Topband: Re: Topband Digest, Vol 15, Issue 1

[Richard Zwirko]

Bill, W4ZV wrote:

> .... Geoff G3XGC/QRP.... 
> Using 5 watts to his Elecraft K2, Geoff was a very solid 569!  
> Rob (PA3GVI) also went to 5 watts and was 559.
> Then Geoff and I moved up 1 kHz from Rob's frequency up and
> Geoff further reduced power to 1 watt.  He was a very solid 559!
> I also reduced my Orion to 4 watts (lowest mine goes) and
> Geoff copied me fine.
>
> It's hard to imagine 1 Watt making it across the pond from
> G3XGC's small city lot (1200 square feet total), but Topband
> is full of surprises for the deserving!  I ordered a K2 myself
> last week and look forward to some QRP fun in the coming
> years as Topband openings like this become more routine.

>        For any who think you cannot operate 160 from a
> city lot, I hope Geoff is an inspiration for you!
>
>                        73,  Bill  W4ZV 

Having made many hundreds of Topband QRP QSOs I no longer find it 
so hard to imagine but I do still find it very exciting! Yes, it
is amazing what 5 Watts will do when conditions are good, and they
have been getting noticeably better in recent months. If you are
persistent and are on the air at the right times you can work all
kinds of DX with very low power. A few weeks ago a dozen countries
were worked on 160M at K1HTV with 5 Watts, 4 of them in Europe. 
A few days later, in the ARRL DX CW Contest running a KW at W3LPL, 
we worked 78 countries on the Topband. 

Over the years, primarily, but not exclusively, at the lower end 
of the solar cycle, many hundreds of QRP & QRPP QSOs have made it 
into the K1HTV Topband log.  My best trans-Atlantic QRP DX so far 
has been Israel, twice with 5W and once with 1 Watt.  Of the dozen 
or so trans-Pacific QSOs the best QRP DX has been VK6, twice. 

The K1HTV QTH, just outside oD Washington, DC, while not quite as 
small as G3XGC's, is still quite small for a Topband QTH. The distance
from the tower base to the back and side property lines is around 
55 feet.  Most of the 16 radials are less than 1/8 wavelength long, 
but that hasn't seemed to hurt QRP efforts, with 78 countries worked.

As Bill, W4ZV and a number of other Topband DXers have found out,
QRP DXing on 160 Meters can produce some amazing QSOs. If you haven't
yet tried it, the next time you hear one of the DX stations that you
have worked before with higher power, give it a whirl with QRP. You
too may be amazed.

Hope to work many of my DX friends this weekend on 160M in the 
ARRL Phone DX Contest. I'll again be at the 160 Meter position
at W3LPL.

73 de Rich - K1HTV