so ive been wanting to get into QRP for a while now and last month i finally pulled the trigger on one of those 40m CW kits, the kind you solder yourself. took me about two evenings to put together and honestly the process was half the fun. i'm not great at soldering fine pitch stuff but the components on this one were pretty forgiving.

anyway got it on the air last weekend running about 4 watts into a end-fed halfwave i strung up in the backyard and made contact with a station in ohio from here in vermont. nothing crazy but man the feeling of talking to somebody with a radio you built with your own hands is something else. there's something almost philosophical about it i dunno.

for anybody on the fence about trying QRP i'd say just do it. the kits aren't that expensive and even if you mess up a solder joint it's usually fixable. my only real complaint is the receive sensitivity isn't quite as good as my main rig but for portable use it's going to be perfect. already thinking about taking it out to a park or summit sometime this summer and just seeing what i can work with a wire and a battery.

congrats on the first kit build, that feeling never really goes away honestly. i've been doing QRP for probably 15 years and i still get a kick out of working DX with 5 watts or less, theres just something satisfying about the efficiency of it all. your end fed setup sounds solid for 40m too.

if you do go portable definitely look into POTA or SOTA depending on your area. POTA especially is really beginner friendly and the chasers are usually pretty patient with weaker signals. i run a small lithium pack with mine and can get several hours of operating time no problem at QRP levels since the current draw is so low. just dont forget a good pair of headphones, copy gets a lot easier when you can really focus on the signal.

which kit did you build if you dont mind me asking? im looking at a few options and cant decide. also did you need any test equipment to align it or did it just work out of the box basically