ORIGINAL MESSAGE: At 05:15 AM 6/30/2006, Johnne Ables wrote:
>As I mentioned in a previous post (For which I was adequately >chastised off-group) I am interested in utilizing the new digital >modes. I am interested in a new TenTec rig. Is the 20 watt Argonaut >516 adequate or would the Jupiter be a better choice? The Orion is >not in my 'blue-collar budget'. ------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------ It really depends on what you want to do. 20 watts is adequate for casual ragchewing and you will probably never run out of stations to talk to. If you are happy with that, then that is your answer. On the other hand, you may want to get into serious DXing or contesting, in which case, 20 watts will be a serious handicap. There is a reason so many rigs are built to put out 100 watts - it is a good compromise between cost and performance. With 100 watts you can work the world with relative ease when conditions are reasonably good and your wall will be covered with certificates. On the other, other hand, if you are truly serious someday you will want to go to the maximum legal power and for that you will need a TX with 100 watts out to drive it. Unless you homebrew your own or find a military or commercial amp, there are no amps available which can be driven to 1500 watts output with only 20 watts. No legal ones, anyway. So the answer is to start at the end - what you want to do - and work back from there. Welcome to the digital modes, Johnne. Have lots of fun! 73, Bill W6WRT Need a Digital mode QSO? Connect to Telnet://cluster.dynalias.org Other areas of interest: The MixW Reflector : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup/ DigiPol: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipol (band plan policy discussion) Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
