[Elecraft] Yaesu FT-2000 v K-3?

[Brian Lloyd]

On May 10, 2007, at 10:06 AM, Elliott Lawrence wrote:

> One thing that would help would be an additional option for a 200w  
> capable radio ---- the K3D!!!  I wonder if that is a future  
> possiblity??!!

Do you really think that 3dB will be enough of an advantage? That is  
all you will get when you go from 100W to 200W.

It seems to me that one needs at least 6dB to make enough difference  
to make the effort worthwhile. 6dB seems to be the difference  
between, "I know you are there but I can't quite copy you," and,  
"QSL." If you started at 100W then you would need 400W to make that  
difference.

I tend to think that 10dB is about the right increment and that would  
be 1000W. That leads me to feel that if you need more power than 100W  
you are going to need an external amplifier.

And then there is the issue of path symmetry. Path loss is going to  
be the same in both directions. Given that most rigs out there are in  
the 100W range the signal arriving at each end will be the same. Hmmm.

Oh! The K3 is likely to have a much better receiver than the one the  
other guy is using. So if he is using 100W and you have acceptable  
copy on him you might need a 3dB-6dB improvement in your signal in  
order to deliver an equivalent readability signal to the other end.  
Interesting thought. Maybe a 200-300W PA wouldn't be such a bad idea  
after all.

73 de Brian, WB6RQN
Brian Lloyd - brian HYPHEN wb6rqn AT lloyd DOT com