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

[EricJ]

In fact, the whole concept is codified in FCC Part 97

§ 97.313   Transmitter power standards.

(a) An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary 
to carry out the desired communications.

Sometimes that's 500mw, sometimes it's a lot more.

Ultimately, the objective of this hobby is communication. If you can 
communicate at only 500 mw, do so; in fact, the law requires it. If you 
need 500 watts, you should do so. Not to means you fail at the most 
basic objective of the hobby.

90% of the time I'm CW QRP. The rest of the time I have my K2/10 (SN 
567) cranked to the 15 watt max.

Eric
KE6US
K1/KX1/K2

On 3/23/2013 8:42 AM, N2TK, Tony wrote:
> Dave,
> Nice work!
> We did this empirically about 30 years ago. Convinced a bunch of us that 1db
> is worth fighting for. As you show it is how you compare against someone
> else who is also calling at the same time. 2-3 db increase is almost like a
> capture effect to our ears as on FM. In addition if you are at the noise
> level of the receiving station it may not take much power increase to make
> the difference whether or not you are heard.
> You don't always need 100W or 1500W, but it is nice to have it there if you
> need it.
>
> Which reminds me, I haven't asked Elecraft for quite some time, where is my
> 160-6M KPA1500? :-)
>
> 73,
> N2TK, Tony
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of David Gilbert
> Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 7:03 PM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: For New Hams, How to Tell What an Amp Will Do
> For Your Signal
>
>
> 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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