AmateurRadio.com

Today a company called GreenKits announced a line of QRP rig kits that are designed to fit the nature of QRP kit building while being environmentally friendly.

Dick Rich, founder of GreenKits said "We discovered that most QRP kit builders build kits not because they want or need another QRP rig.  Far from it.  In our initial market feasibility study we found several hams that had 20 or more monoband rock-bound 40 meter QRP rigs, but were eager to build more 40 meter rigs.  The primary motivators for buying and building QRP rigs was to be part of a fad and impress other QRP rig builders.  Most hams only have one or two or even no QSOs on newly built rigs before they are tossed into a desk drawer."

Rich has designed a rig that lasts just long enough after powered up to make a few contacts and then the rig nonviolently self-destructs into a pile of harmless biodegradable ash, with a slight emission of hydrogen.  The ash can be dumped into a garden or houseplant pot and the QRPer doesn't have to worry about storing or hiding the unused rig so his wife doesn't ask why he spent money on a rig he'll never use regularly.

GreekKits has created email reflectors for support of the rigs and also to give builders a place to brag about the contacts they made, or even didn't make.  Each kit comes with a one time usable password that gives the builder ten days of access to the reflector.  Once the password expires, the builder is banished from the reflector forever.  Rich says this prevents flame wars about what serial number kits are better than others.  GreenKits has an online virtual shrine where customers can worship company founders and kit designers.  Virtual flowers can be purchased and placed at the feet of an online statue of founder Rich.  Rich says, "We didn't think of the shrine, one of our customers did.  We weren't really excited about the idea but several customers really bugged us to do it, so we did."

Rich noted that business is doing well, despite the recession.  "We've even released a transceiver called the ESP that doesn't actually transmit any RF.  It's selling like hotcakes.  Surprisingly, we have customers who have announced on the rig reflector that they have made contacts.  One guy has even achieved Worked All States with it and one ham worked Russia with the rig using a three foot loaded whip antenna in a basement apartment.  I think this speaks volumes about the quality and performance of our kits."