so i finally took the plunge and built one of those QEX kits, well actually it was a 4state QRP kit for 40m, took me about two weekends to get it put together and honestly the build process was half the fun. i was pretty nervous about winding the toroids because i'd never done that before and every video i watched made it look either super easy or terrifying depending on who was doing it.

anyway it came out working on the first power up which felt like a miracle. getting about 4 watts out into my end-fed and i've already worked 6 states from my backyard in ohio just doing some casual calling around. not a huge deal for some of you guys i know but for me it felt unreal making contacts with something i built with my own hands.

only thing thats been bugging me is my sidetone sounds a little off, like there's a slight warble to it that i cant quite pin down. might be a cap value issue or something with the oscillator but i havent dug into it yet. if anyone's built one of these and had similar weirdness let me know. also curious if people think 40m is the right band to start QRP on or if i should've done 20 — i feel like 40 is more forgiving but maybe i'm wrong about that.

congrats on the first build, that feeling when it actually works is something else. i remember sitting there with my first homebrew rig just staring at the s-meter on my other radio going up when i keyed down, like yeah i actually did that.

on the warble thing — check your power supply first before you go chasing component values. a lot of sidetone weirdness on those simple oscillator designs is just ripple from a noisy supply. if you're running it off a wall wart that might be your culprit. try a fresh 9v battery and see if it cleans up. if it does then you know where to look. also worth checking that all your ground connections are solid, cold solder joints can do weird things to oscillator behavior.

40m is a great call for starting out with QRP honestly, especially in ohio you've got a lot of population density within groundwave range and skip can be really good in evenings. 20 is where a lot of QRP operators live but the band is noisier and you're competing with higher power stations more directly. i'd stick with 40 for a while, get comfortable with the operating style then maybe build a 20m rig next.

nice work man, i'm jealous actually. been wanting to build one of those for like a year but keep putting it off. whats your antenna setup like if you don't mind me asking, im trying to figure out what works for QRP portable and i feel like the antenna is way more important at low power than most people admit when they're just starting out