In fact, the whole concept is codified in FCC Part 97
ยง 97.313 Transmitter power standards.
(a) An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary
to carry out the desired communications.
Sometimes that's 500mw, sometimes it's a lot more.
Ultimately, the objective of this hobby is communication. If you can
communicate at only 500 mw, do so; in fact, the law requires it. If you
need 500 watts, you should do so. Not to means you fail at the most
basic objective of the hobby.
90% of the time I'm CW QRP. The rest of the time I have my K2/10 (SN
567) cranked to the 15 watt max.
Eric
KE6US
K1/KX1/K2
On 3/23/2013 8:42 AM, N2TK, Tony wrote:
Dave,
Nice work!
We did this empirically about 30 years ago. Convinced a bunch of us that 1db
is worth fighting for. As you show it is how you compare against someone
else who is also calling at the same time. 2-3 db increase is almost like a
capture effect to our ears as on FM. In addition if you are at the noise
level of the receiving station it may not take much power increase to make
the difference whether or not you are heard.
You don't always need 100W or 1500W, but it is nice to have it there if you
need it.
Which reminds me, I haven't asked Elecraft for quite some time, where is my
160-6M KPA1500? :-)
73,
N2TK, Tony
-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of David Gilbert
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 7:03 PM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: For New Hams, How to Tell What an Amp Will Do
For Your Signal
That's a good resource but it doesn't tell the whole story. An amplifier
will give you around 10 db improvement in signal on the other end. That's
more than the difference between a dipole and a five element monobander. As
little as 3 or 4 db will make a significant difference when competing
against others in a pileup, and of course as little as 2 db can make the
difference between no copy and clear copy if your signal is right at the
noise level.
http://www.ab7e.com/weak_signal/mdd.html
Hams have turned their noses up at amplifiers for decades, but the reality
is that an amplifier and a decent vertical is often a more cost effective
way to put out a good signal than is low power to a tower and big antenna
... especially if you live in a low noise area where you don't need lots of
discrimination to hear DX (and even then there are compact receive loops
that make possible alternatives).
Dave AB7E
On 3/22/2013 12:49 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
For the newer hams, here's an interesting resource that will
demonstrate to you what a DX signal sounds like at 100 watts, 10
watts, 1 watt and 0.1 watt. All you have to do it tune into the beacon
frequency of 14.100, 18.110, 21.150, 24.930, 28.200 using CW mode and
listen. The beacon stations in 18 countries take turns sending call
signs and 4 dashes, each dash in descending power level. You might be
amazed at how often you can hear 10 watts or less clearly from half way
around the world when the band is open.
When the band is not open, a kilowatt doesn't get through.
A complete list of the stations, locations and the transmission
sequence is
at:
http://www.ncdxf.org/beacon/beaconSchedule.html
IIRC, all of the stations use a simple 1/4 wave vertical antenna.
I'm not saying that an amplifier isn't useful, but this helps put the
advantage of having one in perspective.
73, Ron AC7AC
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