[Elecraft] New to QRP

[Carl Yaffey]

Great poem, Wayne. But I have to say: life’s too short for QRP :) :) :).  Can’t hardly wait for my KPA1500!

73, K8NU

> On Nov 23, 2017, at 1:34 PM, Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:
> 
> marvwheeler at nwlink.com wrote:
> 
>> Yes, high power will work but lacks the true joy found when you can log the contact using a tin cup and a wet string.
> 
> 
> I couldn’t agree more, Marvin. QRP works on multiple levels (challenging, amenable to home-brew, great for portable operation, etc.). 
> 
> My feelings on the subject are summarized in the poem below, written over 20 years ago. Under the circumstances, it’s not even OT.
> 
> Happy Thanksgiving to all.
> 
> Wayne
> N6KR
> 
> * * *
> 
> 
> Q.R.Oscar and Q.R.Pete
> by Wayne A. Burdick, N6KR
> 
> It happened in September, on a cold and stormy day;
> The mother of all contests was now nearly underway.
> Before the day was over, ears from Bonn to Surinam
> Would hear a battle rage between two different breeds of Ham.
> 
> Oscar, a distinguished man of wisdom (and of wattage),
> Lit his pipe and surveyed his substantial shortwave cottage.
> "Let the games begin!" he cried, aglow with pride and power;
> And with a grin he swung his twenty-ton rotating tower.
> 
> Not far away a man named Pete crouched low inside a tent,
> His sleeping bag was soggy and his penlight made him squint,
> Yet as he worked he smiled, twisting wires, tweaking pots,
> And soon his rig was bristling with two hundred milliwatts.
> 
> Just after zero, zero, zero, zero (UTC),
> Both men tuned up on twenty and they listened carefully,
> But neither could believe his ears, and both began to pray:
> On 14020 they heard "DE Zed-A-1-A".
> 
> Now Oscar moved up five Kc with dignity and class;
> He gripped his paddle deftly and prepared to pound some brass.
> The heterodynes were screeching, hungry birds caged in a zoo,
> But he could snag Albania in one call--maybe two.
> 
> Pete took quite a different tack. He scanned for open space,
> Listening to the bedlam with a frown upon his face;
> He tugged his random wire to improve its ERP,
> And finally he found a place to sign "slash QRP."
> 
> Well Oscar's monster, fire-breathing signal was the best,
> But Zed-A-1-A knew him, and felt sorry for the rest.
> With this in mind he listened for the meager and the brave,
> And ignored the QRO boys (who began to rant and rave).
> 
> Soon the DX station heard a wimpy "QRP";
> He fired off a "599" and waited patiently.
> But Pete was eating trailmix, now, and feeling quite dejected;
> Being called by rare DX was not what he expected.
> 
> Oscar heard the call and moved in closer for the kill,
> Yet when he thought his turn had come the Q-so lingered still:
> "So how much are you running?" "A quarter watt or less."
> "A homebrew rig?" "My own design, or mostly, I confess."
> "Well I'm a QRP fan, too; good attitude to foster,"
> Then ZA1A signed and said, "OK, it's your turn, Oscar."
> 
> On Sunday Pete packed up his gear, his low-watt mission done.
> (Birds who'd perched upon HIS wire would live to tell their young.)
> Pete surveyed the hills and fields, a wondrous sight to feast on;
> Then he stuffed himself into his trusty, rusty Nissan.
> 
> And Oscar? He had ruled the night with clear, demonic vision;
> Slicing QRM with his unleashed atomic fission.
> But near the stroke of twelve, he cut his drive by two dB,
> Then worked some rare DX and said, "Not bad for QRP!”
> 
> 
> 
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Carl Yaffey  K8NU
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