I have a bitx radio I put together but have yet to make contact. Its about 7 watts and all I can seem to pick up are people on skip who are running several hundred watts on the east coast as far as new england down to southern florida. I heard this radio can go 300 kilometers(or miles?) I think. I'm available almost 24/7 and just looking for my first contact. I dont have an SWR meter so Its hard to tell, my antenna is a 68' long wire from a 2nd story window to a tree at about 80' NE with a ground and an 9 or 11:1 unun.