I recently added a new radio to the collection, a Yaseu FT-817 low power QRP rig. The FT-817 is an all mode transceiver that covers the HF and VHF/UHF bands through 70cm. To date I've been using my IC-735 at ~20W exclusively on 20M using PSK-31. This setup has worked extremely well, however since getting my General license I've been intriqued by the 817, mainly by it size and capability.
Today, I got the opportunity to plug the 817 into my 20M dipole and try out the world of low power. W5NA of Hattiesburg, MS was my first QSO, running around 5W peak, Joe and I had a great QSO with strong signals. Joe gave me a 599 QST and good IMD report. Prior to getting on air (following the directions of K7AGE from his PSK-31 videos @ http://www.youtube.com/user/K7AGE) I adjusted my speaker output from my laptop to maintain my ALC to about 1 bar.
In addition to making a few excellent state side contacts (MS, KS, LA), I also picked up a DX contact. I responded to FG5LA's of Guadeloupe CQ and to my surprise he called back and we QSLd.
W5NA, also provided some excellent links on Intermodulation Distortion, the are as follows:
http://forums.ham-radio.ch/showthread.php?t=12851
http://homepage.mac.com/chen/w7ay/cocoaModem/UsersManual/pskManual/index.html#imd
That's all for now.
73s
--Chris
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