I expect that most people looking at this blog have some familiarity with amateur (ham) radio, and will therefore be familiar with the term QRP. You will see QRP mentioned a lot in my blog.

On the other hand, you may have stumbled in here by mistake, and are wondering “what is the QRP thing?” QRP is a term that means “low power operation.” It is not an acronym; it comes from a set of Morse code abbreviations called “Q” signals. By low power, we mean less than 5 watts, sometimes much less. Contact the world using the power of a nightlight bulb. You can see the appeal.

QRP is a sub-culture within ham radio. There are many hams who are fans of low power operation. QRP offers many advantages, such as:

• Very small, cute radios that fit in your pocket.
• Lightweight, portable antennas that fit in your pocket and are easy to deploy
• Minimal power requirements, usually just a small battery
• A feeling of immense joy when you succeed in contacting anyone, anywhere

Further, I am a subscriber to a subset of the QRP world, those who practice LPCA operation. This is an acronym standing for “low power, crappy antenna”. So I find myself attempting contacts with one watt home-brewed transmitters, connected to short pieces of wire that are barely off the ground.

Hope springs eternal.

73,
de N2HTT