Has QRP Ruined Ham Radio?

No wait! Before you and the boys load up your guns, jump in the truck and come-a-huntin’ for me, that’s not what I really meant. I love QRP. Well most of the time. Admittedly I had one of those “but it was fun anyway” days yesterday – i.e. I got skunked; no contacts, not a single one. Propagation conditions were listed as “poor” and for once they really meant it. I set up on a particularly beautiful sandy beach overlooking Georgian Bay. The Sun was shining, clear blue sky, calm lake, quiet park, plenty of room to erect my best wire antennas. Tiny Turk, my new QRP Labs QMX transceiver, was chomping at the bit. Freshly charged LiFePO4 battery was sitting ready to blow a torrent of electrons through Tiny Turk’s circuits and then … nothing, nada, zip! I heard a few stations nestling safely down in the noise, called them, but they couldn’t hear me. Oh well, like I said QRP is so much fun.

Call Off the Posse

Ok, you’ve had time to unload and hang your guns back on the rack. So crack a cold one and let me explain why I think QRP may have ruined ham radio. It’s not about operating low power at all. That’s a crazy obsession for which I share a passion along with countless others. My therapist asked me “Why this masochistic passion for deliberately handicapping yourself when ham radio is all about actually making contacts”. “You don’t understand me doc” I replied. “Nobody understands me!” “That’s why you’re here John” he responded coldly.

So let’s get to the point. Like I said, it’s not about operating with low power; it’s the term “QRP” itself. QRP means “reduce power”. Add a question mark and it means “shall I reduce power?” Ham radio Q-codes are a shorthand way of sending a question or a response. They are used mostly in CW exchanges. In the good old days when radio operators all used Morse Code sent with a straight key at 60 words per minute (before writhing in agony with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome after 15 minutes), Q-codes were a huge convenience. Are they still?

Thou Shalt Not!

I once used the term QRP during a club net on the local 2m repeater and was admonished with “wow, I don’t think we should be using Q-codes on the repeater”. Well, I wasn’t actually. I was using the term QRP in it’s new context meaning low power ham radio operations; specifically, my new QRP radio. I wasn’t asking anybody to reduce power. Not even the guy down the street who turns on his #%$&& amplifier for the club local net on 80m – QRP puleeze buddy!!

“An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications.” – FCC Part 97

So the modern term “QRP” is a corrupted form of the Q-code that was once used to agree whether a QSO could be conducted at lower power. “An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications.” – FCC Part 97 rule. Do ya hear that neighbor down the street?

Actually, it’s not just “QRP” that breaks the rules. How many times have you heard “what is your QRG?” The Q-code QRG? means “what is my exact frequency?” with the response QRG [freq] meaning: “your exact frequency is XXXXX kilocycles”. Yes, ya got me. I deliberately wrote “kilocycles” because that particular Q-code was useful when radios didn’t have a frequency display. New hams are aghast and thinking “not even a panadapter?” No, if you read olden papyrus scrolls you will learn of a time, deep in the annals of history, way way back in the 20th Century (yikes) when radios had a “tuning condenser” with a great big knob and a series of pulleys wound with string to slow down the tuning rate. Breaking news: “QRG” does not mean “frequency”.

“When I get back to the QTH …”

But my slathering swarm of screaming demons is reserved for the abusers of “QTH”. Now hear this abusers: You can never leave your QTH! “Aaarrgh! Is there another lockdown?” “For you my friend, YES!!! Use the period of your confinement to study Q-codes and understand them. When you finally understand exactly what QTH really means you are free to leave.

Help! help! My QTH is following me

Why can you never leave your QTH? Because it follows you wherever you go! Your QTH is your current location – it is NOT your home!! The Q-code QTH? means “what is your location”; it does NOT mean “where do you live?”. If you really must, the screaming demons may permit the use of “home QTH” which means the same as “home” and so is completely pointless.

Join the Q-code Preservation Society

In everyday conversation words often mutate to mean something completed different. For example “wicked” formerly referred to the work of the Devil. Now it is often used to describe something that is really good. But ham radio Q-codes have a specific purpose and that is to aid in the efficient transmission and reception of messages during emergencies or when propagation conditions are bad and precise communication is called for. Many of the original Q-codes have less relevance in today’s era of advanced electronics but others remain very useful indeed. Join the Q-code Preservation Society by simply helping to prevent further corruption of them.

Has “QRP” ruined ham radio? Yes, and “QRG”, “QTH” and quite a few other formerly precise Q-codes too. Let’s fix that.

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