[Elecraft] [K2] XV50 vs FT817?
Bill W5WVO
w5wvo at cybermesa.net
Wed Sep 9 15:33:40 EDT 2009
Peter,
There are no VHF CW contests, per se. There is usually some 50 MHz CW activity
in the June ARRL VHF QSO party and the July CQ WW VHF contest, but this is
probably about 10% or less of the activity level on SSB. DX chasing, on the
other hand, is typically more fruitful on CW. But chasing 6 meter DX with QRP is
an exercise in frustration. DX signal levels are simply too weak for QRP.
For 6m SSB, you will want at least 100W output into a decent directional antenna
to be competitive in the Low Power category of ARRL VHF (up to 200W). There are
no power categories in the CQ WW, so you're competing directly against the KWs
in this one.
Bottom line -- Outside of extremely strong 50 MHz sporadic-E openings, "VHF" and
"QRP" don't really go together that well, though some guys do seem to enjoy the
challenge. For me, life is too short for 6m QRP. :-) I enjoy making QSOs too
much, I guess.
Good luck,
Bill W5WVO
Peter Wollan wrote:
> An XV50 + KIO2, adding on to a QRP K2, is getting within shouting
> distance of the cost of an FT817. Could someone comment on the
> relative merits, for use as a first multimode VHF rig? My guess is
> that the XV50 is better, but does less. In addition to just exploring
> on CW and SSB, I'd want to participate in some VHF CW contests.
>
> Peter N8MHD
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