so ive been a ham for about 6 years now and always ran 100w like most people do, never really saw the point of QRP honestly. my buddy kept bugging me about it and i finally caved and built one of those Michigan Mighty Mite kits just to see what the fuss was about. took me a weekend, couple of mistakes with the toroid winding but got it going eventually.

took it out to the state park last saturday with a random wire antenna up in a tree and just... started calling CQ on 40m. i wasnt expecting much. made 11 contacts in about 3 hours running maybe 1 watt, furthest was a guy in Tennessee which isnt crazy far from me but still. the whole thing runs off a 9v battery and fits in my shirt pocket basically.

i dont know how to describe it but there was something really satisfying about it that i dont get running the big rig at home. like every contact feels like it actually meant something? anyway im hooked now and looking at building a 20m version. anyone else gone down this rabbit hole and have kit recommendations or just general advice for someone just getting into portable QRP stuff?

oh man welcome to the dark side haha. seriously though that feeling you're describing is exactly why people get obsessed with QRP, every single contact is a little victory especially when conditions arent cooperating.

for 20m builds i'd honestly look at the QCX from QRP Labs if you havent already. Hans Summers designs are really solid and the receiver is better than you'd expect for the price. i built one last winter and it's become my go-to field radio. the only thing i'll say is take your time on the alignment, dont rush it like i did the first time and had to go back and redo half of it. also your antenna is going to matter way more at QRP power levels than it ever did running 100w so dont neglect that side of things. a half wave end fed tuned for 20m will do you a lot more good than a random wire even if the random wire worked fine for you on 40.

also look into SOTA if you havent, thats kind of the natural extension of what you're already doing and gives you a reason to drag the rig up a hill which is its own kind of fun

11 contacts on 1 watt thats pretty awesome actually. im still working up the courage to try QRP myself, i have an old Pixie kit in a drawer somewhere i never finished. maybe i should dig that out this weekend