Amateur Radio - Why Portable? Why QRP?

Amateur Radio – Why Portable? Why QRP?

Whenever I tell a fellow amateur radio operator that I love operating Portable or I love operating QRP, invariably I get that deer-in-the-headlights stare, followed by "Life is too short to work QRP!" I then find myself justifying my existence and explaining why I like QRP.

Okay, let me start with the basics for those of you who are not familiar with Amateur Radio, or Ham Radio. QRP is part of the Q codes. Q codes are nothing more than a collection of 3 letter codes all starting with Q, much like the 10 codes that other radio services use such as 10-4. The Q codes reserved for use by amateurs range from QRA ~ QUZ. Anyway, I am not going to get into detail about Q codes in this article, for those who are thirsty for the details, simply search Q codes and you will find lots to read about.

To get back on track QRP in amateur radio strict terms means "shall I decrease power" or "decrease power", however, when normally used in conversation it typically means that the transmitting station is using very low power output, usually less than 5 watts. To put this into perspective, the average HF Ham Radio transmitter produces in the neighborhood of about 100 watts, and many of these users will add a linear amplifier to their station often cranking up the output to over 1,000 watts. So what does this all mean? Well, let me use the analogy of a light bulb. A 100 watt light bulb is going to be much brighter than a 5 watt bulb, therefore one would assume that the 100 watt bulb would be easier seen at a further distance. This is true of a radio signal as well. So why, you ask, would I like to use 5 watts? My reasons for using a QRP station may be different than the next persons, but I will try to give you some insight into my rationale.

Firstly, I feel that the mark of a good radio station, amateur or otherwise, is the antenna. The antenna is the most important component to a transmitter and receiver. Without an antenna, it won't matter how much power wattage you have, your signal will be greatly impeded. So, when choosing to operate QRP, one must take care in designing the antenna system, something I take pride in. In actual fact, a properly designed and assembled antenna will effectively amplify your signal many times, thus allowing you to be heard as if you were using much more than 5 watts. You are still wondering so what? Well, I guess it makes me feel good to know that I can construct a very efficient antenna.

The second reason I like QRP is that it is very conducive to portable operation. When I say portable, I am referring to operating a radio away from commercial power, in other words running a radio station on batteries. As an example, the family loves camping, I prefer a five star hotel, but to keep everyone happy, I will go, but only if I can bring my radio! Bringing a radio camping is great fun at night once the kids have been tucked into their sleeping bags. Anytime you can get away from the electrical noise of the city, radio reception greatly improves, meaning that I can clearly hear very weak signals. So to get back on track, if I was running a 100 watt transmitter, I would likely need access to 110 volt house current (in the middle of Algonquin Park? I don't think so). Yes, of course I could have my wife and children tote along a couple of 12 volt car batteries each weighing in excess of 50 pounds. Even then they may only last for a few hours of fun at 100 watts. Now we come back full circle to QRP when I run an electronically efficient radio putting out only 2, 3 or 4 watts, (Such as the Elecraft KX1 or TenTec R4030) I only need to bring along a couple of battery packs that would amount to about 10 AA type cells. This arrangement will easily last me 3 to 4 days before I would have to worry about charging them. Or, if I was really eager, I could take along a Gel Cell type of battery and that would last upwards of 2 weeks. I suppose that the morale of this story can be summed up as follows: Mom and the Kids want to go camping, Dad is not so excited! Dad thinks, hummm, I can do some QRP radio operating while camping, OK! Mom and the Kids are happy, Dad is happy!

by W. R. Leschyna
- Amateur Call Sign VE3UK
For more information about Portable QRP Amateur Radio, please visit http://www.PortableQRP.com

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