I built the 40m QRP kit last spring. It is a great kit and worth every
penny of the $100 is costs!
The kit itself oges together well. The instruction manual is very thorough
and simple to follow. Assembly is done in 7 or 8 phases with testing done
after about half of them. As a result, my kit worked the first time!
In terms of actual operations, I did not expect too much performance from
the radio... boy was I wrong! For such an inexpensive radio, the receiver
is pretty darn "hot." The crystal filter network does a decent job at a BW
of something like 1Khz (am doing this from memory so my specs may be off..).
Transmitter puts out 3-5 watts based on your power supply. The QSK seems
flawless to me -- very very clean.
I took this rig to the NC beach this past summer. While my family was out
getting skin cancer on the beach, I operated into a 40m dipole strung around
the deck of the house were were staying in. I made contacts all up and down
the east coast and well into Canada. The universal comment I got was that I
did not "sound" like a QRP rig! I took that as my best indicator of
transmitting performance!
I love my rig. Hope you decide to buy one and will like yours too.
73,
Nat Davis, N4BTO
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