A few months ago I decided to give it a try QRP A field day. However, I was a bit disappointed with the result. I tried experimenting with various small portable antennas, mostly mounted on small tripods. When the band was open, it worked, but everyone wanted to keep it short QSO.
I decided to try to broadcast from a small boat, hoping that the level of the lake would make it possible to create good conditions for broadcasting. I plugged in a shorted dipole that mounts on a tripod, but it didn't work too well. All the QSOs I've made have had problems with wobble. Not with the frequency variation but the anchor rope as the wind/waves kept changing the boat's direction (sometimes up to 90 degrees) just as I made the connection! I converted the assembly to a vertical configuration, removing one side of the dipole and replacing it with about 18m of copper wire. It was better than the dipole, but still not good enough. Under less than ideal ionospheric conditions, QRP transmission with an antenna intended for portable operation is just a nuisance. After Field Day I decided to test my radio station on the quad and the results were surprisingly good. This allowed me to invoke an old law that I sometimes forget after I installed my first KV device: "It's an antenna, stupid".
For an upcoming trip (camping), I decided to try out QRP transmission with my FT-817 in a nearby forest. A gel battery should serve me as a power source. This time I brought with me the original antenna that I used in my early days about 35 years ago - a simple wire dipole.
After a few attempts, I managed to build the dipole for the 20m band. Soon, a dipole for the 80m band was added to it, but it was too big for the selected span, so one end fell down about 5m.
A complete dipole for the 20m band weighs no less than my portable antenna. He has none balun but both have several RF ferrite cores. They are probably there to improve human mentality and have nothing to do with physics. Let's not forget that half of success is our attitude towards the matter.
After about a week of broadcasting with a simple dipole in the forest at QRP levels, I have only one recommendation for those who decide to camp with the radio station. Forget the nice antennas, make a simple dipole, hang it somewhere between the treetops or get a portable mast and you will have QSOs at a surprising level.
S týmto vybavením som tak zaplnil niekoľko stránok môjho logbooku, užil si nádherný čas, odhalil som niekoľkým susedom čaro vysielania a mal som naozaj úžasné rozhovory do Európy z El Doráda v Severnej Karolíne a stretol som skvelých ľudí na 75-tich metroch.
My advice to travelers is to tune antennas carefully, use full size wire dipoles and save money. It really makes a big difference. If only someone had told me that a few months ago!
With almost no planning, you can build a dipole or inverted Vé in less time than it takes to cook dinner. If weight is an issue, you don't need a lot of power cables, just wire the middle of the insulator and leave a long enough wire at each end of the dipole to lower the antenna. Lower the dipoles if you need to switch bands and remove the cables. Since I had an automatic tuner, I could broadcast on the 20m band with an 80m dipole without any problems. Of course, the 20m dipole was much better on that band.
The tuner allowed me to broadcast on the 40m band, but at 1524m altitude the QRM from Asia was very large and the band was unusable. I thought we had 7-7-1 placed exclusively for radio amateurs, but probably not everyone will agree with this.
Broadcasting with a dipole and 5 watts was very similar to 75 watts a few years ago and just as exciting. It wasn't that easy though because hams with a modern station were of course ahead, but once you established a connection it was good enough for a nice QSO. I don't want to throw away yet QRO trash device, but QRP on a portable definitely works, it's reliable, but above all, it's fun!
73 de Len, K1LU
Translated by YL of MW3SDO, corrected by MW3SDO