[Elecraft] OT: For New Hams, How to Tell What an Amp Will Do For Your Signal

[David Gilbert]

That's a good resource but it doesn't tell the whole story.  An 
amplifier will give you around 10 db improvement in signal on the other 
end.  That's more than the difference between a dipole and a five 
element monobander.  As little as 3 or 4 db will make a significant 
difference when competing against others in a pileup, and of course as 
little as 2 db can make the difference between no copy and clear copy if 
your signal is right at the noise level.

http://www.ab7e.com/weak_signal/mdd.html

Hams have turned their noses up at amplifiers for decades, but the 
reality is that an amplifier and a decent vertical is often a more cost 
effective way to put out a good signal than is low power to a tower and 
big antenna ... especially if you live in a low noise area where you 
don't need lots of discrimination to hear DX (and even then there are 
compact receive loops that make possible alternatives).

Dave   AB7E



On 3/22/2013 12:49 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> For the newer hams, here's an interesting resource that will demonstrate to
> you what a DX signal sounds like at 100 watts, 10 watts, 1 watt and 0.1
> watt. All you have to do it tune into the beacon frequency of 14.100,
> 18.110, 21.150, 24.930, 28.200 using CW mode and listen. The beacon stations
> in 18 countries take turns sending call signs and 4 dashes, each dash in
> descending power level. You might be amazed at how often you can hear 10
> watts or less clearly from half way around the world when the band is open.
>
> When the band is not open, a kilowatt doesn't get through.
>
> A complete list of the stations, locations and the transmission sequence is
> at:
>
> http://www.ncdxf.org/beacon/beaconSchedule.html
>
> IIRC, all of the stations use a simple 1/4 wave vertical antenna.
>
> I'm not saying that an amplifier isn't useful, but this helps put the
> advantage of having one in perspective.
>
> 73, Ron AC7AC
>
>
>
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