Hi John, I agree with some of what you said. There are times, especially on the lower bands, even with an antenna with gain that signals are very weak whether on CW or SSB. Sometimes 100W just doesn't make it happen. Having the capability to go to 1500W in these situations may make the difference between working a "new one" and not working the "new one". Many times we are at the mercy of the DX that we want to work. So having the ability of using higher power that we are allowed to use may make all the difference in the world.
Usually in the winter my amp is ON even though I normally don't use it for casual operating. The darn 3 minute warm up has caused me to miss a new one such as Zone 19 on Topband a few years back when I heard him and could not work him on 160M with 100W. By the time the amp cycled ON he faded away. The amp is in the basement so no added heat or noise in the shack and most of the power while idling is for the filaments in the two tubes. This is one reason I would like to have a 1500W 160-6M solid-state amp in the basement. I could leave it off till I really needed it. By the way, there is nothing magic that you need a 6db difference to make the difference between making or not making a contact. When the DX is at the noise level much less than 6db gain could make all the difference. 73, N2TK, Tony -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Ragle Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 11:21 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 - just 500 watts? 1 S-unit is about 6 dB. To get an S-unit improvement over 500 watts (output) would require about 2 kW of output power. In comparison, even the simplest directional antenna is capable of producing at least 6 dB "gain." It seems to me that the QRO philosophy of "Stomp 'em into the Dust" is a poor substitute for operating skill. Moreover, it is probably even illegal in the sense that it constitutes deliberate interference with another's signals and a disdain for the rule that says that only enough power is to be used to maintain effective communication. There is a connection between this attitude and the impulse to communicate by voice methods, even to the resurgence of interest in broadcast quality AM transmission. These are all wasteful of spectrum space and energy resources. Digital modes are surely capable of more effective DX'ing with much lower power levels, and attention to antenna design and operating conditions would seem to be much more thoughtful and professional than the CB-like attitude which is now found on the phone bands. BPSKnn is suitable for chatting, and if your bag is "hello-goodbye," take a look at JT65-HF and what is possible with only a few watts of TX power. John Ragle -- W1ZI -- with almost 65 years of licensed experience in amateur radio... ===== On 1/25/2011 9:35 AM, Lee Buller wrote: > Got my flame suit on.... ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
