Introduction

Why QRP?

  • 1000km and more with the power of a bicycle light bulb !


Why PSK31?

You often hear that morse (CW - Continuous Wave) is supposedly the only superior mode in terms of readibility of weak signals. Not so! Many digital HF modes operate perfectly under low signal-to-noise reception conditions, thanks to their limited bandwidth. Moreover, you save yourself the hassle of manually decoding a morse signal. (Unless you like to do this, of course.) The only inconvenience with PSK31 is the fact that you need (to carry around) a PC which also happens to consume a lot of power. Queen of the digital HF modes is PSK31 (Phase Shift Keying) with a bandwidth of only 31Hz. In addition to a modest HF station, an old PC with a soundcard, a connection box and the highly recommandable free DigiPan software, is all you need to get on air. You can learn more about this fascinating digital mode from the official PSK31 homepage or by reading the July 1999 QEX article by inventor Peter Martínez, G3PLX. Nearly all PSK31 activity will be found around these PSK31 frequencies.