[K6BW] Story from an Old Salt - QRP-L

[Bill Smith]

Hi QRPers,

I used part of the day off to try to work VP6DX QRP
and QRP/P.  At one point, I could hear them on all
bands between 12M and 40M, really amazing.  I hooked
up my Buddipole and worked them on 15M and 20M CW with
5 Watts!  The Buddipole was on a second floor balcony,
feedpoint up about 25'.  Now that the big guns have
gotten theirs, it is a lot easier to work them with
low power and small antennas.

So since the bands seemed to be open, I got the idea
to pack up my radio and antenna and head to some
saltwater to see what else could be worked.  I decided
to take the little MP-1 with me out QRP/P because it
packed smaller.  

I found a dock going out into the San Francisco Bay
where I was surrounded by saltwater on all sides.  Set
up the MP-1 on the dock, total height about 9'.  I had
4 counterpoise wires 16' long running along the dock. 
I fired up the FT-817 at 5W and was amazed at how much
more I could hear.  Right away I worked VP6DX again at
2.5W on 20M as N9OHW/P and got a response on my first
call.  Then I tuned around and worked T32YA on
Christmas Island and FO/JA8BMK on Austral Island, both
on the first call.  

I heard NH6JC/M calling CQ on 20M CW and called back. 
Turns out Mitch was running 100W into a hamstick,
sitting in a car 50' from the Pacific Ocean in Kauai. 
 We had a nice Q5 ragchew for over 30 mins with very
little QSB.  I cut my power down to 500 mW, and Mitch
could still copy me no problems.  Talk about salt
water amplifier!

Now's a good time to work Ducie QRP, it's not that
difficult with their great antennas, new K3's, and
great operators.

73,
Mike N9OHW