham radio is and isn't! 🤔

Hey Paul, it’s on the list 👍

Don't forget the 200 year old technology CW lovers, Uuugh. Seriously, I'm trying to learn. 😂

Haha

Thanks Jeff, glad you liked it and thank you for watching 👍

Hey KD8EFQ, thanks for watching 👍

Hey Mike, when you figure it out can you let me know?

The g90 is a great radio for people to experience HF

who doesn't?

lol, thanks for watching Robert 👍

Right, the burden is on the listener and then the QPR'er gets to tell everyone how he made a great contact...

@@TheSmokinApe Can't wait until they discover the roger beep setting.

Haha

I think the point is that if you want to FT8 the next state 10w is fine. Not everyone is chasing DX on HF. There is no right or wrong way to ham.

I’m right there with you HSE 👍

@@bassmanjr100 Most of those videos are trying to tell you there is no difference between 10 and 100 watts. Working the next state over doesn't prove they are the same, it just proves that 10w will work one state away.

Right