Eric has closed this thread but I think this needs to be responded to:
> So what does that
> mean? It seems to suggest that the dirtier your signal is the
better you will do!!!
I don't think you understand what the WRTC is. Do some research and
you will find that the kind of dirty TX you are talking about would
not be tolerated in this event.
In a general contest this may be a valid point. Yaesu was known for
years for having loud key clicks on the FT-1000. And they did win a
lot of contests. But that is not applicable to the WRTC, which is a
tightly regulated and monitored event.
73 de dave
ab9ca/4
On 3/2/16 10:43 PM, w7aqk wrote:
I'm trying to "get my arms around" the following statement by Joe, W4TV:
"The observation I would make on this is that the poor performing Icoms
were good enough to capture all 3 of the top positions in the recent
WRTC. IIRC there was one Elecraft and 5 Icoms used by the top 3 teams."
Joe seems to concede that the Icoms are "poor performing", but that
somehow they took the top 3 positions in the WRTC. So what does that
mean? It seems to suggest that the dirtier your signal is the better
you will do!!! I would agree that a dirty signal does tend to get your
attention!!! At the same time, the fact that there was only one
Elecraft radio in use certainly assured the fact that Icoms would
finish high. I can also see why the Elecraft may not have finished
in the top 3, since it really is not designed, with all the glitz and
500 knobs, to be a contest radio. Rather, it is designed to be a
modest sized, but highly competent radio! That may not dovetail with
what contesters are looking for. However, when it comes to "nailing
down" a difficult contact, one at a time, I'll put the K3 up against
just about any radio.
The obsession with contests is a concern to me. During those events I
constantly hear signals that are obviously the result of over driving,
etc. Some folks seem to be willing to sacrifice anything in order to
just be "heard" better than the next guy. They will absolutely
squeeze the very last watt possible out of their equipment even though
they know (and have been warned) that running equipment that close to
maximum increases the probability that signal quality will
deteriorate, and very probably outside required specifications. It
just seems to me that this is a subversive way of cheating!
Admittedly, not all of this is the fault of the operator. Equipment
manufacturers have increasingly ignored the importance of signal
purity. Still, if you take a piece of equipment that is known to be
deficient, and then run it at levels that accentuate the problem, I
think you lose your innocence.
Even the K3 had a potential problem. At one time you could run a
stock K3 at more than 100 watts, thus increasing significantly the
odds of transmitting a dirty signal. Elecraft dialed that capability
back through firmware. I may be kidding myself, but my rule of thumb
is to never run anything at more than 90% of it's rated capability.
Maybe that's not dialing back enough, but it is bound to be better
than what I could be doing.
Dave W7AQK
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