First SKCC DX contact - N1FG USA (10 watts)

Whilst on the SKCC skedpage, Larry (N1FG) from Deerfield USA was calling out on 20m. So I turned on the Kenwood and cranked up 5 watts and called him, but unfortunately I was right on the edge of the noise floor. So I ended up going up to 10 watts to break thru the noise (RST 339) and we ended up having a great, but short CW QSO, exchanging the usual for the SKCC Centurian Award. 

Thank Larry. 73's and all the best  

His tower and antenna

NAQCC - North American QRP CW Club

 

After looking around the web, I discovered NAQCC. (Click HERE to see their website)
Wow.. what a great club. After having a good read through their website and watching their video as shown below, I decided to join

What also got me interested was reading the bio of one of the founding members... John Shannon (K3WWP) as mention above in the video. You can check out his website HERE

Also, John (NH61 - another NAQCC member ) shows what can be done with  1/2 watt QRPp and a 20 ft length of wire during 2022 !!

 Overall.. its great to be part of such a club !

QRP by Adventure - Goshin Station

 Heading West, up the range and heading towards Karumba, we found a spot next to a river and decided to squat there for a couple of days. After setting up, time for a swim (temperature in the shade was 40 degrees C or 104 degrees F), then a quick explore. 

After a quick fish in the river catching a few Sooty Grunter, it was time for tea and some QRP. Overall the band was pretty quiet which I felt later was my antenna (it needs to be tweaked), but I still managed to contact VK3MJ (Mark from Geelong in Victoria) on 5 watts - 1111 miles away)

All in all it was a great to get away, but unfortunately we could only spend 1 night. During the night around 11pm, some idiot decided to start a bush fire and the smoke was so intense and thick, you could only see around 10 ft in front of you. What a shitty night. So first thing in the morning (prior to sunrise) we packed up and left.  

SKCC 1000 Miles Per Watt Award @ 500mW

After looking around the net, I came across SKCC (the Straight Key Century Club) of which I joined. Over the next couple of days looking around within their group (sked page/ chat group and more), I found a bunch of VK's one night via the sked page who were on the air. Listening, I heard Collin VK2DVA calling out "CQ".

Well.. here goes.. my first time on the air in 23 years. 

So using my QRP QCX-mini I answered. My CW was a bit rusty, but after exchanging RST's (he gave me a 559 on my 5 watts) and SKCC numbers, he welcomed me to the club and before you knew it...it was over. Whew... my head was spinning.

About 30 minutes later I heard him calling CQ again to other SKCC members and I thought.. "How far can I push this tonight?" I used to do a lot of QRPp DXing 20 odd years ago. So I dialed in my Attenuator (9db) and dropped my power from 5 watts down to 500 milliwatts (QRPp) and answered him.
He came back (!) and gave me an RST of 389 !!

The next day both Collin and I applied for the 1000 MPW award. ... 2222 miles per watt.
The last QRP award I got was 34 years ago  

Its great to be back on the air
------------------------

Mark Bowdidge, VK4MFX, SKCC #26845 earns 1,000 MPW Award #185

Mark has shown his commitment to the ideals of the SKCC with the use of manual sending devices in earning the 1,000 Miles per Watt (MPW) Award #18 with a 2,000 MPW endorsement. Mark submitted his log and application with SKCC member numbers.

Call Grid Sq Output/Watts Total Miles MPW
VK4MFX QH31ar 500mW 1,111 2,222
VK2DVA QF56kf

Endorsements of this type are recorded in the SKCC 1,000 Miles per Watt database for all group members to see and admire.

Duly approved, recorded and published.

I set forth my hand and key.

Bill Nixon, W0EJ
SKCC #10440S
1,000 MPW Award Administrator 

#1- 1000 MPW Award... 2222 MPW @ 500mW

After looking around the net, I came across Collin VK2DVA calling out "CQ".

So using my QCX-mini I thought.. "How far can I push this?" I used to do a lot of QRPp DXing 20 odd years ago. So I dialed in my Attenuator (9db) and dropped my power from 5 watts down to 500 milliwatts (QRPp) and answered him.

He came back (!) and gave me an RST of 389 !!

The next day both Collin and I applied for the 1000 MPW award. ... 2222 miles per watt.

Calculate Your Miles Per Watt

 First determine your QTH locator with the excellent: Find your

QTH locator by F6FVY Laurent Haas.
Zoom in on your city and then click on your street to find your QTH locator.
Then look up the QTH locator of the station you worked.

Then calculate the distance with the fantastic "Miles per Watt calculator" by N9SSA. 

Copy the two QTH locators and paste them, one by one, into the fields ”Grid-Square”. You can your contacts grid square from the QRZ.com website. under "detail"

Fill in the power in the field ”Watts”. (give 0.05 for 50mW)

Press the button ”Calculate Distance” and be surprised. (hi)

My QTH grid square is QH31ar

Here's my quick reference guide that I can use at a glance
Make a QSO using 5 watts or less power and a simple wire antenna in which distance(miles) / power(watts) is greater than 1000.

1/4 Watt (250mW)

Everything outside the YELLOW circle is 1000 MPW

1/2 watt (500mW) 

Everything outside the RED circle is 1000 MPW

1 watt

Everything outside the GREEN circle is 1000 MPW 

2.5 watts

Everything outside the BLUE circle is 1000 MPW