so i've been wanting to do this for like two years and i finally just ordered a QCX mini from QRP Labs back in the fall, took me about a weekend to build it, and honestly the soldering wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. im running it at 5 watts on 40 meters and i was genuinely shocked the first time i made a contact with it. like i know 5 watts is still 5 watts but coming from my IC-7300 at home where i kind of just turn it on and it works, there's something completely different about pulling a tiny rig out of your bag at a picnic table and making a CW contact with something you built yourself.

took it out to the county park last saturday with a end fed half wave and just threw it up in a tree with some paracord. worked a guy in ohio from new england, nothing crazy but i was pretty happy. the keyer built into the QCX is actually really nice, i was expecting it to be kind of clunky but it held up fine. battery was a 3ah lipo i had from an old RC car project, lasted way longer than i needed.

anyway just wanted to share because i feel like people on here were helpful when i was first asking about whether the kit was worth doing, and yeah it was. if anyones on the fence about it just do it. curious if anyone else is doing POTA with QRP only, feels like a fun challenge.

QCX mini is a great first kit, glad it worked out. the QRP Labs stuff is pretty well documented and Hans does a good job with the design so most people get it going without too many headaches. your EFHW setup is about as good as it gets for portable honestly, that combination works really well on 40.

i've been doing POTA almost exclusively QRP for about three years now, mostly with a KX2 which is a different animal price-wise but if you ever decide you want something with more band coverage it's worth saving up for. that said i know guys who activate every weekend with a QCX and a wire and log 10+ contacts no problem. the key is really just the antenna and picking a time when the band's doing something. early morning on 40 in summer you can work half the country at 5 watts without breaking a sweat.

the efficiency thing is what gets me about QRP, you start actually paying attention to everything — feedline loss, antenna height, even which direction you're throwing the wire. it makes you a better operator i think.

this is super inspiring, ive been looking at the QCX mini too but was nervous about the kit build since i haven't done a ton of SMD stuff. was there much surface mount soldering or is most of it through hole? also did you have to do much alignment or calibration after you finished it, that part sounds kind of intimidating to me