Longest Skip on Lowest Power?

[MDYoungblood]

Back in the 70's I talked to Durban, South Africa then the next day Rockhampton, Australia all on a 4 watt radio but was using a Moonraker IV antenna. It is funny how you can remember the really long shots. Since then I have a hard time getting across town, jk, lol.

3's

Greg

[3ZERO8]

From North Dakota to Florida. Galaxy 88 doing about 18 watts with a K30 mag mount.

-3ZERO8

[Swan270]

best I ever did on low power was from Pensacola FL to Nashville TN using a 100 Milliwatt channel 7 walkie talkie. A radio freq buddy and I constructed a 2 element quad that was up about 30 feet. Back in 1989 during a hot solar cycle worked a Mexico Beach Florida ham from my QTH in South Korea on 10 meters SSB running 7 watts. The antenna was a 2 element beam turned horizontal.

[mty pocketz]

West Texas, sitting in my diesel powered horse and buggy, to North Carolina.
Cobra 25 with 17 watts and 4' Francis antenna

[Skipper 169]

La Crosse Wisconsin to Toulouse France on a 102" whip mounted at ground level on 0.5 watts indicated on my Diawa Cross type meter, for a 58 minute QSO using Olivia 8/250 mode. It was only a test. My friend on the other end was using 2 watts cause it was the lowest his radio could go. We usually use about 30 watts.

[screaming72]

La Crosse Wisconsin to Toulouse France on a 102" whip mounted at ground level on 0.5 watts indicated on my Diawa Cross type meter, for a 58 minute QSO using Olivia 8/250 mode. It was only a test. My friend on the other end was using 2 watts cause it was the lowest his radio could go. We usually use about 30 watts.

Olivia is a pretty good weak signal digimode. It is quite similar to JT-65A. I have decoded plenty of them.

To be better on topic, I remember way back in 1995 I had a Antron 99 40 feet high running 36LSB barefoot when I used to live in Wichita Kansas. Had plenty of contacts out east and a few Canadians. It was a Navajo 458. The Navajo was never peaked and tuned. It was my uncle's radio. He wasn't into it enough to use it much so peaking and tuning wasn't his thing.

[De_Wildfire]

Many times I have used 12 watts ssb and talked all over the country. Usually I can catch a good wave right before the band closes down after sunset on channel 38 LSB.

[ogdoa]

My longest contact yet was to someplace in south America barefoot from Branson Mo. My kicker was down and we were talking local and he came booming in.

[Space Ghost]

EM84ru (upstate SC), 38LSB, 2004. 5 watts with 30 watt swing. Poland. Poland every morning for 2 weeks straight. The band just opened up a big wide hole. No noise.

[simon007]

Budapest to Bishket on FM with 4 watts and a Sigma Eurocomm 5/8 antenna (radio Albrecht AE-6110)

73 Simon

Skip time, take a listen 27200FM is Russia call channel and 27190USB for the SSB users

[1206FL]

12 watts SSB, 38LSB, Australia from Central FL, using a dipole at 18ft off ground.

[1206FL]

And thx for the freqs Simon! I'll be tuning to them and listening for sure!! Have only gotten to Ukraine area once. Very short qso.

[theglide]

From Florida to Ocean City Maryland, in July on 37LSB. Daytime.

[Turk182]

The longest for me yet is Manitoba on AM and a mobile rig on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran on SSB. Have worked many other states in between on both bands from here on the SW side of the Sandpile. Only running a peaked Midland 13-863B with a D-104 showing about 11-12 watts on the tuner's meter. Also got an unmodified GE Superbase for SSB. SWRs are barely moving the needle. Pushing the tuned signal through RG-213 coax at about 68' in length up a 40' Rohn tower with a Cushcraft 3-element beam at 8db gain. Mother Nature's doing the rest. 73's to all.

[Rabbit Ears]

From Sheridan Wyoming to Hawaii (the big island) with a HR2510 putting out 35W voice peak. It don't get better than that!!

[Turk182]

I've done the low power QRP stuff like anyone else, nothing exceptional comes to mind, but recently in CQ magazine I read about an EME (earth-moon-earth) contact made with just a few milliwatts, less than a tenth of a watt I believe. That's not really skip and their antenna system was very serious, but still amazing. On cb, I've heard old stories of people shooting skip on 100 milliwatt walkie talkies and more recently hear stories of guys in Europe using FRS (family radio service) stuff and talking good distances.

