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Alright, you guys--I can't stand it anymore!
As a fairly frequent QRPer, I'll tell you why I like to operate
QRP. I have a "normal," albeit modest station--a TS-430S with a
TH-3 at 35 feet, dipoles, etc. But I also have a Ten-Tec
Argonaut, an early one, that "Santa" gave me for Xmas in 1983.
I'll admit up front to being more of an operator than a tinkerer
(I did that for the first 20 years I was a ham), and so using the
Argonaut for much of anything is an *operating* challenge. Maybe
I'm not breaking any state-of-the-art in anything, but I've found
it very satisfying to get WAS, DXCC, and some contest certificates
with that little rig. And I don't think I'm that much of a pain
to those in the contests (we discussed this at length last month).
Should the QRP category be eliminated? Well, obviously if it is,
there will be many fewer QRP stations in contests. But ARRL has
always professed to making QSOs with the least amount of power
required, hence the QRP categores in their contests. From a
goodie-goodie point of view, it's the "right" thing to do. From
the big-time contester's view, it may not be (we seem to be split
on that).
Now about signing /QRP. In non-contest situations, especially
when calling DX where I think I'll get thru, I often do tack on
/QRP. And like Derek says, it sometimes stands out like a YL
voice. I *never* sign /QRP in contests for the reasons discussed
these past 2 days--too much time and who cares?
You all gotta remember there are the top 10% of contesters (many
of whom are this newsgroup) and then there's everybody else who's in
the contest. When I complete a 'Q' QSO in SS with someone, I
don't mind him saying "nice QRP signal" or something like that,
and generally a lot of people will take the time to do that.
Perhaps they are not in the 10%, but not everyone can win either.
I suspect that those of you with KWs, big beams, etc. prefer the
CQ-sponsored contests--don't have to screw around with low power
categories, ARRL sections, and so on. But us littler guys (at
least this one) find the ARRL tests to offer more opportunity,
assuming that one measure of success is some wall paper. The QRP
category is one of those opportunities.
--Jim, K6ZH
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