The term QRP describes an area of HAM radio that involves seeing how far you can communicate on how little transmitted power. In this day of "bigger is better," this is a throw back to "making due." Several thousand miles of distance can be covered with a 9 volt battery. As such, this is one of the neat areas that being a HAM radio operator opens up.

HAM radio operators are among the only members of society that can design, build, test, and use their own radio equipment. This fact has spurred on the development of many innovative radio designs, some of which can reside in a case no bigger than a pack of cigarettes!

QRPing, or transmitting using very little power, has become one of the very last bastions where individuals can create something totally their own, unique in the world, and then use that device to communicate with others hundreds and thousands of miles away. Image if you will the interest you can generate in any public setting by pulling a radio out of your shirt pocket and talking to a friend some 400 to 700 miles away!