[Elecraft] EQP Suggestions

[Gary Bartlett]

Hello, gang:

    My thanks to all those who put up with my CW and worked me in the EQP contest.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  In total, I made 194 QSOs, albeit running 100 W for all but three of them (the excuse being what I perceive to be marginal antennas here).  In retrospect, I dearly wish I had run exclusively QRP.  Which brings me to my suggestion:

    In order to help drive home the message to people such as myself who are too quick with the PA switch, why now add Output Power to the exchange, say perhaps in the form of rig/power (e.g., K2/5 or K2/100), for future parties.  I know it means a bit more sending and copying, but I am convinced that if I had been repeatedly hammered by the message that I was receiving perfectly copyable signals from a 5 or ten Watt transmitter, I might ultimately have been smart enough to back off my output, too.  It is an issue of conditioning.  I find it not an easy thing to automatically think QRP after having run 100W rigs for so many years, and difficult to stop assuming that that is what the other guy is running as well.

    The logging software worked very nicely for me.  My only suggestion there is that the two RST windows be co-located.  I found myself constantly tabbing to the bottom of the log display to enter "RST Sent" before I forgot it, then dashing back to the top line to enter the data coming in.

    The highlight for me was working the principals at Elecraft and some of the regular contributors to this wonderful forum, including the EQP organizer, and a number of Elecraft-equipped DX stations.  I side with those who don't want to wait another whole year to do this again.

    Gary,
    VE1RGB
    K2 #2519 (and #3223 in-progress)


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