On the ham bands, I used to regularly work my grandfather, who was 200 miles away, on cw (morse code) with just a few watts, and he could hear me fine.

The antenna is the real contact maker when the conditions are right. Once, I had a guy in Ohio, with me in tx, and he was running 100 watts. He told me he was going to low power and listen for him. He came back with one watt and I could still hear him, way down near the noise floor, but proof that conditions and antenna mean alot. Now much of this is not applicable on cb, where it is a wattage slugfest, but on a clear frequency with considerate operators a lot is possible.

-drdx

Yep, can remember the good ole days back in '75 when my neighbor talked to WV from a 100mw talkie in NJ. All this from just touching the talkie antenna to the TV antenna (remember them?) wire going up the side of the house.

[halfwatt959]

France 38LSB, 45w. trinidad 20 am 45w [had the amp on but didnt know it had droped the left pill so so extra juice] from south Mississippi on a maco v5/8 40' off the ground at 316' above sea level. that super star 158 is a mean motor scooter.

[Turk182]

Update: The furthest now for me is Seattle, WA 12W ch. 38 LSB

The longest for me yet is Manitoba on AM and a mobile rig on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran on SSB. Have worked many other states in between on both bands from here on the SW side of the Sandpile. Only running a peaked Midland 13-863B with a D-104 showing about 11-12 watts on the tuner's meter. Also got an unmodified GE Superbase for SSB. SWRs are barely moving the needle. Pushing the tuned signal through RG-213 coax at about 68' in length up a 40' Rohn tower with a Cushcraft 3-element beam at 8db gain. Mother Nature's doing the rest. 73's to all.

[56jmk71]

From a middle of Finland to Sao Paulo Brazil on 21W USB.

At last winter to southern Spain and the spanish station tried 2 radios and switched the amplifier on and off, my power was 21W, the spanish station was working on 5- 70 watts.

When the propagation is good, 12W SSB will go anywhere.

[stratotanker]

My "QRP" skip contacts as follows:

From Missouri to:

Florida....stock Uniden PC68LTW, 4 watts, 102 whip antenna
Georgia.....stock Uniden PC68LTW, 4 watts, 102 whip antenna
West Virginia.....stock Cobra 21, 4 watts, Wilson 1000 magnet moubt antenna
Pennsylvania.....stock Cobra 21, 4 watts, Wilson 1000 magnet mount antenna

[Mtn Lynx]

Back in the 80s before marine radios took over, my sister talked with a fella from Washington State on a barefoot AM CB. 4 watts.

[Bluerunner]

Back in the 70's, when you still had to buy a license for CB, I used to talk skip all over the country with an old 2.5 watt (5 watt peak modulation) crystal controlled 6 channel mobile CB (brand unknown).
I made it a base station by running it off of a 1 amp battery charger / maintainer that I built noise filters for to get the hum out.

I was most successful when skip was just starting for the day or just ending. I learned how to put a tuning coil on one crystal legs and pull the frequency down 5-10kc.
This let me talk skip on the "hidden" channels between the standard 23 channels. Between 3&4, 7&8, 11&12, 15&16 and 19&20 otherwise reserved for remote control stuff.

I did it with a random length "long wire antenna" hung in a tree with a homemade tuner made of wire around an oatmeal box with variable taps on it. No fancy SWR or power meters. Just tuned for the max received / noise level.

Very poor back then. Invention by necessity. Power was very rare and the FCC was swift & sure about it. Off frequency was only investigated by complaints from RC guys.

[bluemeanie]

Ok I can use the back in the day slogan late 70's early 80's. Was my first SSB base a stock Midland hadn't even been tweaked....yet. Starduster antenna 38 usb. Western Colorado to Tokyo. Have never done it since.
Blue

[PB413]

Got the Alaskan Highway with a barefoot Cobra 2000 GTL through an A99, from Detroit last year.

[EricExtreme]

I have done some skip using a Magnum 1012 wallow talkie on 6-7 Watts SSB from MT Wachusett in Massachusetts. Line of sight have I have hit over 40 miles local on the walkie talkie. I sold that radio several years ago but am trying to buy another as I am moving to New Hampshire at the end of the month and will live near MT Washington which is nearly 6300 feet Elevation at the summit and would love to do the walkie talkie DXing from up there.

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