[Elecraft] Changes from 100 watts to 10 watts

[Juerg Tschirren]

Regarding the beacon software:
there is a nice Linux program, freely available under
http://wwwhome.cs.utwente.nl/~ptdeboer/ham/ibp.html
that shows the currently transmitting beacons, both as text and on a map.

  If you only have Microsoft Windows available, you should be able to get
this software to work under Cygwin (also freely available, see
http://www.cygwin.com).

Juerg
--... ...--   -.. .   -. ----- .--. .--.

On Sat, 28 Dec 2002, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

>
> Frank, W6NEK, added some very useful facts about the propagation
> beacons. It's worthwhile checking those beacons across  the 20-10 meter
> bands to see how conditions are. The beacons all use identical vertical
> antennas too, so their signals are omni directional and have the same
> effective radiated power.  If you missed Frank's post, go to:
> http://www.ncdxf.org/beacon.htm for all the dope!
>
> Software is available that will run on your computer and show you a
> world map with the daylight and night areas indicated and which will
> identify the location of the beacon transmitting at any moment. You can
> sit back on one band, listen and watch the beacons come on and off
> around the world on the map. At least one version is shareware that you
> can try for free at http://www.taborsoft.com/abw/.
>
> My decision to be able to run 100 watts is based on what I hear from
> those beacons, among other things. I hope that no one ever had the idea
> that the difference between 10 watts and 100 watts was more than 10 dB!
> (That's an easy one to remember when doing "dB" in your head. 2:1 power
> difference = 3 dB and 10:1 = 10 dB). So it's about an S-unit, maybe two,
> of signal difference, depending upon the "S-meter", and it is often the
> difference between copy and no copy, depending upon the band conditions.
>
>
> Certainly, when conditions are good it is astonishing how loud that 1
> watt or even the 100 milliwatt Beacon signal can be! But then, any QRP
> operator knows how that works.
>
> To me, the K2/100 has two great features. 100 watts peak output and a
> POWER control!
>
> I love working QRP, BTW. I receive it a lot. I always listen for the
> weak signals. And if they are running 1 watt or 5 watts I'll crank down
> the power if the other guy gave me a pretty strong signal report and see
> if he can still copy. Maybe my antenna is not as good. Maybe his
> receiver isn't as good. Maybe a lot of things. But if he can't copy me
> and I can copy him, I'm happy to crank up the power as needed to make a
> good QSO.
>
> It seems to the that the "skill" in a successful QRP contact is mostly
> in RECEIVING the QRP signal, not in sending it!
>
> Sure, there is a lot of pride in having an efficient station setup.
> That's how good QRP ops get the milliwatts launched from a tiny
> transmitter. I wonder, sometimes, just how many ops out there are
> running 100 watts but who are actually radiating a QRP signal without
> realizing it!
>
> Along the same lines, when working a QRO station I tend to run the same
> power he is, within the capabilities of the K2/100. That way I'm not
> asking him to dig for me harder than I'm digging for him if the signals
> aren't all that good. I think that's just polite.
>
> ... and no, I don't extend the value of "being polite" to the cost of a
> "legal limit" amplifier <G>. But some do, and sometimes I can take the
> cans off of my head and sit back and copy just fine with them sitting on
> the desk and wonder if it's just my imagination or is the streetlight
> outside really blinking slightly in time with his signal?...
>
> Ron AC7AC
> K2 # 1289
>
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