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

Sun Mar 24 03:28:08 EDT 2013

It really depends on how badly you want the contact it your getting very
close to Honor Roll and so is your age, use all that you have. I work QRP
and QRO both enjoy both equally.

73,
Fred/N0AZZ
K3 Ser #'s 6730/5299--KX3 # 2573--K2/100--KAT100
P3/SVGA--KPA500--KAT500--W2

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of EricJ
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2013 1:56 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

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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