I'm fairly positive that everyone has their own story. For perhaps 9-12 months prior to purchasing the KPA500, I ran my 1,200W amp at 500W to see if this was going to be a good deal. I decided it was, got the KPA and sold the amp. I'm not sorry.
I'm probably somewhat more casual in contests and chasing DX than Brian is, but I seem to do OK. I've put a little $$ into antennas, which I'm pretty sure has made a much bigger difference than the 700W difference in power, a friend got my TB working again for me which has made a BIG difference, and I managed over 700 QSO's in the RTTY RU, some of which were in fairly good sized piles. YMMV, that's mine. Now ... the P3 has been entirely different. I bought it as a toy, my wife had been spending some on her hobby, we have an "Equal Hobby Allowance" policy, so why not? "Seeing the band" has made a huge difference for me. I'd have never made 700 QSO's on RTTY were it not for the P3. Working DX has become almost automated ... see the pile, put VFO B in the middle, wait 'til DX answers someone, one signal shows up, put VFO B on him, wait for TU, call. OK, sometimes it's 2 or 3 signals, but it works almost every time. I was able to get rid of a big amplifier that I needed one of my 20-something grandsons to move for me, the footprint of my station on the desk is markedly reduced and easier to use, and I love 500W no-tune full QSK. I'll probably spring for the KAT500, my antennas do change, it's the last thing I really have to experiment with. Besides, Andrea keeps buying needlepoint stuff :-) 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2012 Cal QSO Party 6-7 Oct 2012 - www.cqp.org On 1/17/2012 3:12 PM, Brian Alsop wrote: > 1) You won't work everything you used to > 2) It takes longer to work them > 3) SSB pileup cracking is more difficult > 4) RTTY pileups are more difficult still. ______________________________________________________________ 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
