Tom, I don't think you will be thrown off the list - this is not a QRP reflector, and with questions about the (hopefully forthcoming soon) KPA800 and KPA1500, it is definitely not all QRP oriented - there are folks of both the QRP and QRO persuasions using Elecraft gear.
Your thoughts are consistent with a talk given by Mike Boatright KO4WX at FDIM last year. Here he was talking to a bunch of QRP enthusiasts about Emergency Communications - he made a valid point that you must use enough power to create a signal above the noise level at the receiving end - whether that be 1 watt, 5 watts, 100 watts or 1500 watts. If your signal is down 'in the mud' at the receiving end, and you must make communication, there is no choice but to increase power - of course a directional antenna could increase power at the receiver end if it is pointed in that direction, but a beam on 80 meters or 160 meters is not a common thing. Even though we have a 5 watt limit to the QRP category for contests and such, the minimum power necessary for reliable communications may exceed that limit by a large margin. 73, Don W3FPR > -----Original Message----- > > I'll probably get thrown off of the Elecraft list for what I am > about to say...8-) > > Don't get me wrong...I love QRP....most of my contest > participation is at 5W. I can work the world with 5W. And on > 10M during a solar peak I can break pileups with 5W. > > But my experience is that 100W with a dipole on 160M *IS* > QRP...that the chances of grabbing a VU7 in a 40M pileup from the > U.S. running 5W are pretty low and anyone looking to run > emergency traffic with 5W only has to try checking into the > Elecraft CW net to have a sense of what to expect when your > antennas are down and the water is flowing past your bedroom > window. Turn it up to 400W and maybe get heard...and fry some > fish as they float by! > > QRP...the real skills are at the other end. <boy...am I asking > for trouble with THAT line!> LOL. > > 73 de K2TA/qrp > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [email protected] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.27/602 - Release Date: > 12/25/2006 10:19 AM > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.27/602 - Release Date: 12/25/2006 10:19 AM _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
