That depends upon what one means by QSO. I stepped out of the discussion when it was abundantly clear that a QSO for some means teasing a call sign out of the noise on CW.
That's fine for DX-chasing and even much contesting. For me, a rag-chewer, a QSO occurs when I can exchange a CW message containing 50 or 100 words without lots of repeats. With that criteria, common variations in the band over that time will swamp out very small changes in signal strength. Personally, I don't get excited about a change unless it can make a 6 to 10 dB difference. 73, Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of drewko Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2013 7:19 PM To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] mods to K2 I was curious to determine what a 3 db increase in power output might mean in terms of total number of possible contacts. So I set up my K3 to run WSPR on 20 meters for a while today: At regular intervals over the course of 9 hours the power output was toggled back and forth between 5 and 10 watts, logging some 2,000 signal reports for the entire period. So, how much is a 3 db increase in power output worth? According to my WSPR log data, about 40% more contacts. (At that rate a 6 db increase would give nearly twice as many contacts. And a K3/100 should have about three times as many QSOs in it than a K3/10...) Anyhow, the original intention to mod the K2 might be justified. It's not an insignificant improvement, though it might be good to log a few thousand more reports to make sure. 73, Drew AF2Z On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 08:24:39 -0700, you wrote: >My first thought on the audio was to get some efficient earbuds. Lightweight and cheap. > >Over on the KX3 list, people like the Chill Pill powered speakers. > >I know it is a second box, but the Hardrock 50 amp has been getting >good reviews. You would not need to get it out except in an emergency, >so it could stay deep in the pack. See: >http://www.hobbypcb.com/amateur-radio/amateur-radio/hardrock-50-hf-powe >r-amp-kit.html > >I think there is a lot of evidence that 3dB does not matter. 10dB matters. 6dB might matter. > >wunder >Walter Underwood >K6WRU >CM87wj > ______________________________________________________________ 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
