Interesting QSO today with a fellow running 2 1/2 watts AM! A most intriguing juxtaposition, 1940s era Collins 30K running 250 watts to a 2010 Small Wonder Labs Retro 75 running 2.5 watts, believe it was even the maiden voyage of his Retro transceiver. The Small Wonder Labs rig can be found here –>> smallwonderlabs.com/Retro-75.htm
I called CQ about 1800 UTC on 3880 Kc was delighted to get a call back from Jerry AA1OF using the Retro 75 rig. Audio was a tad distorted until he switched over to another mic, but once that was done he sounded great from the speaker of the 75A1, every bit as copiable as the other stations running mid to high power. It is quite amazing little power you really do need when conditions are right…and they are usually right most early to mid afternoons. And I believe his antenna was partially made from speaker wire?
Remained very easy copy for an hour before I had to sign. Enjoyed a very good roundtable of other fellows, some who could and could not hear him, KC2JXX, W1VTP, W1FRM, KC2TAU. That’s four states – ME, NH, NY, MA, even voice from Vermont BHV called in.
Early afternoons, the band is usually very quiet and few stations are on, but it is generally open through the northeast, so don’t hesitate to call even if things sound dead, you just never know who is listening!
