Day one, the start of the blog
Ok so here we go. I have been thinking about blogging about my radio activities for some time now and really just needed a push to get on with it and start.
So here we are blogging on day one with view to adding more over the coming weeks.
I have always had an interest in QRP since first being licensed with the UK system allowing foundation licensees a maximum of 10w power output. I know that being self regulating not everyone sticks to this but I had a limit of my first ever radio being a Yaesu FT-817 and a maximum output power of 5w into a long wire antenna with my initial call of M3LRJ.
At the time of my journey into radio no one bothered to tell me about the limits of low power or that the age old comments of life being too short for QRP. I read a few books that said you can work with 5w so I tried and only when I realised that most other people were using more elaborate antennas and more power did I realise the successes appearing in my log were really quite unusual. If I had been warned about the ineffective efforts QRP sometimes yielded I would never have even said my call, instead I called out ignorant to the challenge and people came back to my call.
I did get further along the license system and get more available power in the shack and even now still own a PA for the very rare times when I feel the need to turn it on. But, I can work it QRO most or all of the time but the real buzz is working it on the power it takes to light a small night light or even less.
So here we are blogging on day one with view to adding more over the coming weeks.
I have always had an interest in QRP since first being licensed with the UK system allowing foundation licensees a maximum of 10w power output. I know that being self regulating not everyone sticks to this but I had a limit of my first ever radio being a Yaesu FT-817 and a maximum output power of 5w into a long wire antenna with my initial call of M3LRJ.
At the time of my journey into radio no one bothered to tell me about the limits of low power or that the age old comments of life being too short for QRP. I read a few books that said you can work with 5w so I tried and only when I realised that most other people were using more elaborate antennas and more power did I realise the successes appearing in my log were really quite unusual. If I had been warned about the ineffective efforts QRP sometimes yielded I would never have even said my call, instead I called out ignorant to the challenge and people came back to my call.
I did get further along the license system and get more available power in the shack and even now still own a PA for the very rare times when I feel the need to turn it on. But, I can work it QRO most or all of the time but the real buzz is working it on the power it takes to light a small night light or even less.
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