The DX'er came up the hill with a brochure in his hand. The QRP'ers gathered around to see what new toy the DX'er was about to describe. "I just got a new car" he said, "And, I probably get twice the mileage of my old car". The QRP'ers nodded their approval as he expounded, at length, on the features of his new vehicle and when he finished he concluded, "You QRP'ers should do your part to conserve, we can't be wasteful, it's important that we are efficient with our resources". The QRP'ers were taken aback by this comment as conservation hadn't been a concern of DX'er before.
The QRP'ers looked at each other to silently elect the leader of this counter attack. One of them pulled out a Cerficate that they had been discussing prior the DX'er's arrival on the scene. "We do our part, in fact ,look at this". The DX'er looked at the piece of paper and dismissively said, " Oh, another one of those silly QRP awards, what is so special about 1,000 miles per watt?". The QRP'ers had sly smiles on the their faces as they knew he had taken the bait. "You guys should get real radios so you can be heard, I was talking to my buddy this morning, he said I was 20 over 9". "That's interesting" said the QRP'er, "how far does your friend live from here?" This a question that QRP'ers have to ask because it's in their DNA. "I don't know maybe 1,500 miles, why do you ask?" said the DX'er. "Did you work him barefoot?' asked the QRP'er putting a little honey on the bait. " Absoulutely not" said the DX'er, " I run the full legal limit". The trap had been set and the DX'er had yet to recognize it, although he sensed that danger was just ahead. "So let me calculate that..hmmm..1 mile per watt" said one of the QRP'ers acting like he really had to think hard on the calculation. The DX'er shuffled his feet, now understanding the danger was closer than he thought. There was moment of silence as the QRP'ers moved into position. "So your new car gets twice the mileage of your old car?" "Yes" said the DX'er delighted at the change of topic. "Well it looks like you don't do so well with your watts out from your station" The DXer now realized his doom,"as we QRP'ers easily get 1,000 times the mileage with our watts as you do. You should really do more to conserve with your radio as well". The DX'er pondered one of the Mysteries of the Ages, "Less is more and more is less" said the QRP'er, "the less power I use the more miles per watt I get the more power I get the less my miles per watt are".
The DX'er saw no way out," I suppose that's true" he said, but silently he thought, "isn't more, more?". "I have to get back now, I think my wife has some things for me to do" he said, The QRP'ers knew this to be false, but acknowledged his need to escape.
"Enjoy that new car" the QRP'ers shouted as he walked back down the hill in silence and they continued to admire the 1,000 Mile Per Watt certificate.
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