Here is my 2 cents worth:
1. Running QRP with a decent antenna makes sense.
W6JTI runs up great QRP scores from his mountain
top. N7WG worked tirelessly to get a 50 foot
vertical up on a postage stamp lot in the SF
Bay Area and was a fixture in 160 meter contests
for years. He even achieved 160 meter WAS QRP.
I used to work him on ground wave from 50 miles
away at 2PM local time using my Bay Area beverage.
The opposite philosophy was famously KH6DX/6 who
ran up amazing scores from his mobile station.
One year he parked on the North Dakota/South
Dakota boundary and gave out two rare mults
with every QSO. He even achieved DXCC mobile
on 160 meters, probably the only one. But he
ran 800 watts. (He seems to have vanished from
top band since completing DXCC, but I recently
worked him in an HF contest, where he was back
in Hawaii.)
These kinds of operations make sense. What
doesn't make sense is QRP to a random wire
in the basement, etc. Save all of us, and
yourself the frustration, and at least run
100 watts. You'll still be nearly inaudible.
2. Rather than a QRP calling frequency, which
as has been pointed out, the QRO stations are
unaware of (I know I was until this week),
a "rally time" would make more sense, like
top of the hour as has been suggested.
Speaking of time, if you are a QRP'er on the
east coast, we aren't going to hear you on the
west coast until something like 0800Z, or
midnight your time. Don't assume the band
has dried up and go to bed early. Or as K9YC
likes to recommend, get up an hour before your
sunrise. Here on the west coast, we'll be
listening carefully for JA's, but also check
for the east coast. Possibly 0800Z and 1200Z
(sun rise peak) would make good rally times
for coast to coast.
3. By all means call CQ. I usually run low
power in contests because I can normally work
99% of what I can hear. (I am always working
on better receive antennas.) I disregard
the fact that I am running low power and CQ
anyway. I expect to get run off my frequency
occasionally, but I know that I must CQ or
miss working all the S&P only stations. I
usually get some JA's to call me (they never
CQ, except maybe JA3YBK). One year JA3YBK
called me at 0800Z at his sunset. Another year
a VK6 called me at 1100Z. I don't know how
much of this carries over to QRP, but its
worth considering.
4. CQ high up in the band to get a clear
frequency. If the phone ops don't like it,
they can go above 1900. I tune up to at
least 1850 and call any station I can hear,
no matter how weak. You just never can tell if
he can copy unless you try. I have been
surprised by weak stations who came
right back to me. There is a phenomenon
I have noticed that it seems like ops tune
up the band, and then stop as soon as a few
kHz go by without a signal. This forces me
to choose a CQ frequency in the congested area.
When S&Ping, tune up to at least 1850 or even
beyond.
4. Don't skimp on receiving antennas, thinking
that you are limited by your transmit signal. You
need good receive antennas to work QRP to QRP.
Also, it is a lot easier to get make a difficult
QSO if only one direction is marginal. If you
are not loud, and also can't hear well, it will
be much more difficult.
5. When I hear an extremely weak signal, I don't
know if the station is QRP, has a poor antenna,
or has an out of district call, etc. In the big
DX contests, the DXpeditions post themselves on
an "announced operations" web page It might be useful
for QRP stations to announce before the contest
that they are QRP. I try to handle out of district
call signs by using a "call history" file, although
I can remember many of them from previous contests.
(You still have to actually copy the QTH as
a check on the call history file). If I hear
a weak W6, he may be QRP, or he may be in the
ground wave area, or he may be on the east coast.
6. If you are running QRP, don't compound the
problem by being a clueless operator. Call zero
beat when it makes sense, call with a strategic
frequency offset when that makes sense. Don't
send any unnecessary information. Send at 20
to 24 WPM. Faster might be too hard to copy.
Slower runs the risk that your signal fades out
before I can get the whole call. Send all CW
from your computer logging program. Nothing is
worse than a nearly inaudible signal where the
op makes sending errors, is using a bug, etc.
Run a band map and check back in with stations
that you couldn't work 15 minutes ago. Sorry
for the lecture; most of you are probably already
doing the right thing.
7. Just for you QRP'ers, for the upcoming SP
contest, I have resurrected my 40 foot perimeter
receiving loop at the back corner of the property,
1/4 mile from the power lines along the road, and
farther than that to any other lines. My two
neighbors to the rear live at the other end of
their 80 acre farms. I hope this helps. It
does seem to hear better, especially in terms
of power line trash, than the loop by the shack
that is only 300 feet back from the road. It's
so quiet, I need to use a preamp with it (that's
a good sign). I am using the preamp that came
with my Pixel loop. That's the best part of
that product, hi.
See you all in the contest.
Rick N6RK
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