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

[Bill W5WVO]

Readability reciprocity is a very interesting question. Since I'm a 6M 
operator, things might be a little different for me than on the HF bands, 
but probably not all that much.

In contests, unless you are operating a really Big Gun station and are 
solidly in the high-power category by choice, you can't run an amplifier 
anyway and stay in the low-power class. So it comes down to basic DXing, 
busting pile-ups, etc. How much power is enough? How much is too much?

The quality of the receiver has a lot to do with it, but an even bigger 
consideration is your noise floor. Part of that is simple geography, and 
part of it has a lot to do with the kind of antenna you're running. If 
you're in a very quiet rural environment and using a fairly sharp yagi, then 
you're going to be able to hear a pin drop on 6M. Couple that with a good 
receiver, and you probably have at least a 6 dB receive advantage over 90% 
of the guys you're going to be working, who are mostly going to be in a 
typical suburban environment with plenty of man-made QRN. This is kind of 
the conclusion I came to, anyway, and it's bearing out pretty well. I run 
400W on 6M SSB/CW, and that seems to be just about right.

You really have to experiment. If you find yourself struggling to hear more 
than 20% or so of your contacts, then I would say you're running too much 
power. If you find yourself losing a lot of QSOs where you can copy the 
other guys Q5, you're probably running too little power for your low-noise 
environment. (And how I envy you!)

To the point of the original post, I agree that putting a 200W amplifier 
module in the K3 would probably not be worth it, and putting 400W inside the 
box is almost certainly unfeasible. Go with an external amp.

Bill / W5WVO


Martin AA6E wrote:
> 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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