Virginian is First U.S. Ham to Accomplish 'Tuna Tin II' WAS: from The
ARRL Letter, Vol 23, No 24
Website: http://www.arrl.org/ on June 11, 2004



Virginian is First U.S. Ham to Accomplish 'Tuna Tin II' WAS:
It took him four years, but a ham from Bealeton, Virginia, has become
the first US amateur licensee to work all states using a flea-power
"Tuna Tin II" transmitter. ARRL member Bob Chapman, W9JOP, recently
completed his "QRPp" (less than 1 W output) accomplishment and has
received his ARRL Worked All States Award certificate. "Unfortunately,
ARRL does not issue a certificate for WAS QRPp," he said. "Mine is
endorsed with 'QRP-CW.'"
Chapman, 71, says he actually used two Tuna Tin transmitters to
accomplish the feat. He worked and confirmed the contiguous 48 states
with a classic Tuna Tin, which uses an inverted tuna can as a chassis.
Not only was Chapman running just 250 mW--one-quarter of a watt--he was
crystal controlled on 7043 kHz! Chapman says he snagged the last two
states, Hawaii (KH6U) and Alaska (WL7WH) using a homebrew 20-meter Tuna
Tin, rockbound on 14,060 kHz and also running 250 mW. "No QRO here,"
Chapman says of his setup. "Just a low-power, low-tech station with a
G5RV wire antenna at 50 feet and a 'TiCK' keyer." He uses a vintage
Collins 51S-1 receiver.
A ham for 50 years, Chapman further points out that he accomplished his
QRPp WAS without any schedules but "just by waiting for the states to
pass within my capture area--namely, on my frequency," he said. He also
has a QRP Amateur Radio Club International QRPp Worked All States
certificate. His wife, Joy, is KA9TTB.
In 2001 Steve Chapman, VE7SL, in British Columbia, Canada, became the
world's first amateur to accomplish QRPp WAS using a Tuna Tin II running
about 400 mW.
Source:
The ARRL Letter Vol. 23, No. 24 June 11, 2004