Radio > QRP
My QRP Experiment Was A Huge Success!
Tevin:
This is a continuation of the ongoing story of my old go box, which was too big, too heavy, and a massive fail.
I've spent the last few months trying to decide if I should include HF in my new & improved porta-station. It would require new equipment and of course a significant cash outlay. I have money to spend but I don't have money to waste. I'm of the opinion that HF is not mission-critical for most prepping purposes. But as someone who wants to be a "full service" ham when SHTF, I feel I need to include it because there's a good chance I'll be the only guy within miles who knows how to do something besides kerchunk a repeater. People are depending on me to be the "electronics wizard".
I decided to look into QRP as a serious option. I never tried it and have only a generic knowledge of the topic. It would solve a lot of problems of weight and space, with a tradeoff of lower power. So to find out if I could get by on QRP, I turned my FT-950 output power down as far as it will go, which I estimate to be 5-7 watts (the meter resolution is poor at low levels). For sure it was less than ten watts.
Long story short: Without hardly even trying, I got a 5x9 signal report on 40 meter phone from stations 500 and 1100 miles away! And that was using an antenna that isn't that great. I was shocked.
I'm still going to run a few more tests, but my initial impression of QRP is that it is not just for experimenting and contests. It can be a practical everyday comms method.
If I add an 817ND to the mix, I'll keep my FT-2900 in there as well for higher power on 2-meters. I have enough solar stuff laying around to make a more than adequate power source. The whole package will be considerably smaller, lighter, and more versatile than the beast it is replacing.
So I have no heavy questions or anything like that. I just wanted to share my excitement. I never gave much thought to QRP but now that I've tried it I think it's worth looking at.
spacecase0:
that is good to here how well it worked
if the power grid ever fails, QRP will work even better
usually you need power to cover over the QRM of the world,
that QRM vanishes if the grid fails
then there are some days that you just need power to get past what the sun is doing, but they are not to common.
I like the 817 and 2900 due to being quite low power requirements for what you get
they are the ones I use when I am running on solar
have you looked at the Tokyo Hy-Power HL-45B to go with the 817 ? it is still pretty efficient with that amp
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/7941
DragoSapien:
I have to have HF in my go box. Out here where im at UHF/VHF will be only for the group. If the repeaters go down there no other way to talk to other towns with out the HF for me. Good move on the QRP. Im doing the same thing playing with it.
XJP5:
--- Quote from: Tevin on February 14, 2015, 10:17:06 PM ---
I decided to look into QRP as a serious option. I never tried it and have only a generic knowledge of the topic. It would solve a lot of problems of weight and space, with a tradeoff of lower power. So to find out if I could get by on QRP, I turned my FT-950 output power down as far as it will go, which I estimate to be 5-7 watts (the meter resolution is poor at low levels). For sure it was less than ten watts.
--- End quote ---
For the sake of battery life, I'm wondering what your current draw in A/h is at that low power setting? Do you have any way to measure it accurately Tev? I'm getting ready to experiment with a backpack portable configuration myself and am curious. Thx.
Tevin:
--- Quote from: spacecase0 on February 15, 2015, 12:33:43 AM ---that is good to here how well it worked
if the power grid ever fails, QRP will work even better
usually you need power to cover over the QRM of the world,
that QRM vanishes if the grid fails
then there are some days that you just need power to get past what the sun is doing, but they are not to common.
I like the 817 and 2900 due to being quite low power requirements for what you get
they are the ones I use when I am running on solar
have you looked at the Tokyo Hy-Power HL-45B to go with the 817 ? it is still pretty efficient with that amp
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/7941
--- End quote ---
I experimented a little more this morning, this time 20 meter phone during the day. I heard the same guy I spoke with last night at 1100 miles on 40 (he is in a QSO party) and tried him again. He could kind-of hear me but not enough to call it a legitimate contact.
I heard another guy, about the same distance, but he was running a special events station and there was no way I could break through the pile up.
In both cases, I could barely if at all hear the other stations replying to these guys. The ones I did hear were all on that side of the country.
Today's experiment was not successful but it is just one day on one band. We all know ham radio is a lot like fishing and sometimes the fish don't want to play. I'm not discouraged. QRP has been around as long as ham radio itself and is a proven performer. I'm not doing anything amazing & new.
I found some linears for the 817 on eBay but they were clearly cheap Chinarigs that I would dread having to depend on in SHTF. As best I can determine, the Tokyo Hy-Power is the only one worth having, and of course the design quality is reflected in the price tag.
Drago: My reservations about HF for SHTF come from my belief that if things get really bad, you're not going to care about what's going on five states away. Yes, I know there will always be exceptions, but 95% of your comms will be local. If you are in a situation where the range of VHF/UHF is not enough but you're still too close for DX (I'm thinking in terms of regional cities, as you mentioned), then you'll need to go HF ground wave. That requires brute power and QRP will not pull it off anyway. Sometimes there is no substitute for a big ass linear.
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