Once, when I was really tired of fighting the Pile-ups I decided to become a 
QRPer and here you can see the first results   ;-)                                

In May 2001 I have bought a QRP kit called   SW40+   produced by
Small Wonder Labs  ; NN1G, now K1SWL.

I built up the kit and completed it with a box . On June 2  2001 I went on the
air and run my first QSO with  PA5XM  !

My SW40 covers a frequency range of about 37 kcs, so I can operate
40 metres from 7000-7035 kcs. I regulated output power down to  2  watts.


 

the electronic board is about
7 x 10 cm and it takes just a
few hours to look like this, it nearly
takes more time to mount the board
in a box, hi. I made my first contacts
as the board was just assembled and
all the wires were still laying on the table.

 

Meantime I made some extensions on it. I changed the VFO poti from normal into a
10 turn poti and this gives a real VFO feeling while tuning through the band.
And included the "Freq-mite" a pic -based frequency counter. So when I press
a button the tuned frequency will be announced in CW.
To build up this small transceiver was real fun and operating it , is more than enjoyable!

And if you hear a barely audible station please try your best to have a
QSO......it might be a QRP station....maybe myself, will be happy
getting  a QSO  with you !

SW40+ fit to a box

DL2HRF´s SW40+
 
Meantime I had many nice ragchew contacts and have worked most places
in Europe.But also some DX came in. 

 

One of the  highlights in my qrping was my first hop over the big water.
Rick ,VE3MFN heard me answering his CQ call with his ICOM 735 and
a 90m Loop up only about 4 mtrs.So thanks to him very much for carefully
listening,good ears,Rick!

And thanks for quick confirmation.

VE3MFN QSL

 

picture of my shack

DL2HRF´s radio table

 

My latest little project was an  ELECRAFT  CW Transceiver   K1.

Building it was so easy and it was running right from the beginning.
Due to the excellent manual, with describing every  detail the project
became really fun.Visit elecraft.com for more details.If you are
looking for a small portable rig, 5W out, narrow CW filter,digital
frequency display,RIT,built in keyer I can highly recommend this
radio....it is the best choice you can do!

My K1 covers 40/30/20/17  and 80/15m module.

Pictures from inside the K1

  80 metres shortened Dipole project (click image)