[Elecraft] DX on 15 watts

[w1pns]

On Mon, 2011-08-01 at 09:50 -0400, stan levandowski wrote:
> Sam, I clearly see your point.  

>snip<

Oh, all right, another testimonial, sort of. 

I run 5w through an attic (two-story house) dipole cut for 20m and fed
with ladder line, at least to the attic floor. Then it goes to coax --
the cheap, lossy RG58 kind, which doesn't require as large a hole in my
ceiling!  ;-)

No DXCC yet, but I've got about 40 countries with this set-up, and I'm
South Dakota-shy of a WAS (domestic DX?). I do a mix of rag-chewing,
light contesting, and light paper-chasing. 

I never believe a 599 report, or even a 559 report, from a DX station,
only because I suspect those are the two reports programmed into their
memory keyers for contest ops -- one for "you're readable," the other
for "I can barely hear you." I'm only now discovering the reverse-beacon
sites, which may provide a better sense of what my signal is like when
it lands somewhere. The only reports above 559 I believe are those where
the other station comes back with something like: Only 5 watts? You're
kidding!

QRP is not everyone's cup of tea, any more than fly fishing is. But
taken in whatever amounts you find tolerable, it can add a sense of
challenge to one's operations. 

As for effective-radiated power, no question that plays a key role in
how hard the other station has to work to pull out a QRP signal -- as,
one might add, does the amount of incoming signal at whatever ERP the
recipient's antenna and feedline will deliver to that ham's xcvr. 

But even my modest antenna -- with a radiation pattern that must look
like a Gordian knot and with an ERP that is probably laughable -- can
yield a significant number of enjoyable contacts.

I do keep a 45-watt amp on hand for emergency communications or when I
serve as a special-event station for club activities. Since most of the
members during these SEs are QRO, I want to give them something closer
to a signal they are used to pulling in.

Power output may seem anachronistic as a gauge of what a station is
capable of delivering, but that is just as true for running 1.5kw
through a four element beam up 100 feet as it is for 5 watts through the
same antenna. Since antennas vary so widely, based on an op's QTH and
pocketbook, power out seems to this non-specialist as about the only
consistent baseline one can use, however imperfect. But I can be
educated otherwise!  ;-) As the Genie shouted in "Aladdin": "He *can* be
taught!"

And then there's OM Propagation and path losses each end of the QSO
experiences! But that's another story...

With best regards,

Pete

-- 
Peter N. Spotts -- W1PNS
http://www.w1pns.net 
Email: w1pns at arrl.net | Skype: pspotts
QCWA #34679 | SKCC #4853T | QRP-ARCI #4174
NEQRP #714 | NAQCC #2446 | GQRP #13202

"Amateur radio is a contact sport. 
Get on the air and make a contact!"
       -- Lyle Amundson, K0LFV