[OKDXA] QRP

[N5PA]

Froggy:

I run QRP all of the time, "Quite Respectable Power" and I have a decent
antenna system.  I have a Force 12 XR5 10 element beam at 82 feet for 20
through 10, including the WARC bands but I am running Inverted-Vee's on the
low bands.  I have a 2-element 40 meter beam but it is on the ground right
now.  I have the Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark-V with an Ameritron AL-1500 amplifier.
Like I said, I like to run QRP, HiHi!  I guess I do not have the patience to
call and call and not be heard.  It is always better to be loud!  I think a
good station and my location in Mississippi favored me because we had good
propagation almost every night on 30 meters.  I was wondering if I would get
them on phone and then Monday night about ten they were 58 here in southeast
Mississippi on 20 meter phone.  Jim, N5OHL said that he could not even hear
them in OKC.  I got several talk messages over the cluster from guys in
Texas stating that they could not hear them, either.  About 20 minutes later
they faded into oblivion here, also.  When the VU4 DXpedition was going on
there were only a couple of days out of the whole month that we were able to
hear them here and I worked them a couple of times on 20 CW.  At this point
in the solar cycle it is going to be tough.  Peter One will be a challenge
next January, that is for sure.

73
Alan, N5PA