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

[Bill K9YEQ]

Dave,

Well stated.

73,
Bill
K9YEQ

-----Original Message-----
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   AB7En 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