P RINCIPIOS FUNDAMENTALES PARA EL DESARROLLO DE SISTEMAS

in time about 20 years to my days in the United Kingdom and my association with the G-QRP Club. This work is a collection of articles from the G-QRP Club newsletter, SPRAT (Small Powered Radio Amateur Transmissions). As I thumbed through the contents, I ran across circuits like the “Sudden Receiver”, one of which I still use on 160 today. Then there was the

“Stockton Wattmeter”, a four port RF bridge circuit that was accurate down to the milliwatt power levels. Mine still finds regular use in the K7SZ shack, even though I built it almost 20 years ago! GM3OXX’s “OXO” transmitter was a hoot to build and operate, and mine is on the shelf above the workbench, awaiting my use. What a great collection of circuits and

memories. These guys know how to play the QRP game!

Upon returning to the States, I was frustrated and disappointed at the lack of homebrewing along with the absence of club projects within the QRP ARCI. Stateside QRPers do not participate in the hobby the way the UK QRPers do. Mostly this is due to the excessively high costs of commercial gear in Europe, and the wonderful Value Added Tax (VAT) that ups the cost another 15% (at least it was 15% when I was over there 20 years ago!). The Brits (and the majority of European QRPers) tend to homebrew their radio equipment primarily due to cost, but also with an eye toward the pride in accomplishment derived from designing and building one’s own station gear. And, if you want to see some really, really beautiful homebrew equipment, look no further than the utterly show-stopping creations from George Burt, GM3OXX! When it comes to fantastic homebrew gear, George has no peers. He is the king!

Conversely, stateside hams would rather buy than build, which was a major culture shock stumbling block when I returned to the U.S. After a couple of terms on the QRP ARCI Board of Directors, I became disgruntled and withdrew for a couple of years, all the while longing for the “glory days” of my time in the UK, where homebrewing was king and the exchange of information was paramount at QRP gatherings.

When Doug Hendricks, KI6DS, started the Northern California QRP Club (NorCal), I was ecstatic. The NorCal goal was to further the art of homebrewing, and to start the ball rolling, Wayne Burdick, N6KR, designed the now-famous NorCal 40, a 40 meter CW transceiver (currently being sold as the NC-40A by Wilderness Radio). This design was simple, easy to duplicate, worked the first time, even when built by relatively inexperienced builders, and produced many hours of enjoyment on 40 meters for the enterprising QRPer.

This design was so successful that it became an undergraduate college level project at Cal Tech. The NorCal 40 was followed by the Sierra, the SST, and then along came Eric Swartz, WA6HHQ, who teamed up with Wayne Burdick and Elecraft was born which gave us the K2 , K1, KX-1 transceivers. All proving that homebrewing was alive and well in the U.S.

Essentially, it all started with the NorCal 40. Wow, talk about changing the face of ham radio!

I was in heaven!

Then along came this dude, George Heron, N2APB, and his sidekick Joe Everhart, N2CX, and the New Jersey QRP Club. Finally: a club on the east coast, close to my home, that followed the NorCal lead and started pumping out QRP kits and accessories faster than a rabbit in heat slings a litter! My prayers had been answered!

All this history brings me to the present. Like many of you I have had my “ins and outs”

of the ham radio hobby over the years. I’d leave the QRP fold to explore another facet of the ham radio hobby, only to return sooner than later to QRP. Why? Was it the challenge of using 5 watts or less RF output to work the world? OR, was it the chance to build innovative

transceivers, accessories, and kits that rivaled the Offshore Empire offerings? Possibly it was the chance to thumb my nose at the QRO ops who, for so long, looked at us QRPers as quirks of nature, and not highly skilled radio operators who could run circles around them contesting, DXing or just plain having fun with the radio hobby.

Actually, upon long term reflection I came to the conclusion that it is the people within the QRP hobby that draws me back into QRP each time I stray. It’s the George Dobbs, the Collin Turners, the George Burts, the Ian Keysers, the Dave Bensons, the Eric Swartzs, the Wayne Burdicks, the George Herons, the Joe Everharts, the Tom McCuens, the Bob Dyers, the Fran Slavinskis, the Paul Strouds, the Ed Breneisers, the Ron Politykas: It’s all the QRPers that I have met and that have shaped my persona. It’s the folks who take the time, make the effort, and volunteer their services to help the QRP hobby grow that bring me back.

My good friend and SWL mentor, Dr. Harold, “Dr. DX” Cones, of the Old Dominion DXers in Tidewater Virginia has a saying: “Leave the hobby a bit better off than you found it”. That is what these QRPers do. That’s what we all do when we take the time to mentor a new comer to the hobby or design and share a circuit, or help someone debug a problem radio, or volunteer our services to publish a newsletter or help manage a QRP club.

While we ham radio operators do build and we do talk (communicate) our biggest gift is our ability to help grow the hobby. That is what brings me back; the people.

That’s a wrap for this time, gang. Over the upcoming issues I will introduce you to “The Argonaut 509 from Hell”, the Wyoming Valley QRP Commandos, and we’ll discuss a variety of topics to help you expand your QRP horizons. Until next time: vy 73.

Rich K7SZ

PS: If you have any of the following ICOM gear and want to find it a “good home” please contact me at: [email protected] and we’ll get together on a deal:

IC-502 6M SSB/CW VHF QRP Transceiver IC-402 70CMs SSB/CW UHF QRP Transceiver IC-202S 2M SSB/CW VHF QRP Transceiver IC-215 2M FM Crystal Controlled Transceiver IC-515 6M FM Crystal Controlled Transceiver

Rich Arland, K7SZ may be reached by mail at 25 Amherst Avenue, Wilkes Barre, PA 18702, or by email at [email protected]

Editor's Note: As with most of us, we never really leave QRP or even ham radio, but

sometimes take sabbaticals for reasons of family, work or physical/mental health. K7SZ has been a long-time contributor to the QRP community and to the state-of-the-art as we know it today. He is a member of the QRP Hall of Fame and has given of himself more than anyone I know ... and we are very proud to have Rich back with us on the HOMEBREWER and Atlanticon.

All material in HOMEBREWER is copyright 2005 and may not be reprinted in any form without express written permission from the American QRP Club and the individual author. Articles have not been tested and no guarantee of success is implied. Safe construction practices should always be followed and the builder assumes all risks. HOMEBREWER Magazine is a quarterly journal of the American QRP Club, published on CD-ROM. Each issue typically contains over 200 pages of QRP-related homebrewing construction and technical articles intended for builders, experimenters, ham radio operators and low power enthusiasts all around the world. HOMEBREWER features include construction projects for beginners all the way up to the advanced digital and RF experimenters. Annual subscriptions are $15 (for US & Canada) and $20 (for foreign addresses). For information, contact editor/publisher George Heron, N2APB at [email protected] or visit HOMEBREWER Magazine home page at www.amqrp.org/homebrewer.

Richard Fisher, KI6SN