Building has always been a big part of amateur radio, and especially QRP.
When I say building, though, I’m not necessarily talking about designing a transceiver from scratch or having a workbench full of test equipment.
It might be putting together a kit. It could be building an antenna you’ve been thinking about trying, making a cable, putting together an accessory for the station, modifying something you already own, or repairing something that’s been sitting on the bench.
For some people, it is designing and building a radio from scratch. That’s great too.
It all counts.
I sometimes wonder if we make the word building sound more intimidating than it needs to be, especially to someone who hasn’t done much of it before.
We All Had a First Project
If you’ve never built anything before, don’t look at an elaborate homebrew transceiver and think that’s where you’re supposed to start. The person who built that didn’t start there either.
Your first project might be making a cable. Your next one might be an antenna. Maybe you try a small kit after that. Somewhere along the way, you may find yourself attempting something you wouldn’t have considered building a few years earlier.
And if you’ve never built anything for amateur radio, there’s nothing wrong with starting small.
We all had a first project.
There’s something particularly satisfying about connecting something to your station that you put together yourself and discovering that it actually works.
And sometimes it doesn’t.
That’s part of building too. Figuring out why something didn’t work can teach you just as much as getting it right the first time. Anyone who has spent much time building has probably had that experience more than once.
So, What Should You Build?
I’m deliberately not going to give you a list of kits or manufacturers.
QRP ARCI is an international organization, and there are simply too many good projects, designers, manufacturers and small businesses around the world to make a short list that would be complete or fair.
There are also a lot more possibilities than just building a radio.
There are antenna projects, station accessories, tuners, test equipment and all kinds of smaller projects. There are decades of ideas in QRP Quarterly alone.
The question isn’t necessarily, What’s the best thing to build?
Maybe the better question is:
What would you enjoy building?
Find something that interests you and that seems achievable. If it’s your first project, start with something that gives you a reasonable chance of success. If you’ve been building for years, maybe it’s time to try something that challenges you a little.
The important part is finding something that makes you want to sit down and give it a try.
You Don’t Have to Build Alone
If you get stuck, ask.
Our QRP ARCI Groups.io group is a good place to do that. There are some very experienced builders in that group, along with people interested in just about every other part of QRP. Tell people what you’re working on. Explain where you’re having trouble. Ask the question.
That’s one of the reasons I’m so pleased to see more people joining the group and getting involved. There is an enormous amount of experience in the QRP community, and it doesn’t do much good if we don’t share it.
Another place I regularly look is QRP Corner on the QRZ.com forums. I spend some time there myself. There are discussions about QRP equipment, building, operating, questions people are trying to solve, and plenty of other amateur radio topics throughout the QRZ forums.
And don’t forget QRP Quarterly and the QRP ARCI Four Days in May video archive. Between all of these resources, there’s an awful lot of experience available to someone who wants to learn—or to someone with years of experience who simply wants another idea.
Nobody started out knowing how to do all of this.
Maybe It’s Time to Build Something
If it’s been a while since you built something for your station, take another look around.
And if you’ve never built anything before, maybe start small. Find something that interests you and give it a try.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be expensive. And it certainly doesn’t have to impress anybody else.
Build something because you’re interested in it. Build something because you need it. Or build something simply because you’d like to see if you can.
Build something you’ll enjoy using.
Then maybe you’ll want to build something else.