QRP operation

[rock music] Good morning and welcome to the All Portable Discussion Zone, the podcast focused on amateur radio portable operations, QRP, home brewing, and everything in between.

I'm your host, Charlie, November Juliet Seven Victor.

And this morning we're talking QRP kit building from the inside.

My guest i- has been licensed since 1957, I believe.

He's built his own gear since the crystal set days, and for years he's been a person who's, uh, who, uh, turns QRP club kits, uh, circuits into kits, and thousands of hams around the world have actually built them.

So joining me this, uh, this morning is Graham Firth, uh, G3MFJ.

Graham, welcome to the All Portable Discussion Zone.

So the poor people who lived on the north side of the hill didn't get very strong television signals on 40 megs, uh, so we had to use low power because we flattened all the local televisions.

So I have a little bit of those, and then obviously I like to experiment, build stuff as well.

I've built a number of, in particular, like the QRP Labs radios, some of the four-state QRP stuff I like to kit build and stuff.

So I'd say maybe a general, but skewing more towards

those aspects.

Good morning and welcome to the All Portable Discussion Zone, the podcast focused on amateur radio portable operations, QRP, homebrewing, and everything in between.

I am your host, Charlie, November Juliet 7 Victor.

This morning, we're talking about the life of a homebrewer.

Thanks for inviting me.

It's such a pleasure.

So when, for those who are listening, know that I probably know that I went over to the UK for the GQRP convention.

And I stayed with for a few days with Tony Fishpool.

And he set up a breakfast for some of the local hams to get together with us, with me and the person I was traveling with, Rex Harper.

Finally, Doug Hendricks, KI6DS, passed away on September 18, 2026.

A co-founder of the NorCal QRP Club and founder of Hendricks QRP Parts, he helped start and fuel the popularity of kit building among low-power enthusiasts.

For more information, as well as links to complete obituaries, see this week's ARRL letter.

I'm Rich Moses on W2VU.

Also on the 26th and 27th are the YUDX contest, CW and phone, the main QSO party, CW and phone, and the AWA Amplitude Modulation QSO party, that's phone.

October 1st has the VHF-UHF FT8 activity contest for North America, digital.

The Walk for the Bacon QRP contest, CW, will be October 1st and 2nd.

The URCDX RIDI contest, digital, is October 2nd.

Finally, Doug Hendricks, KI6DS, passed away on September 18, 2026.

A co-founder of the NorCal QRP Club and founder of Hendricks QRP Parts, he helped start and fuel the popularity of kit building among low-power enthusiasts.

For more information, as well as links to complete obituaries, see this week's ARRL letter.

It's been a half century since single sideband, or SSB, supplanted AM, amplitude modulation, as the most popular voice mode on HF.

Also on the 26th and 27th are the YUDX contest, CW and phone, the main QSO party, CW and phone, and the AWA Amplitude Modulation QSO party, that's phone.

October 1st has the VHF-UHF FT8 activity contest for North America, digital.

The Walk for the Bacon QRP contest, CW, will be October 1st and 2nd.

The URCDX RIDI contest, digital, is October 2nd.

And without a doubt, he checks all those boxes.

We get to chat with Kevin, K0KLB of Ham Radio QRP.

So get those combines tuned up and radios warm.

I'm going to kill it for a

And without, it's similar to the ICOM 705.

It's a QRP rig, and if you're using it in the home, you can use it as a QRP, or you get the amplifier, and it'll give you 100 watts, and it does 6 meters up to 160 degrees.

And UHF, VHF, everything's Shaq in the box.

All right.

joke about that, but if you go back about a year and a half, two years ago, we had an interview with Hamilton.

who is an avid QRP-er and builder.

That's right.

And the Project Toucan that he did with his daughter was basically to take a QRP radio and mount it at the feed point of the dipole.

And then you run like a DC power cable in your key line down from there.

So somebody has done that.

Everything's out.

Everything can be deployed.