so i've been on HF for about two years now and always ran 100w from a used Icom 718 which is a great radio dont get me wrong but i kept reading about QRP and eventually just ordered a QCX mini kit from QRP Labs because the price was hard to argue with, like 55 bucks or something for a single band 5w CW rig

building it took me a weekend afternoon, the instructions are really well written and i'd say anyone who's done basic soldering could handle it. there are a few surface mount parts but they're not tiny tiny, more like medium sized SMD so nothing crazy. got it working first try which honestly surprised me

been using it portable mostly, just threw it in a backpack with a 3ah lipo and a linked dipole i made from some wire and it's shockingly capable. worked a station in germany last weekend running 5w to a wire about 20 feet up in a tree. i know thats not a huge deal for some of you but coming from always cranking the power it felt pretty wild

the thing i wasnt expecting was how much more i pay attention to propagation now. with 100w you can kind of brute force stuff but at 5w you really have to think about when and where to call. its made me a better operator honestly. anyway just wanted to share, anyone else here doing a lot of QRP portable stuff? curious what rigs or antennas people are using out in the field

the QCX mini is a fantastic little kit, glad you got it going first try. i've built three of them over the years — one for each band i use most and they just work. Hans does good design work.

for portable i've been using a end-fed halfwave with a 9:1 unun that i wind myself, its maybe 60 feet of wire and rolls up into almost nothing. combined with a little telescoping fiberglass mast from SOTAbeams i can be on the air in maybe 15 minutes from pulling up somewhere. the whole setup fits in a small sling bag.

you hit on the thing that hooks most people into QRP which is that it changes how you think about the whole operation. propagation awareness goes way up, your CW speed tends to improve because you're relying on it more, and there's just something satisfying about the minimalism of it. my XYL actually tolerates the radio hobby more since i went mostly QRP because i'm outside more and not hogging the shack as much lol

ive been thinking about getting into QRP for a while now and this kind of post is what finally might push me over. quick question though — do you need a General or can Techs operate on the HF bands you'd be using for QRP? im still a Tech and trying to figure out what i can actually do before i upgrade