45,868 miles with an attic antenna……SHUT UP!!!

The K3 is ready to go at 100mW's
Well as many posts have mentioned the CQ WPX CW contest is now history for 2012. There is no total score, multiplier count or a prefix total to brag about here. This contest I was hunting DXCC's. When the hunt slowed down ( and it did for long periods of time) I then worked stations with as little power that my Elecraft K3 could muster to see if I could make contact. I was able to add 6 more DXCC's to my count (at 5 watts QRP) but I must admit at the start of the contest I was hoping to score around 15 or so. Oh well it seems that I have at this point most of the popular entities. I found conditions to Europe to be great but the South Pacific areas were dead up this way. There was more of Africa this year but the pile ups were huge at times.
To make things interesting as I was not "contesting" in the true sense I started to drop my power as I gave out contest points. I started at 1.5 watts to CR1X in Finland that worked out to 2755 miles per watt. Update....Thanks to PE4BAS my distance to CR1X who is in the Azores not Finland is 2417 miles per watt, thanks Bas for the info!  He had no  problem copying me so down went the power. I leveled out at 100mW's just for the reason this is as low as the K3 will venture.
Proof 100mW's is on it's way...no SWR showing

Below are the top 4 low power contacts all at 100mW's

1.  HA8JV            45,868  miles per watt
2.  IR9Y               44,558   "                        "
3.  9A1A              44,187   "                        "
4.  OL7C             42,496   "                        "

Until this contest my personal best Miles per watt 16,737 miles per watt when making contact with ZS4TS at 500mW's. Even at 100mW's being copied was easy and I was very surprised. I did not want to drop my power to the point were the contest station was spending his valuable time trying to make contact with me, but that never happened. I am now in the market for an attenuator do get my power output to below 100mW's and see what happens. I was looking at the Hendricks 41db attenuator. It's a kits and looks like a very nice unit.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

6 Responses to “45,868 miles with an attic antenna……SHUT UP!!!”

  • ac7af:

    To bad its only during contests when those good dx stations are on

  • Kelly K4UPG:

    Woo Hoo! That’s really fun to hear! Congrats on a FB accomplishment.

    72,
    Kelly K4UPG

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Good evening Brian, yes it’s true that at contest time the big guns are out and more importantly really listening for signals as well. I have made many a contact with mW power during search and pounce times after dinner in the evening. But contests sure do help that’s for sure.
    Thanks for stopping by the blog and taking the time to comment.
    Mike

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Thanks very much Kelly for the encouragement.
    Mike

  • W8MRL:

    Mike,
    What type of antenna were you using? What are it’s details – height, constructions, etc. I’ve just started playing with qrp power levels (my rigs only go to 5 watts) so I’m looking to learn.

    Thank you!
    Rob
    W8MRL

  • Mike Ve3wdm:

    Good morning Rob, great to hear that you are trying out QRP operations. I have over the years been very surprise at what QRP power can do. As for your questions I have your email address and I am not going to take up lots of space here. I will send you an email with the answers to the questions and if you have any more you can email me back. Thanks for stopping by the blog and leaving your input.

Leave a Comment

Subscribe FREE to AmateurRadio.com's
Amateur Radio Newsletter
News, Opinion, Giveaways & More!

E-mail 
Join over 7,000 subscribers!
We never share your e-mail address.



Also available via RSS feed, Twitter, and Facebook.


Subscribe FREE to AmateurRadio.com's
Amateur Radio Newsletter

 
We never share your e-mail address.


Do you like to write?
Interesting project to share?
Helpful tips and ideas for other hams?

Submit an article and we will review it for publication on AmateurRadio.com!

Have a ham radio product or service?
Consider advertising on our site.

Are you a reporter covering ham radio?
Find ham radio experts for your story.

How to Set Up a Ham Radio Blog
Get started in less than 15 minutes!


  • Matt W1MST, Managing Editor




Sign up for our free
Amateur Radio Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address: