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