I enjoy working QRP and, usually, run 5 watts when working CW or SSB. Sometimes, I get grumpy and turn my power down as low as I can to 792 mW on my ICOM 7300. I figure, if they cannot hear me, they need a better antenna. HI HI
There are 1000 Mile Per Watt awards that are offered to Hams that work stations on low power. I have a paper certificate around here - somewhere. I have learned that 1000 miles per watt is Child's Play. As this article shows, there are two ways to reach out and touch someone with less. Turn your power down and you will see.
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Fig. 1, Typical 1000 Miles/Watt Award |
The better your antenna, the better your chances. It has been said, "If you have $100 to spend on your hobby, put $90 into your antenna, $9 into your receiver, and $1 into your transmitter.
Recently, I setup a CW 10 M beacon on 28.2365 MHz. It drives a 20 M Vertical tuned to 10 M and is on-air during daylight hours when I am not using the rig. I have been running it at about 5 watts (QRP) with decent results. This morning, I decided to get bold and drop the power as low as I can go with my ICOM 7300 rig. It turns out that the lowest I can go is 792 mW or +29 dBm. I can get lower but I would have to put an attenuator inline. That is 8 dBm below 5 watts.
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Fig. 1, ICOM-7300 Banging My 20 M Vertical |
I turned the ICOM loose and let it bang away at my 20 M Vertical antenna tuned for 10 M. I was pleased with the initial results reported by the Reverse Beacon Network (3). Figure 2 and 3 show some typical results for my beacon operating at 792 mW.
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Fig. 2, RBN Map of Contacts @ 792 mW |
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Fig. 3, RBN Report, Miles Per Watt |
At 5 watts, I routinely see KH6LC in KEAAU, HI Keaau, HI. I just started this experiment today so time will tell if I can reach that far. That is 2914 miles and would be 3679 miles/watt.