Brian, You are right! Now people will say, "look I worked this dx with 25 watts, so that is all you need". That translates to "you should only work the parts of the world to which the band is really, really open. Let the band tell you whom you should work". That is a mindset that can be fine for someone with a lot of empty space in their dxcc list, but amateur radio in general does not expect you to have a particular mindset like that. It may fit well for many newer hams that are also oriented toward digital modes because they are young and prefer relatively modern technologies. If they are expecting in the long run to just pick off a few more countries when conditions dictate, and eventually catch up with those who use the power needed to get the desired communication now, they might face negative surprises though. A few years ago QEX had a very technical article that examined various digital modes in the presence of simulated noise and propagation distortions. A simplified summary: Some kinds of signal distortions that are common with polar propagation are extremely detrimental to psk-31. Although psk is reputed to require much less power than other modes such as RTTY, under those polar propagation conditions RTTY proved vastly more successful for the same power level. It seems to me that RTTY is now much more popular than it was years ago. Could it be that people have found out that the fabulous psk dx results often cited (and which I too have experienced) do not reflect a general ability to work all dx locations? Let me add a subjective observation (opportunity for debate!): After having had only a few home qth's, it seems to me that a given qth (large area, not street address) favors propagation to certain other areas. Being near the west coast, I am not at all surprised at seeing good propagation to JA and NZ, with bounces on salt water. A little more surprising is the fact that propagation to Washington State seems to be favored from my Phoenix area. (I am using a beam, so fixed antenna lobes is not the answer.) Anyway, my point is this: If everyone has favored propagation paths, for one reason or another, one can either focus on the easy directions, or use more power. Surely that applies to psk like any other mode.
73, Erik K7TV -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of briana Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 4:46 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] question for psk users Guys, This rational is bogus. The PSK users have to get used to decoding one signal at a time with narrow filters if that's what is necessary. To expect to have 2 or 3 KHz free of strong signals is crazy. Dealing with this reality puts the burden on the receiving end. No way can you control what the rest of the wold does. This isn't the Magic Kingdom. Given that PSK is a narrow bandwidth mode, why not use that to your advantage? Other modes deal with strong adjacent signals, why not PSK? You bought a K3 for its high dynamic range and high adjacent signal handling capability. Why not use it for this purpose? Of course the argument ignores all the laws of physics and propagation. I suggest you run some VOACAP prediction calculations with 25 watts and look at what you can't work with 25-75 watts. You may not be interested in working the other side of the world, but others are. PSK isn't magic. 73 de Brian/K3KO ______________________________________________________________ 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
