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

[Martin AA6E]

Brian has some good points.  Personally, I think the jump to 400-1000 
Watts from 100 is so great that you really need to think of a separate 
amplifier.  100 W is clearly enough for 90% of QSOs (that I make, 
anyway), and it would be a shame to compromise a good 100 W transceiver 
package to allow for an internal QRO amp and/or power supply.

After > 40 years as a ham, I finally broke down and bought a 
used/upgraded SB-220 for my station.  It has helped on occasion, and 
it's kind of an interesting piece of gear in its own right.  One thing I 
have noticed, though, is that if I call CQ at 100 W, I get nice replies. 
  If I call CQ at 1000 W, I get lots of very weak replies.  That's the 
flip side of "reciprocity".  Yes, it's good to have a good receiver, but 
you may need to strain to work those marginal Q's. (Actually, that's 
half the fun, especially if it's Swains Island.)

73 Martin AA6E

Brian Lloyd wrote:
> 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
> 
> 
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