There are so many variables contributing to the thrill. The hunter may have gone for the target efficiently because he may have been jazzed about testing a new ammo load he'd developed, and picked the "easy" target to try it on first. Or he may merely be trying to feed himself and his family, and so didn't want to dither around.
Speaking for myself, I run 100/50/5 watts, depending on what I'm trying to do and what appeals to me at any given moment when I sit at the radio. I'm almost exclusively low power on CW, because it's a very efficient use of power for communications. And it's boatloads of fun (to me). But I'll goose the power up on SSB. I like rag chewing, and at least on sideband, the extra power can mean the difference between keeping a chat going a bit longer or losing it to QSB. There, the thrill is in meeting someone new, chatting with them, and learning about who they are and why they are smiling. So "unromantic" may well depend on the "romance" that lights any given ham's fire in the first place. Homebrewing either QRO or QRP gear and making contacts with it? Handling traffic in an emergency, where the extra power can sometimes help? Running barefoot QRO and still be chosen as the next station on that rare DX station's list, despite the folks blasting away with kilowatt amps? Or running QRP exclusively, as I did for several years, with a HW-8 I built? The nice thing about ham radio: It's a mighty big tent. It's all good stuff. With best regards, Pete On Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:34:49 -0500 "Stephen W. Kercel" <kerc...@suscom-maine.net> wrote: > DW and all: > > A slightly different hunting analogy might be more illuminating. Here > in Maine, bear hunting is very popular. There are two ways to go > about it. If you're a local, you learn the bears habits and habitats, > and you go out and stalk the bear, and if you are very much smarter > than the bear (most people are not) you eventually get a clear shot, > and BANG! you become the proud owner of a bearskin rug. This is > rather difficult to do, and a great sense of accomplishment, prestige > and bragging rights that attach to being a genuinely skilled hunter. > If you're a city slicker from New York you go about it the other way, > hiring a local guide who puts out a big bucket of stale donuts (I'm > not kidding, they really do it) in a known bear hangout; then you > wait for the bear to come and BANG! that's his last donut. The guide > makes a lot of money, the city slicker basks in the illusion that > he's "hunted" a bear, and the locals think the city slicker is more > to be pitied than despised. > > In an age of the Internet, cheap worldwide telephone coverage, et > cetera, talking to a person on the other side of the world is no big > deal. The reason we take up ham radio is for the thrill of the hunt, > and the sense of accomplishment that comes from honing a genuine > skill. > > To those who would say that life is too short for QRP, I would answer > that in my experience, life is too boring with QRO. > > In a typical DX contest, using QRP and a wire antenna, if propagation > is minimally decent, I might make 500-600 contacts competing against > stations 2-3 S-units stronger than me. This includes breaking pileups > for rare multipliers. This suggests to me that the number of contacts > unattainable with QRO is very few. The tradeoff is time. In a > contest, using 100 Watts and a dipole, I can crack a multiplier > pileup on maybe the 4th or 5th call. Using 5 Watts and a dipole, it > takes dozens of calls to crack a multiplier pileup. > > I do crank my K2 all the way up to 100 Watts when the propagation > simply will not support a QRP signal. This is a damnably common > problem in the current sunspot climate. > > 73, > > Steve Kercel > AA4AK > > > dw wrote: > > A few years back in our little farming community, there was a fellow > > whose name was Francis. > > Francis was an avid hunter. > > At this time, the rumor went around the community that > > Francis had been fined for deer jacking. > > Out of his truck one night, with a spot light, he took a shot at a > > plastic deer planted by game wardens. > > Soon it became a joke…….Sir Francis the deer slayer. > > > > Something within me seemed to understand Francis’ point of view. > > He was a pragmatist….. He had little interest in the thrill of the > > hunt. He was focused on the efficiency of the catch. > > > > Although QRO is far from illegal, it does seem to be somewhat more > > focused on the efficiency of the catch than the thrill of the hunt. > > So there is a certain un-romantic reality to QRO vs. QRP. > > > > I'm wondering, what percentage of contacts you've made QRO, that you > > would estimate as not attainable QRP. > > > > I hope I didn't break the list rules getting off-topic with the > > story :~/ > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- Peter N. Spotts -- KC1JB http://www.kc1jb.net (under construction) Email: kc...@arrl.net QRP-ARCI # 4174 | North American QRP CW Club # 2446 Flying Pigs QRP # 1983 | SKCC # 4853 | QCWA #34679 W5JH Black Widow paddle #601 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
