Which brings us full circle as to what is it you are trying to accomplish? The ham with a KX3 and a chuck of wire will do (OK) on a hill top or by the ocean-side. This works very well for the week end warriors etc. Add a solar panel and the duration goes way up. Add a resonant antenna not needing a ground and you gain again. Add a small amp and suitable battery with upgraded solar panel and you go up again. Add an RV with internal batteries, and the night goes on. Anyone keeping score??
Pick you battle and you will always be ahead. If you try to win the war with entry level, you lose. I personally pick my battles carefully and watch my allotted budget, I win. Mel, K6KBE ________________________________ From: Ariel Jacala <n...@hotmail.com> To: elecraft reflector <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Cc: "elecraft@mailman.qth.net" <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2013 3:43 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 Amp Jim is right in one sense that the 100w amp will consume battery life quickly. However, if what you want is the ability to get a signal out at marginal propagation conditions, then a 50 watt amp if used frugally can get a stronger signal out. Several amps fall into this category with about a 9 dB gain in signal strength from 5 watts - and pulling about 7-10 amps of drain on the battery on TX - Tokyo HiPower HL45B, HFPacker, and Hardrock50. The latter 2 you have to build yourself. The Hardrock is only available used if someone is willing to part with theirs. Only about 100 of the Hardrocks have been built. Sales are on hold pending FCC certification. The Elecraft amp can also be tuned down for less power out and can be tuned to 100w if needed. You do have to carry enough battery to sustain the anticipated TX time. You will be surprised at how effective 5 or 10 watts can be and effort is probably better directed at effective antenna systems. 100w into a dummy load th at radiates (my way of describing a poor antenna) is a poor substitute for 10 watts into a resonant wire. Up high and in the clear is always better. I have always had better luck with wire in the clear than verticals on a picnic table in terms of reach. Ariel NY4G Sent from my iPad On Jun 30, 2013, at 4:18 PM, "Jim Brown" <j...@audiosystemsgroup.com> wrote: > On 6/30/2013 4:42 AM, KF5TEU wrote: >> Unfortunately , yes , I do need an amp. . We are going out over 200 mi. from >> the nearest real town and if we need help then I would really love to get >> through vs. be falsely proud of my QST skills that gets me nothing but dead >> air > > It's important to understand that the power to run an amp must come from MUCH > HEAVIER batteries that must be carried along with the radio. Far better to > LEARN how antennas work, learn CW if you don't already know it, and carry the > wire and other light weight antenna accessories required to make reliable > contacts with stuff you CAN carry. > > Putting some numbers to it, a 100W Elecraft rig requires 20A to transmit. A > 7Ah battery will give you 20 minutes of transmitting time at 100W, but it > will give you more than two HOURS at 5W. > > 73, Jim K9YC > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 ______________________________________________________________ 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 ______________________________________________________________ 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
