Thank you, Kay, for stating thecase so clearly. I seldom turn on the amp, but even less seldom do I reduce the power output to 5W. Dxers have a saying, "Life is too short for QRP. I'm sure that's an oversimplification, but there very well may be some truth in there. 73, Bob W6RGG ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kay Craigie" <wt3p@comcast.net> To: "arrl-odv" <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 3:31 PM Subject: [ARRL-ODV:9422] Thoughts on an intro license

As Mike has pointed out, QRP has many advantages. A lot is certainly said in its favor here at my house by my OM, Carter. However ....

Is there a reason why we don't all operate QRP all the time? The advantages of QRP exist no matter what one's license class may be. What's deterring us?

In the early 1980's, when Carter was a new Novice shopping for his first transceiver, he found a used QRP rig on the market at a good price. His Elmer, a crusty old goat named Joe who was an experienced QRPer, told him not to buy it. QRP, said Joe, was not for beginners. It was for people who had developed operating skills to compensate (at least somewhat) for the lack of oomph. Joe predicted that if Carter started in ham radio with a QRP rig, he would become discouraged at his inability to be heard, to make QSO's, and to have fun. Pick a 100-watt rig, Joe said, learn how to operate, have the thrill of watching the logbook filling up, and then later try QRP.

Joe had an annoying habit of being right most of the time, so Carter did as Joe said.

Today I asked Carter, who is now an avid QRP hound with a shelf full of QRP rigs both commercial and kit-built, if in retrospect he believes Joe's advice was right or wrong.

He believes Joe steered him right, without question. He believes that if he had tried to do QRP as a total greenhorn, he would have had too much struggle and not much fun. He believes he would have been frustrated and disappointed, maybe enough so that he'd have quit the hobby. He also reminded me that QRP on SSB is usually considered to be 10 watts, not 5 watts as on CW.

Even now, with over 20 years' operating experience, Carter finds that 5 or 10 watts can't always cut the mustard to provide the kind of operating fun he wants, especially as propagation declines. When he wants to work a new one and QRP isn't being heard, he'll switch on the Elecraft 100-watt amp.

Before we go for an introductory license with a QRP power limit, perhaps we Board folk should walk for, say, 6 months in the newcomers' shoes. I don't know how to dial back our operating skills. Stuff cotton in our ears? Wear oven mitts when we're on the key? But we could disconnect the amps, dial the RF output back to 5 watts, and use only the sort of simple antennas at low heights that a beginner might be likely to set up. No Yagis on great big towers. No ootching the power up when we crave to bag a new one or want to work a contest. We could do that for half a year in these days of sagging sunspots and see how it feels.

Frankly (no offense intended to Dr. Woolweaver!), I'd rather have dental work.

Since I don't want to operate QRP 24/7/365, myself, I wonder why I'd want to make a new ham do that, any more than I'd want to make them go back to the days of CW-only.

73 - Kay N3KN