Last year, at the Tokyo Ham Fair, Yaesu unveiled the long-awaited FTX-1F portable HF transceiver. After years of speculation, we finally have a successor to Yaesu’s venerable FT-817/818 product line on the horizon—a radio series with an impressive run of over two decades.

I’ve enjoyed reading the flurry of comments that continue today from readers following the FTX-1F announcement many months ago. The reactions are all over the map, but overall, it seems the FTX-1F checks a lot of boxes for amateur radio field operators.

This got me thinking…

From Sparse to Abundant

When I was first licensed in 1997, options for compact, portable QRP transceivers were few and far between. Sure, there were some kit radios and a handful of basic analog options, but almost no general-coverage QRP field radios. The only one that came close (besides the Argonaut II, which wasn’t exactly backpack-friendly) was the Index Labs QRP Plus.

Don’t get me wrong—there were some classic QRP radios out there, but they weren’t exactly compact. Tossing one into a daypack for an afternoon hike? Not likely.

Fast forward to today, and it’s a completely different story. The market is overflowing with QRP radios, offering something for every type of operator.

A radio for every preference and budget

Sub-$400 radios? You’ve got options like the QRP Labs QMX, CFT1, (tr)uSDX, Xiegu G-106, and Venus SW-3B/6B.
Affordable kits? Check out the QRP Labs QCX/QMX series, the CFT1, and (until recently) the Penntek transceivers.
Ultra-compact CW transceivers? Look no further than the Elecraft KH1, Mountain Topper MTR series, and QRP Labs radios.
Shack-in-a-box radios with built-in ATUs, mics, and batteries? Consider the Elecraft KX2, Xiegu X5105, X6100, and X6200.
High-performance QRP rigs? There’s the Elecraft KX3 and Icom IC-705.
Spectrum displays and built-in sound cards? The Icom IC-705, Xiegu X6100/X6200, and likely the upcoming Yaesu FTX-1F (fingers crossed) have you covered.

And that’s just scratching the surface. The past decade has brought an explosion of innovation in the field-portable space, making it hard to keep up.

I couldn’t have imagined a radio like the KX2 back in 1997! Nineteen years later, it was a reality.

Even better, prices have become more competitive. Adjusted for inflation, we’re getting more radio for our money than ever before. Sure, some options are pricey, but compared to 1997, we’re living in a golden age of QRP.

A personal perspective on radio prices

Case in point: my first HF transceiver was a used Icom IC-735, which I bought for around $700.

At the time, that felt like a solid deal for a full-featured HF radio that originally retailed for $1,150. Adjusted for inflation, that $700 would be about $1,371.83 today.

For perspective, one of the priciest QRP radios on the market right now is the Icom IC-705, which retails for $1,349.95 at time of posting. That’s $21.88 less than I paid for my used IC-735 inflation-adjusted.

On the flip side, if you adjust the cost of a brand-new, assembled QRP Labs QMX (roughly $200) to 1997 dollars, it would have been about $102.

Better still, if you’re willing to build the QMX from a kit, you can snag it today for roughly $102 in 2025 money.

Had the QMX existed in 1997? The kit price would have been $52.19 inflation-adjusted!

Sure, inflation-adjusting isn’t a perfect science—it doesn’t account for many other economic factors like manufacturing advances, material costs, or exchange rates—but it’s still a fascinating metric to use for perspective.

Talk about a bargain!

It’s a brilliant time to be a QRPer!

Working DX with a handheld radio and a 4-foot whip antenna? We live in amazing times, indeed!

So, while it might sometimes feel like “the perfect radio” doesn’t exist or that prices are sky-high, I believe we’re actually living in the best time to be QRP operators. The options are plentiful, the innovations are remarkable, and the value for money has never been better.

What do you think?

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

–– Teddy Roosevelt

Perhaps I’m thinking about these words because they sort of fly in the face of all of the consumerism that often surrounds the holiday season…?

Well, I’m not sure of the reason. What I do know is, I feel like this quote speaks to me as a QRPer. Part of the appeal of low-power operations is making do with less. With just a faint breath of power, I can reach across the globe to connect with others, and have just as much fun doing it as the guy with the tall backyard tower. Yes, I have to admit, there’s a certain satisfaction in that.

You might not know this, reading QRPer.com, where we often talk gear, discussing its various shortcomings and merits, but I’m actually a fan of simplicity. Outside of the world of radios and packs––and even in it, to a degree!––I try not to own too many things.

In my little QRP world I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to beta test, review, and evaluate a wide variety of radios and gear. Since I do purchase almost all of my review radios––except for the few that are loaned to me––I’ve accumulated a lot of them over time. I know I can sell the ones I don’t often use, and I frequently do, but it’s fun to take them out for a spin now and again; you may notice that I rotate them out regularly.

Yet because of this, I do worry that people read my posts (and those of others in the ham community) and reflect with despair along these lines: “I can’t activate in the field…I need a lot of new expensive gear to do that!”

But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

For four years, when I lived in Germany and the UK, I only owned one radio–a Yaesu FT-817. And, know what? I had so much fun with that single radio and a limited number of home-brew antennas.

To which I might add, this past year, some of my most memorable activations have been with radios I purchased for under $200:

I could easily activate all of the parks and summits I wish, only using one of these little radios, coupled with a key, a home-brew wire antenna, and a battery. That’s it~!

So, you really don’t need a lot of gear to enjoy field radio. This is true especially if you’re a CW operator. But even just starting out, you really can have fun with a simple field kit.

Even if you’re new to ham radio, don’t wait to hit the field until you’ve assembled the “perfect” or the largest, finest field radio kit. Instead, take Teddy Roosevelt’s advice, and just do what you can with what you have…right where you are.