so i've been running 100w into a dipole for about two years and honestly never really thought much about QRP until my buddy kept going on about it at the club meeting last month. figured i'd give it a shot and dug out a little Rockmite kit i built like three years ago and never really used. got it on 40m, hooked up a random wire in the backyard, and just started calling CQ around 7.030 or so.

took maybe 45 minutes of nothing but then this station in Missouri came back to me, full copy, gave me a 559 which felt almost unbelievable considering im running like 500mw. the guy was super patient with me when i fumbled the exchange a bit. honestly that contact felt way more satisfying than most of my regular HF pile-ups ever have. there's something about knowing the signal is just barely there scratching its way across multiple states on less power than a night light.

now im looking at maybe building one of the ubitx kits or maybe a 4state QRP group kit. anyone have opinions on where to start if you want something a little more versatile than a single band crystal radio? still learning the kit building side of things so nothing too crazy complex would be ideal

the ubitx v6 is actually a pretty solid starting point for what you're describing. its not the most polished thing in the world and the stock low pass filters have gotten some criticism but for learning and general portable use its hard to argue with the price. i built mine over a long weekend and had it on the air monday morning. just take your time with the winding on those toroids and double check your solder joints before you button it up.

the other thing i'd say is dont overlook the QCX+ from QRP Labs. its single band but the receiver is genuinely excellent and its probably the best bang for buck QRP CW rig you can build right now. i use mine for SOTA activations and it just works. battery lasts forever too since the efficiency on that thing is really good. if you're doing mostly CW either one would serve you well but if you want SSB capability eventually then the ubitx makes more sense.

yeah QRP does that to people haha. i remember my first 5w contact and thinking wait that actually worked? now i barely touch the 100w rig except for contests. the 4state kits are nice i have one of their doublet kits for portable but havent done one of their radio kits yet. heard good things though. anyway congrats on the contact, 559 on 500mw to missouri is nothing to sneeze at