My first solid state QRP rig was the Ten-Tec Argonaut.  In October of 1993 I traded it in for a Ten-Tec OMNI 6.  We planned a trip to Switzerland in 1999 to visit my daughter and her family.  So I built a Ten-Tec 1320 QRP 20 Meter transceiver and used it as HB9/K4UK from May 3 to May 15 and running 3 Watts I worked stations in 39 different countries .

I went to the Dayton HamVention in 2001.  It was my first time and while there I decided to purchase an Elecraft K2 kit.  I finally completed building it on October 8, 2001.  My biggest thrill was on October 17, 2001 when I was  running QRP - 5 Watts, VK3DBD answered my "CQ" on 20 Meters.  Since it's 9890 miles from Moneta, VA  to Yackandandah, Australia the contact qualified for the "1000 miles per Watt" certificate.

I have had a ball running QRP with my K2.  In the 2002 CW Sweepstakes I operated QRP and got a "Clean Sweep" - working all 80 sections with 5 Watts.  There are quite a bunch of folks running QRP and the many Sprints and QSO Parties always amaze me with the number of contacts one can make with low power.

In 2005 I talked our club into running two K2's QRP - 5 Watts during the Field Day.  We had a total of 679 contacts using all bands, 80 through 10 Meters.  One K2 was powered by a rechargeable battery for the entire weekend.  In 2006 we ran QRP 5A-Battery and had 761 contacts.  And in 2007 we ran QRP 4A-Battery and had 643 contacts.

Last summer I bought an Elecraft KX1 and have had a ball running it on 80, 40, 30 and 20 Meters.  It has a built in antenna tuner which lets me use any wire I throw up in a tree.

In September 2003, I built a couple 40 Meter Rock Mite kits for operating QRPp,  less than one watt.  The Rock Mite output is about 400 mW.  It has two operating frequencies 7.0400 and 7.0393 MHz and has a built in keyer.

I sent one over to Chuck, M0AVW in England and after he got it on the right 7.030 MHz frequency he has had a ball with it.  So, I built a couple 20 Meter Rock Mites.  And to date using the Rock Mites, I have had 104 contacts in 34 states and two provinces.  I finally did get across the "Big Pond" with my 20 Meter RM having QSO's with Alf, G3UAA and Henry, EA3BTZ.  Henry was running a friend's K2 at 5 Watts.

I've had 8 Two-Way Rock Mite QSO's.  I sent one of the 20 Meter rigs to Chuck.  He and I are still looking forward to a Trans-Atlantic Rock Mite to Rock Mite QSO.  Here's what the rig looks like:

My Rock Mite is housed in Niemeyer "Heather Honey" Old Scottish Recipe Deluxe Pipe Tobacco containers made in England.