QRP at Rialto Beach 2009

A tour of my camp/radio shack. I spend 5 days camping on the north end or Rialto Beach on Washington State's Olympic National Seashore, a few miles north of La Push, WA. I brought along a small Hendricks PFR-3 (4 watt, 20/30/40 meter CW, Internal ant tuner, keyer, RIT and digital readout) that I had built from a kit this past April. Despite the poor solar cycle conditions and low power I worked stations in New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii and all over the US. Working the world while watching the waves crash on the beach is great fun.

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Jerez Sherry]

I pack here all the time...for years now. I bet I've been in all the campsites.. Love the sound, hey , you have radio..

[John Parnell]

It IS a magical place. I have been every inch of this coast between Hoh Head and Shi-Shi during the past 38 years... I have been operating low power radios from North Rialto almost as long - I sometimes make several trips to haul gear since the trailhead is so close. Note that I use extremely thin gauge wire for my antennas and use ear-bud headphones so other hikers and campers would not notice my operation. Not all folks are as enchanted by the mix of Morse and breaking waves as moi...

[goathiker]

Bravo on the ZL! say Rooster & Peanut.

[John Parnell]

I imagine that Rooster and Peanut might have had those famous New Zealand Granny Smith apples in mind when they weighed in with their plaudits ... btw, I certainly enjoy YOUR videos!

[GlobalAntennaWorks]

The PFR-3 is one of the better QRP radios. Good choice! DX at QRP power levels makes just about every contact an exciting one.

tnx es 73 de we5i

[John Parnell]

Agreed- I wouldf add that ANY QSO, US or DX, is an exciting one with QRP. We are now in the worst part of the solar cycle; I compare this operation:11 qsos, 4 countries, with my previous qrp operation (posted here on youtube as "Backpack mobile with MFJ 9020") near this location in 2007: 11 countries (including Europe), dozens of qsos - using the same power level and antenna. It is nice to know that we can have fun even in the worst of condx... 73 and have fun

[Jeffrey Coleman]

This is fascinating. What a blast! It's cool seeing you and your gear in action, after getting a glimpse of it during the ACS meeting this morning.

I'd never heard of nor seen a PFR-3 before. I like the design.

73 es gud dx de w7eir

[Jeffrey Coleman]

This is fascinating. What a blast! It's cool seeing you and your gear in action, after getting a glimpse of it during the ACS meeting this morning.

I'd never heard of nor seen a PFR-3 before. I like the design.

73 es gud dx de w7eir

[N0rthwestRadio]

Nice work!

nwradio.srunz.com



[kj6bbs]

What a great spot to work QRP DX! Great job, and keep up the great work!

[n2jmb]

Great Video!!! Wish there were more videos like this out there on YouTube. Thanks for sharing!!! I'm still trying to decide on this rig or the Elecraft K1 or KX1.

73