SKCC 1,000 Miles per Watt Award

Fri 23 January 2015

Update

It would appear that my K1 is stuck transmitting 6 to 7 watts no matter what the power output setting is.  I can only assume that the contacts I made for this award were not made using 100 mW but rather 7W.

I have already responded to the award coordinator and to the SKCC group, in general.  Now I need to figure out why the radio is doing this and how to fix it so I can actually go try to make these contacts.  *sigh*

[STRIKEOUT:Last night I dusted off my Elecraft K1 transceiver and hooked it up to my Carolina Windom antenna so I could work some locals on QRP. On a whim I decided to call WB5KSD on a 40m frequency he was on using only 100 milliwatts.  To my surprise not only did he answer me but also gave me a signal report of 559.  Needless to say, I was in shock.  That is a distance of 1,875km (1,165mi)!]

[STRIKEOUT:About fifty minutes later I decided to work K5TRI as we had tried to work QRP x2 a couple of nights before without luck.  He was operating as K3Y/7 and also responded with a 559 from near Redmond, WA. Astounded, I let him know that I was running a tenth of a watt and he replied that the signal was good.  The distance between he and I, coast to coast, is about 3,768km (2341.4 mi).  We repeated the contact some forty minutes later although the band was starting to close by then and significant fading was present.]

[STRIKEOUT:I submitted my award request to W0EJ who formally presented my award this morning.  According to the roster my contact puts me in fifth place behind KC9IL at 146,500 (who the heck did he talk to and at what power?), AK4JA at 98,500, K8PG at 70,500, and AC2C at 38,000.  I've got my eye on a couple of stations out in Hawaii so maybe I'll be able to extend my endorsement one day.]

By Sparks, Category: Radio

Tags: QRP / Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) / Awards /