Tuesday, April 11, 2017

QRPP QSO with QRM

Hard fought QSO with the 1Watter

I haven't used the 1Watter in a while so I thought I'd pull it off the shelf and hook it up for a QSO.  The 40m band was in pretty good shape but the frequencies covered by my XTAL controlled 1Watter are pretty limited and trying to find an open frequency was tough.


I received a response to my call from N1WHT up in CT, but the station was a little off frequency and the 1Watter doesn't have a RIT so I had to change frequency to bring him into my passband. Then another much stronger station came in right beside us which overwhelmed the 1Watter AGC when I sent my final response.  I've tried a number of things to correct the AGC issue on my radio and haven't had success.  I've just learned to deal with having the audio from my sidetone drop out when sending in such circumstances.

This was a rather hard fought QSO.  I used my Elecraft AF-1 audio filter kit to help eliminate the stronger station on receive but the passband was so narrow that I had to turn it off to hear some of my sidetone when sending.

So I made a contact but it wasn't the most elegant or pleasant QSO of the evening.  In any event, it's communication so soldier on.

Here's a video of the QRPP adventure...



That's all for now

So lower your power and raise your expectations

72/73
Richard AA4OO


3 comments:

  1. I am very interested in the One-Watter, but it does look like a complicated kit. I built a Rockmite 20 back when they first came out, then sold it last year for more than I originally paid for it. I was thinking about building another one because I like these small transceivers, but then I saw your post and looked at the page on kits and parts. How long did it take to assemble it? Do you have any notes on it? Thanks and 73! Dan - W2DLC

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    1. It is likely more involved than a Rockmite but I'm a relatively novice builder and the instructions are good. The most time consuming aspect is winding all the toroids. There was a error in the kit, as I was the first builder of it for 40m but that's been corrected in the instructions now. Diz (the maker) is very responsive to questions as is the 1watter forum.

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