Low Power Radio

D U 7 A F T
QRP Amateur Radio Station in the Philippines

Less is More...

I came to hear about Low Power activity when I started DXing a decade ago . QRP as we
call it in the hamworld would mean low power or reduced power as QRP in the morse code will
tell " Shall I reduce power ?" or "I'm reducing power to..." The word QRP is not really clear
in my mind during that time, and I believe that it's synonymous to CW, One Watt Transmitter,
crystal sets, homebrewed, experiment radio...etc. It was not until that time when I saw an
advertisement of CQ T-shirts saying " QRP is not for the Sissy ", that my curiosity
grew on QRP.

Anybody with a suitable amateur radio operator's license and a lots of cash can buy a state
of the art computer-controlled rig and contact North Pole and South Pole, or bounce digitized
images of their self off the Moon and artificial satellites. But to some of us, including lot of
"QRPers", it is more practical and just as interesting is to see how far "flea-power" can go.
Low-power operating inspires learning about propagation characteristics of relevant
frequencies determined by season, time of day, and sunspot activity as well as the
satisfaction of building your own equipment.

Generally, QRP is using 5 watts or less output power on the transmission of signal.
Sometimes it is hard to believe that with 50 milliwatts, one can work the world in CW,
that is what gives QRP the thrill and excitement not found using the gazillion-watt radio
we have .

CW is by far the most popular mode of QRP operation, but QRP is ont only CW, it's any mode
you want to use, including SSB, FM, SSTV, Packet, Amtor. Remember: QRP means low power.


How about contesting?

Most of the major constests, like CQ WW DX Contest, have special low power section.
You compete against others only within the same QRP category. You don't have to worry about
the others running kilowatt powers, although you have to plan your own way not to be intimidated
by them. Use the search and punch method. Don't call CQ ! Do more Listening instead!

Here are some cool links about QRP:

Have fun with QRP !

[email protected]


DU7AFT Amateur Radio
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