[Elecraft] They Laughed At My K1

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Grrrreat Jon! 

That "power issue" has gone on since I made my first QSO back in '52. There
are so many ops convinced that there's a huge difference between 5 or 10
watts and 100 watts or so they can't believe that it's almost impossible to
spot the difference on the air under many circumstances. Back then I knew
ops who laughed at my rig running 50 watts out saying they "obviously" had a
much bigger signal running about 70 watts output. Ha!  

There are even some today who think there's a useful difference between 80
and 120 watts. 

Sure, in a contest there's a lot more QRM. But, as you noted, that's better
handled by a superior receiver than superior power, especially when it takes
a huge increase in power to be noticeable at the other end. Besides, in a
contest, one doesn't have complex "QSO's" - just a simple little exchange of
a few numbers snuck between the QRN and QRM and it's time to go on to the
next station. 

And the multipliers you gain by not giving into the high power fantasy are a
real bonus. 

Perhaps we shouldn't make the minimal advantage of high power widely known
or the QRP/Battery/Solar multipliers might go away ;-)

Naw, educating others with solid examples is more important. Keep setting
the great example - and having great fun! 

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----

All the big radios laughed at my K1 when I set it up at the club Field Day
site.

But they stopped laughing when it churned out QSO after QSO on 40 and 20
meters -- mainly because it has a better receiver for CW than ICOM 746 and
756 base stations.

And they especially stopped laughing when one of the generators died,
knocking one of the big rigs off the air.  The K1 stepped in and ran for 12+
hours on batteries (overnight) and a solar cell (daylight).

Plus, just think of those multiplier points for QRP and for solar power.

KB1QBZ
K1 #2552