I signed up as a member of the NorCal QRP Club right after it was formed. I'm member #28.

I've been interested in QRP ever since I started playing with radio circuits.

When I saw RV3GM's 'Micro 80' circuit in the NorCal QRP Club Journal, I marveled at the design. So simple!...I just had to build it. So, I did...and, the first QSO was with W6JTT who was on a mountain top on the California/Mexico border. I'm in San Jose, CA...that's over 400 miles apart from W6JTT. I rough guessed my power out at about 250 mW.

The two transistor audio amplifier in the original circuit didn't have much gain, and you know how your ears feel after wearing those high impedance headphones after a while. Thank goodnes the band (80 meters) was stable that night as W6JTT's signals were steady, but very weak in those headphones.

The second contact was with a local, about 50 miles away. He was so loud that I'm sure my eyes crossed when he hit the key to tune up on me!