On 4/16/2013 2:07 AM, M. WIJK wrote:
It does not matter if you take a tiny Elecraft K1/FT817 or a larger K2/FT857
and the like. It's the battery weight which counts.
It helps to realize that operating from a mountain peak is almost
equivalent to operating with a vertical on the beach. I worked Field Day
last year from a 5,000 ft peak running QRP with solar power and
batteries. With very good antennas, we were able to hold a frequency and
run, with a rate of more than 70 QSOs per hour in the last hour. We made
nearly 900 QSOs.
The year before, I worked Field Day from home QRP battery with very good
antennas and made 500 QSOs.
SO, if I were CARRYING my gear up the mountain on my back, I would go
with the lightest possible weight QRP rig, enough battery to run it for
twice as much time as I think I might have, and "stuff" to rig antennas
for the bands I hope to use. There are a lot of nice lightweight
telescoping poles and mounting tripods that can give you a quarter wave
on bands as low as 40M. Add some lengths of #22 wire to use as radials
or a counterpoise, and you've got a pretty decent antenna for not a lot
of weight.
In my experience, the WARC bands are the best QRP bands because they
have the least activity from guys with big tribanders, and 30M has the
advantage of a 200W limit.
The club of which I was a member in Chicago hosts an annual QRP night in
a local forest preserve, where members set up rigs and antennas in very
close proximity to each other. Typical turnout was a dozen guys. The
guys with Elecraft rigs did fine, but the guys with rice boxes got their
receivers blown away by the other close signals on the same band.
Especially if you're using improvised antennas, it helps to have a rig
with an antenna tuner.
Note that N6KR, one of the two owners of Elecraft is an EE who is the
principal designer of their rigs, started out designing rigs for
backpackers, and he is a NUT for minimizing battery drain. That makes
his rigs a great choice if you're trying to maximize performance and
minimize the weight you have to carry.
73, Jim K9YC
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