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I continue to be surprised by how few affordable QRP radios are on the market. The FT817ND continues to be the favourite, but recent exchange rate changes have not been matched by decent falls in the UK retail prices. I think we are still being ripped off by dealers in the UK. The IC703 is no longer made and the KX3 from Elecraft is very expensive over here. There are a few lower cost Chinese HF radios appearing. Overall, there remains little choice in QRP transceivers at sensible prices. I am sure the KX3 is a very good radio but for the same price I can buy 2 FT817 transceivers, and these are all mode and to 70cms.

A multi-band, all mode, 5-10W radio would be a killer in this age where people take lots of holidays and are on the move frequently. I still fail to understand why the big Japanese manufacturerers have not got a raft of low cost units on the market. It seems a gold mine opportunity is being wasted. Maybe I have misread the market?

I know if there was a new, attractively featured, QRP transceiver on the market now at a sensible price I’d be in the line to buy. I am sure very many others would be too.

I added a bungee cord on each end to prevent damage from the radio accidentally falling off the table.

The cord does not touch the buttons.

View from the back

All in one, QRP seat, table,  umbrella and antenna anchor! The bottle on the table is bug spray! LOL

The table is a cutting board attached to the existing shelf.

The cutting board is bigger than the existing shelf, so I have more room for logging and a sturdy place to attach the antenna!

A bungee cord takes up the slack from the antenna in the wind. In a real world test, I found that one radial is all I need.

I tried an experiment, adding two, then four radials. There was no detectable change in signal level by ear on or the S meter.

One radial did the trick, and 4 radials didn’t improve the signal at all.

Note the guy ropes. This is to hold the chair in place. The golf umbrella is stuffed into  a piece of PVC pipe.

The PVC pipe is tied to the chair with cable ties.

Wind and the antenna pulling on the table would easily turn the chair over.

Satisfaction! I can’t wait for the next ham radio outing with my QRP buddies.

Big changes this month at the North American QRP CW Club (NAQCC).

Paul Huff, N8XMS of Livonia, Michigan becomes the new club President. He’s takes the reins from founder Thomas Mitchell, WY3H who recently retired the post. Meanwhile, John Smithson, N8ZYA of Charleston, West Virginia has assumed the Vice President role from the other club founder, John Shannon, K3WWP – who also retired his position.

Launched in 2004, the NAQCC promotes QRP and CW operation through numerous on-air activities. With more than 7,000 world-wide members, the club is very popular and continues to enjoy steady growth. Membership remains free and you can dive as deeply into the action as you care to go, without running out of interesting things to do and goals to achieve.

The monthly club newsletter keeps members informed, educated and entertained and has become one of the premier ham radio club publications available online.

Congratulations to Paul and John as they lead the NAQCC into the next decade of low-power radio fun and adventure!

Filed under: Ham Radio, Syndicate Tagged: club, cw, naqcc, qrp

http://genesisradio.com.au/Q5/q5_1.jpg

A trawl of the internet earlier found this kit, a 1W QRP transmitter for any band from 3.5MHz to 14MHz. It is available for S19.95 (US Dollars) + S9 (US Dollars) shipped anywhere worldwide. That seems pretty good value. Also on the website are SDR transceivers.

I last showed this particular kit on my blog 5 years ago.

See http://www.genesisradio.com.au/Q5/ for more details including how to order the various kits. Details on the page include parts lists, schematics and building details.

The are some pretty good SDR transceivers on this site.

This looks like a design by Michael Rainey AA1TJ, but this one was on a German blog site of Peter DL3PB. I was very annoyed by the Facebook pop-up that kept appearing. I kept closing the pop-up but it is really annoying. Website owner – PLEASE get rid of it!

See http://streampowers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/para-saki-qrp-transceiver-fact-diodes.html .

The design makes extensive use of tunnel diodes, a Michael Rainey favourite.