[BARC-List] Natural Power and/or QRP bonus @FD

[Mark J. Dulcey]

Bill N1VUX wrote:
>>If anyone has a photovoltaic power supply, we should be able to get this 
> 
> 
> Several of us have them. We've gotten this bonus most years past. 
> 
> Sometimes on 2m FM, do it first thing, work the other local big stations; but
> last year or two on QRP HF, probably 40m as you suggest.
> 
> I suspect the fellow who has done the Solar QRP the last year or two won't be
> joining us this year due to his *other* calendar, so your 40m QRP may be the
> ticket.

You're right. Alas, I won't get to do Field Day again until 2007. I can lend the solar power setup to the station, though, if nobody else has anything suitable.

QRP HF contacts during Field Day are easy, at least on CW. To get in your basic 5, just set up on any reasonably active band (40 and 20 are usually the best bets, but 15 and 10 can also work if the conditions are right), look for the big contest stations that are calling CQ and coming in at S9+, and give them a call. 80 can actually work in the middle of the night, by the way; I made a number of QRP contacts on that band in 2001, using the B&W dipole after the other stations had vacated it for the night.

In the 2001 Field Day, I made somewhere around 200 QSOs on my Elecraft K2 QRP rig. In 2002 the same radio was mostly used as a 100W station (with the addition of the KPA100), and made about 500 contacts - but the big difference was having WX1G as the operator, not the extra power. (I'm merely an OK operator. Dave is a god.)

QRP SSB, on the other hand, is a much tougher row to hoe. It's certainly not the way to score points at Field Day. I don't recommend it for the faint of heart.


>>Anyone know how many contacts we need in order to qualify?
> 
> 
> It has been 5 Natural Power QSOs in past years.

It's still 5 QSOs in the 2003 rules (http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2003/rules-fd-2003.html).