Tuesday, January 29, 2013

QRPp is just getting really great......

I posted yesterday I had contacted F8EI and in the heat of the moment I had thought I contacted  him with between 20 and 14mW's of power!! I was thrilled when the contact ended and my calculations done it showed the distance at (I used the higher wattage of 20mWs) 181,958 miles per watt. I was thrilled and it was off to another contact to see what I could do for more miles per watt. On my Hendricks attenuator there is a bypass switch and I use it as the audio also is attenuated. I found another contact and switched in the Hendricks attenuator as I was transmitting I noticed the power output was around 150Mw's!!!! Did I read the meter wrong in my excitement.....I already sent an email to F9EI with the news of a 20mW contact. I was very discouraged not knowing what I was reading during the contact. Well 140mW's in nothing to laugh at and the miles per watt is still impressive.
Today I was looking through some recent photos on my PC of my shack setup as I wanted to change the wall paper on my PC at work. I was looking at pic's from yesterdays contact being the most recent pics of my shack. In one of the pic's was a shot of the rig and Hendricks attenuator, as I zoomed in on the attenuator the slider switches used to attenuate were not in the same position as they are right now! I had never repositioned the switches so I got to thinking Hmmmmm when I hit the bypass switch did I move the one attenuate switch that is out of position according the the picture?????. I turned on the K3 and moved the switch back to the position in the picture and took a reading on the meter and it was bouncing between 20 and 14mWs of power as the key sent out dits and dah's.
HOLY COW I did contact F9EI with (lets use the higher output) with 20mW's and I was not reading the meter wrong after all. It was me who inadvertently moved an attenuate switch to off along with the bypass switch. Just to test I checked the output with this attenuate switch in the off position (opposite of the pic I took just after the contact) and low and behold I was getting around 150mW's. Bottom line I really did make a 181,958 miles per watt contact!!!!

14 comments:

Jspiker said...

Congratulations Mike !!

You've got a winning combination there, and also a "stealth" antenna, which makes it even better. When I think that "standard operating procedure" demands using "the least amount of power necessary to make the contact" my eyes roll at those who use a KW amp. Again, a well deserved congratulations !!

This is a fantastic achievement!!

Larry W2LJ said...

Cool beans, Mike!

I think I'm going to feel really guilty now when I install the KPA3 in the K3. ;)

73 de Larry W2LJ

PE4BAS, Bas said...

Wow Mike, this is just like making DX with a knitting needle or a dummyload with some more power. I think you hold a record here. It should be in the Guiness Book of Records ;-) 73, Bas

Paul Stam PAØK said...

Hi Mike, QRPp is real fun. 5 watts seems to be the new QRO. ;-) 73 Paul

VE9KK said...

Good morning John, thanks for the congrats I figure why not give it a go and see what happens. Sometimes the horse show hits a ringer!!
Mike

VE9KK said...

Hi Larry, not to worry in time the guilt will loose it's hold and the sleepless nights will subside...:)
Mike

VE9KK said...

Hey Bas maybe I will dig out one of Julie's knitting needles on the weekend and load it up...:0. As for a record there are those who have hit as high as 1 million miles per watt....long way to go for that!
Mike

VE9KK said...

Paul it's funny you mention that I do see 5 watts now as the top end for output now. QRPp just adds a little more fun to radio.....and that's what it's all about!!
Mike

DL1SDZ said...

Mike, you are still using too much power :-) Congrats there are only some kilometers missing to reach the moon.
By the way: Some time ago I borrowed an attenuator but last week the Om wanted to have it back, so I will order today Hendricks attenuator. But your record is hard to beat. So I will not try to be better, I just will follow your well laid out path.

VE9KK said...

Top of the morning to you Hajo, I have found the Hendricks attenuator to be a very nice unit to build and operate. The only drawback I found was they use a water base decals to label the unit with and they do have a tendency to come off over time. By all means Hajo put your signal on, get in the fast lane and pass me with even lower QRPp!!
Mike

DL1SDZ said...

Mike I ordered it some hours ago and I will tell you when I am changing lanes.Perhaps I will be using a PigRig from W8DIZ turned down.

VE9KK said...

Great to hear Hajo keep me posted and maybe we can have a QRPp to QRPp QSO!!
Mike

Bert, PA1B said...

Hello Mike, after the QRPp or QRPpp QSO, I don't touch ANYTHING, before I consciously have written down the used power in that QSO. Often I check before moving on.
In the HA-DX contest, I wrote down the power and even the attenuator (dB) setting. Just to be sure.
I always listen through the atttenuator. Even in QSO's with a few milliwatts. The better the propagation, the stronger the received signal.
Great story about desperation... Great MPW score. GL in QRPp, 73, Bert

VE9KK said...

Good afternoon Bert, yes I always have great planning to include such ideas....then the contact happens and Im all excited and before you know it what happened happens!! So now there is a post it note on my attenuator to remind of to do this!!
Mike