On 12 January 2012 23:59, Wayne Burdick <n...@elecraft.com> wrote: > Mike Morrow wrote: > > > There is no practical value to ten watts of output, compared to five. > > Why turn battery energy into heat in the voltage converter? > > When a band is *open*, 5 watts can usually do the job, IMHO. But a lot > of operation takes place right at the noise floor, and the extra 3 dB > can really help at such times. > > Exactly what I was going to say - when conditions are sub-optimal you want to squeeze out every single decibel you can, whether from repositioning the antenna, using more compression (for SSB), or cranking up the power. When I was operating in Denmark with my FT-817 last week there were quite a few stations that could barely copy me and sent "QRZ?" and "AGN?", I'm sure if I'd had another 3dB I could have worked some of them. Also the remote operator may have local QRM or urban noise and a less sensitive receiver, which again makes QRP ops harder even if the band is open.
73, Thomas ______________________________________________________________ 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
