On Mon, 2011-08-01 at 09:50 -0400, stan levandowski wrote: > Sam, I clearly see your point.
>snip< Oh, all right, another testimonial, sort of. I run 5w through an attic (two-story house) dipole cut for 20m and fed with ladder line, at least to the attic floor. Then it goes to coax -- the cheap, lossy RG58 kind, which doesn't require as large a hole in my ceiling! ;-) No DXCC yet, but I've got about 40 countries with this set-up, and I'm South Dakota-shy of a WAS (domestic DX?). I do a mix of rag-chewing, light contesting, and light paper-chasing. I never believe a 599 report, or even a 559 report, from a DX station, only because I suspect those are the two reports programmed into their memory keyers for contest ops -- one for "you're readable," the other for "I can barely hear you." I'm only now discovering the reverse-beacon sites, which may provide a better sense of what my signal is like when it lands somewhere. The only reports above 559 I believe are those where the other station comes back with something like: Only 5 watts? You're kidding! QRP is not everyone's cup of tea, any more than fly fishing is. But taken in whatever amounts you find tolerable, it can add a sense of challenge to one's operations. As for effective-radiated power, no question that plays a key role in how hard the other station has to work to pull out a QRP signal -- as, one might add, does the amount of incoming signal at whatever ERP the recipient's antenna and feedline will deliver to that ham's xcvr. But even my modest antenna -- with a radiation pattern that must look like a Gordian knot and with an ERP that is probably laughable -- can yield a significant number of enjoyable contacts. I do keep a 45-watt amp on hand for emergency communications or when I serve as a special-event station for club activities. Since most of the members during these SEs are QRO, I want to give them something closer to a signal they are used to pulling in. Power output may seem anachronistic as a gauge of what a station is capable of delivering, but that is just as true for running 1.5kw through a four element beam up 100 feet as it is for 5 watts through the same antenna. Since antennas vary so widely, based on an op's QTH and pocketbook, power out seems to this non-specialist as about the only consistent baseline one can use, however imperfect. But I can be educated otherwise! ;-) As the Genie shouted in "Aladdin": "He *can* be taught!" And then there's OM Propagation and path losses each end of the QSO experiences! But that's another story... With best regards, Pete -- Peter N. Spotts -- W1PNS http://www.w1pns.net Email: w1...@arrl.net | Skype: pspotts QCWA #34679 | SKCC #4853T | QRP-ARCI #4174 NEQRP #714 | NAQCC #2446 | GQRP #13202 "Amateur radio is a contact sport. Get on the air and make a contact!" -- Lyle Amundson, K0LFV ______________________________________________________________ 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
