so i finally took the plunge and built one of those QCX mini kits from QRP Labs. been putting it off for like a year because i was nervous about the SMD stuff but honestly it wasnt as bad as i thought. took me two evenings and it fired right up on 40m, which apparently doesnt always happen so i felt pretty lucky.

anyway its putting out about 4 watts which i guess is normal for that kit. ive been making contacts but mostly just within a few hundred miles. i know QRP is supposed to work much farther than that and i see people talking about DX contacts running like 2 watts so im wondering if my antenna situation is just killing me. right now im using a wire dipole in the attic which i know isnt ideal. would it make more sense to focus on getting a better antenna situation outside before i worry about anything else with the rig itself? or is there something i should check in the setup first

also curious if anyone has recommendations for what bands are best for QRP when youre just starting out with it. 40 seems active but i dont know if thats the right choice for daytime vs nighttime or what

Antenna first, always antenna first with QRP. Honestly your 4 watts is fine, the QCX mini is a solid little rig and QRP Labs stuff generally works well out of the box. An attic dipole is going to lose you a significant chunk of signal before it even gets out of the house — insulation, roofing materials, whatever else is up there, it all adds up.

If you can get even a simple wire outside and up reasonably high you'll notice a huge difference. Doesn't have to be anything fancy. A lot of QRP operators swear by end-fed halfwaves because theyre easy to deploy and work decent, and with a good tuner you can hit multiple bands. 40m at night is great for QRP, you can get into Europe from the eastern US pretty regularly when conditions cooperate. During the day 20m is probably your best bet for making longer hauls. Just get that antenna outside if you can, seriously, you'll be amazed.

congrats on the build, the QCX kits are really satisfying when they just work. i did the regular QCX on 20m a couple years back and felt the same way. re: the antenna thing yeah what the previous guy said is right but also dont sleep on just operating more with what you have for now. like part of learning QRP is learning to work with marginal conditions and it makes you a better operator tbh. i spent a whole winter working 40m QRP with a compromised antenna and it taught me a lot about timing, propagation, calling CQ vs hunting, all that stuff. the DX will come eventually, dont get discouraged if it takes a while