so i finally decided to stop just reading about QRP and actually build something. picked up one of those 40m pixie kits off ebay for like eight bucks because i figured worst case i waste eight bucks and learn something. well i got it together last weekend and honestly it kind of works? i mean i can hear stuff on 40m no problem, the little crystal oscillator is putting out maybe 300mw according to my buddy's power meter, but i havent actually made a contact yet.

my antenna situation is probably the problem - i just have a random wire thrown out the window that's maybe 30 feet long and i have no idea if its resonant on anything. im running it into a little tuner i also built from a kit. the SWR seems okay-ish but i honestly dont fully trust my meter yet.

is 300mw actually workable for making contacts or am i just dreaming here? and does anyone have thoughts on whether i should try to get a proper dipole up first before i waste too much time calling CQ into the void. feeling kind of stuck between wanting to operate and wanting to get the antenna sorted first

oh man the pixie - that brings back memories. yeah 300mw is genuinely workable but the antenna is doing way more work than the rig at that power level, so you're right to think about it. a half wave dipole for 40m cut to frequency will make a night and day difference over a random wire especially when you're running that little power. the good news is a 40m dipole is basically free to build, just need some wire and a couple insulators.

also the pixie is a direct conversion receiver and it's gonna pick up both sidebands at once which means it can sound pretty chaotic on a busy band. when 40m gets crowded in the evening just be patient with it. and for making that first QRP contact - try calling during a contest weekend when activity is high, or look for dedicated QRP calling frequencies like 7.030 MHz, there's usually folks there specifically looking for QRP stations. it'll happen, just takes some patience and a decent antenna under it

i built one of those exact kits last year as my first homebrew thing too. got a contact into ohio from pennsylvania on it which i was pretty shocked about honestly. the antenna really is everything at that power level though, i was using a dipole and it made a huge difference when i finally got it up properly vs the wire i had before. keep at it