Well, I'm with you, but the dB's you are referencing have to be *radiated* power in the needed direction and elevation. I have worked with hams with wonderful, immaculate stations that made errors in the antenna system that cost them a lot if not most of what they sent toward the antenna. This is particularly true on the low bands, and most particularly true on 160.
As to LIDs, some of the operating I've heard could not be rescued by any amount of effective radiated power. When one is transmitting on top of the DX one is trying to work, nothing good is going to happen. Or a loud station is consistently calling on frequency when the DX is listening UP, despite numerous urges on frequency to go UP. Or.... The list is long. Given who your club is, the universe of scores in use by your stat guy is a special case on the good side, that's for sure. I would never expect to see that result at large. 73, Guy. On Sat, Dec 13, 2014 at 1:20 AM, Jim Brown <j...@audiosystemsgroup.com> wrote: > > On Fri,12/12/2014 10:00 PM, Guy Olinger K2AV wrote: > >> Two >> stations with only one S-unit difference headed to the antennas will >> always >> come down to antenna systems and operators. >> > > Several comments. First, while the "official" definition of an S-unit is > 6dB, one S-unit on most receivers is more like 3-4 dB. While I haven't done > a linearity test on the K3 S-meter, I suspect it's a bit better. > Second, our contest club's leading statistician, N6ZFO, did an analysis of > our ARRL Sweepstakes scores and came to the conclusion that 3 dB was worth > about 8% in the score of THAT contest. Those dB can come from a lot of > places -- power amps, feedlines, antennas, and even QTH. I've run Field Day > QRP from a 5,000 ft peak, where I can hold a run frequency with 5 W -- > nothing like a 5,000 ft tower! > > > Third, a dB or two is a very big deal when conditions are marginal (for > example, the other guy has RX noise). From my own personal experience, I've > many MANY marginal QSOs by increasing my output power by 2 dB (by retuning > the rig after a wide QSY). > > Bottom line -- I'll take my dB any way I can get them, and I'll take all I > can get. My "weekday" amp is a KPA500, but my weekend (contesting) amps are > '80s vintage legal limit Ten Tec Titans, The latest improvement in my shack > was adding an LP100A wattmeter that reads true peak power. Because it's > more accurate than the other wattmeters (SWR indicators, built into rigs) > that has allowed me to operate 1-2 dB closer to the legal limit. > > 73, Jim K9YC > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > Message delivered to k2av....@gmail.com > ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
