What changed
QRP — low power operating — edited Aug 31, 2026 by Unknown editor
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QRP means transmitting with low power: by common agreement 5 W output on CW and digital modes, and
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10 W peak envelope power on SSB. It is a deliberate constraint, in the way that fly fishing is a
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deliberate constraint, and it produces operators with unusually good ears and unusually good
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antennas.
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## Why it works
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Dropping from 100 W to 5 W costs 13 dB — a little over two S-units. That sounds fatal and is not,
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because the other station's receiver is usually limited by noise and by their antenna, not by your
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transmitter:
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- Above about S5 the other operator hears you fine, and most of your 100 W was surplus.
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- The same 13 dB can often be bought back with **antenna height, a better antenna, or waiting for
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the band to open** — none of which need a power supply.
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- CW and modern digital modes are far more efficient per watt than SSB. FT8 decodes signals well
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below the noise floor, which is why 5 W of FT8 routinely crosses oceans.
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## What you need
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- **A radio.** The QRP market is enormous: the Elecraft KX2 and KX3, Yaesu FT-818, Icom IC-705,
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Xiegu G90, the QMX and QCX kits from QRP Labs, and the (tr)uSDX among many others. Kits are a
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legitimate route; see [kits and homebrewing](/wiki/station/kits-and-building).
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- **The best antenna you can manage.** This matters more than the radio. A resonant dipole up 30 feet
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will beat a compromise vertical every time.
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- **Batteries.** A 5 W station runs for a whole weekend on a small lithium iron phosphate pack; see
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[power, supplies and batteries](/wiki/station/power-and-batteries).
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- **Patience and a good headset.**
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## Operating technique
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- **Answer other people's calls** rather than calling CQ into a busy band. Tail-ending a station who
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has just finished a contact is the highest-percentage move in QRP.
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- **Listen for stations that are not in a pileup.** A rare station that everyone is chasing is a poor
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QRP target; the same station an hour later, calling CQ with no takers, is an easy contact.
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- **Send your call twice** and be ready to repeat. Do not append "/QRP" — it is not a legal
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identifier and lengthens what the other operator has to copy.
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- **Use the openings.** Gray line, the first hour of a band opening, and the quiet part of a contest
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weekend all favor small signals.
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- **Spot yourself** on the Reverse Beacon Network or the PSK/WSPR reporters and see who is hearing
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you. It is the cheapest propagation research there is.
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## The community
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QRP ARCI, the G-QRP Club, the Flying Pigs and the Four State QRP Group run their own contests,
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publish journals and issue awards; the Reverse Beacon Network and WSPR let you measure your reach
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without a single contact. Field events such as the QRP-to-the-Field and Freeze weekends pair
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naturally with [parks and summits](/wiki/operating/parks-and-summits) operating, where low power and
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battery operation are the norm anyway.
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If you want a number to chase, the "1000 miles per watt" award for a contact whose distance divided
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by your power exceeds that figure is a classic, and is more achievable on 6 m sporadic-E than most
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people expect.