QRP Newbie -Lots of questions

[W3UC]

Im very new to QRP and have only been tinkering with it a few weeks . Currently I have a ft-817 with a tribander at home and have batteries , backpack , etc . Currently Im mostly SSB and have played with alot of digital . Cw is something ive tinkered with and I need alot more work.
This years trip to Dayton will include the FDIM . A fellow ham who is a qrp talked me into FDIM & giving the QRP thing a go.
-Im all about trying resonant antennas if possible but will consider others . Any suggestions on antenna builds for back packing ?
- Ive noticed alot of patence from dx for my 2.5 to 5 watts ssb on 10-15-20 , Is that the norm ??
- Ive tinkered on a few small kits and any suggestions on kits for qrp would be great . Ive seen a few retired power meter kits , are there any like that still around ??
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Im new to this site and would like to see what advice you folks might have .I have recently posted something similar on QRZ however Id like to get more info and this seems like a good place to start.

[W3UC]

Another question - Im interested in trying portable qrp digital . Any suggestions on tablets and etc that would work for digital portable ? I have a laptop but its a little large for backpacking .

I just realized I might have posted this in the wrong section - sorry guys .

[PG4I]

Hi Jamie,

welcome, glad you made it here. Most of the kits I tried so far are CW based. I have build the rockmite by QRPme, a tiny transceiver with 1 Watt output on 40 meters. Most of my portable antennas are "tree-based", I try to sling a line over a tall tree and pull up a dipole or a longwire.

Most of the SOTA stations which I meet on the air seem to use either a KX3 by elecraft or a yaesu FT-817 with a battery pack...

For a simple power meter take a 50 Ohm low inductance 10 Watt resistor and rectify you signal to DC level. Then add a meter with a suitable potentiometer and trim it so the power output matches your scale. It's that simple.