[Elecraft] Annoying contests

[Edward R. Cole]

Tony,

Thanks for mention of EME.  There are many weak-signal VHF to mw hams 
that are discovering the K3 for its superb receiver performance!  I 
made that move starting in 2010 when I bought my K3/10 (#4043) and 
began to accumulate transverters for use on VHF and up.  This was 
considered the best performance approach for many years before the 
advent of dc-light transceivers.  1998 brought out the FT-847 turning 
a lot of heads and resulting in a lot of eme'rs obtaining one and 
selling off the transverters.  The pendulum is swinging back (a lot 
to do with new SDR's).

We look forward to VHF contests as this increases activity and 
increases odds of working long distance.  EME contests are the 
highlight of the year.  Yes we use standard signal reports: OOO means 
I copied your call and heard my call.  RO means I copy your signal 
report.  RRR means I copied your RO, and 73 says all reports were 
copied by both stations and  the contact is valid.  Thus four 
separate reports are sent before EME is a valid contact.  Try that in 
an HF contest?

Oh and the path loss is only 255 dB.  This is the kind of stuff that 
pushes performance and advance in technology (and quality).  This is 
WHY I purchased my K3.

I avoid HF contests, but understand the attraction.  I do not work a 
lot of HF DX, but that was what got me interested in ham radio.  I do 
not operate on CW very much (but it was how I started out in 1958 
with a Novice license on 40m).  BTW it still is the main mode for EME 
though digital is gaining in popularity.

So I appreciate the forces that improve our stations.  BTW operating 
with 14w on HF is fun!  I am working on my 300w HF amp and hope to 
have it running by next weekend (expect 14w/250w out from a pair of 
MRF422).  That's only 13 dB improvement (two s-units).

Thanks, Elecraft, for pushing the limits!

------------------------------

Message: 31
Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:26:12 -0600
From: Tony Estep <esteptony at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Annoying contests
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net

Yep, that is the key to progress in ham gear (and most other things
too). Everybody, even the no-code ragchewer, could adopt Nate's
attitude and demand great performance from their ham gear.

And contests, chasing DX in a massive split pileup, working EME, and
other on-the-edge stuff is the only way to really push the state of
the art forward. Anyone can claim that their radio meets some vague
esthetic standard of excellence, but full-throttle operating under
competitive conditions sorts the pretenders from the contenders.

===snip


73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
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