QRO Club - Free DXpedition Travel Amps
/A newly formed club, the 'QRO CLUB', supported by Nathan Cohen, W1YW and the Fractal Amateur Radio Club (W1FRX), one objective - to keep DX on the bands active.
The group feel that Dxpeditions have split into two camp, between large “big deal” operations and extended weekend, low power / QRP operations.
“Low power/QRP is an exciting challenge. But if you are going anyplace that’s even remotely rare, you have to be loud. Many DX’ers would like to encourage the third camp (which used to be common)—low cost, high power operations, with a minimum of gear but plenty of signal ”
Whilst Cohen admits that ”Everyone is grateful for the ‘big deal’ DXpeditions, which cost ½ million dollars and take years of preparation ... there are plenty of juicy DX locations that you can reach hopping on a jet, with a full station in a single bag, including amp. Modern rigs are great for travel, but designs have been pulling back power in the last 20 years. Clubs used to help by providing amps but as DX clubs consolidated, they’ve concentrated on providing money to the bigger DXpeditions. It’s time to bring back the suitcase KW station for smaller DXpeditions.
Over the two years, W1YW has quietly gathered almost two dozen amplifiers, organizing the QRO CLUB loaners. “Some of these have been/will be sold to facilitate repair costs , others will be on-loan to actual DX, still others will be travel amps. The QRO CLUB’s initial offering is Dentron MLA-2500’s as free travel amps.”
“The MLA-2500 is a great travel amp, and can be used with a 1KW inverter off 12V if needed. Two of these will be immediately available as DXpedition loaners to modest US- initiated DXpeditions. Traveler insurance must be purchased to cover baggage loss/destruction, otherwise the amps will be free for use. The amps will be returned to the QRO CLUB and sent to the next DXpedition. If they break during use, the Dxpeditions won’t be responsible; Murphy happens. With the withering sunspots, we just want to encourage more activity on the bands, and lots of great DX.”
Preference will be given to US-initiated small DXpeditions to rare and semi-rare DX countries, with previous DXpeditioner success.
Contact W1YW for details at W1YW@aol.com.
