so ive been wanting to do QRP for a while now and finally pulled the trigger on a Xiegu X6100 a few months back but then a buddy at my local club convinced me to try building a kit first before spending that kind of money. ended up going with one of the QRP Labs QCX+ kits for 40 meters and honestly i wasnt sure i could do it, my soldering is decent but nothing special.

anyway it took me about 5 hours spread over two evenings and the thing actually worked first time which i was not expecting at all. put out about 3.5 watts into my endfed and made a contact to a guy in georgia from ohio on the first try. i know thats not crazy DX but i was sitting there at like 5 watts wondering how people ever did this before digital modes and i have a new respect for the old timers doing CW QRP seriously.

the kit itself is pretty well documented, dont let the instruction booklet intimidate you, its very step by step. only thing i fumbled was the toroids, wound one wrong and had to redo it but caught it during the alignment stage. if youre on the fence about building vs buying i honestly think building taught me more about how the radio actually works than anything ive read. anyway just wanted to share since this forum helped me decide to go for it

congrats man that's a great first build. the QCX+ is a solid kit, QRP Labs really does make it approachable. and yeah the toroids trip everybody up at least once, i rewound one of mine like three times before i was happy with it.

if you havent already, look into getting a small antenna tuner to go with it for portable ops. i use just a little Z-match i built for maybe $15 in parts and it makes a big difference when you're out in a field with whatever wire you can hang. 3.5 watts can go a long way when conditions cooperate, ive worked europe from the midwest on 40 SSB at 5 watts back when the band was really moving. CW obviously even easier. have fun with it

this is actually making me want to try a kit. ive been licensed like 8 months and kind of just been using my HT and a baofeng lol. didnt realize you could build a real HF radio yourself for not that much money. how much did the QCX+ run you if you dont mind me asking? also do you need a technician or general to actually use it on 40 meters