Elecraft › [QRO]

just 500W ?

Classic

List

Threaded

10 messages Options

AD4C2009

just 500W ?

The shirt I wear sometimes in the hamfests says up front : "Life is too short for QRP"

I run every night not less than 500W on 40M,only way to brake the pileups and fight againts the "big guns".When every single one on the bands drop their power to 100W or less,I drop mine,that is not going to happen never anymore,its too late,so design and build another amp for 1KW and I am sure you will sell way more than the actual 500W unit.

AD4C

"If freedom means something,it is the right to tell others what they don't want to hear" –George Orwell

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

wayne burdick

Re: just 500W ?

Administrator

> The shirt I wear sometimes in the hamfests says up front : "Life is
> too short for QRP"

In stark contrast, the first "rig" I built, when I was 13, was a 200-
milliwatt-output crystal oscillator that used half a dozen parts with
their leads twisted together. No PCB, no solder, no box. It was ugly.
But it worked.

I connected a hand key and a battery in series, paid out a roll of guy
wire and tossed it on the roof, then started listening around the
rig's 40-m frequency with my Hallicrafters SX101. A guy up in Los
Angeles was calling CQ, and when he came back to me, I nearly fell off
my chair. 200 miles on 200 mW, with an unmatched wire laying on the
roof and a 9-V battery!

A few months later someone gave me an HT37 transmitter (100 W). First
thing I did was turn the drive down to nearly zero, measured my output
at 200 mW, and worked New York (2500 miles) on 20 m.

Life's not too short for *that* :)

OTOH, I'm quite proud of our engineering staff's achievement with the
KPA500.

Wayne
N6KR

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Rick Dettinger-3

Re: just 500W ?

I know the feeling! I was fooling around sending into a cantenna with
my HW 100. This was in the early 1970's, and I thought that a
resistor inside a grounded metal can would not let any signal out! It
was a major surprise, to say the least, when someone came back to me.
Only about a mile away, but this was my first QRP contact. The next
was still 25 years in the future.

Rick Dettinger
K7MW

>
> I connected a hand key and a battery in series, paid out a roll of guy
> wire and tossed it on the roof, then started listening around the
> rig's 40-m frequency with my Hallicrafters SX101. A guy up in Los
> Angeles was calling CQ, and when he came back to me, I nearly fell off
> my chair. 200 miles on 200 mW, with an unmatched wire laying on the
> roof and a 9-V battery!
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
>

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Jim Sheldon

Re: just 500W ?

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

The 1st non Heathkit rig I ever built (1st was a 90W CW transmitter I built from scratch when first licensed back in 1963) was a little 2 transistor MOPA rig (2N706 VFO driving a 2N2219 PA) which put out about 750 mw. Receiver was a Collins R-390A on loan from the Army MARS program and I was living on Fort Devens, Massachusetts, an Army base 35 miles West of Boston. I was net control for the Eastern Mass CW traffic net on 80 meters 3 nights a week and even though I had a Heath HW-16, I often used the little transistor TX to run the net. First 3 nights I had it on, never told anyone and only one person commented that my signal was just S8 so I might want to check my antenna connections. When I told them what I was using for a transmitter, no one would believe me until I had several of them over to see it. It covered from 3.5 to 3.8 MHz. I put it on 3.510 and called CQ. On the 3rd call, an OK3 came back and gave me a 579 signal report. The net guys never gave me any mor
e grief about the "puny" little solid state rig.

Ain't it fun Wayne?

Another good story happened at a tailgate swapfest here in Wichita. I had my K2 and KX1 set up with a PAC-12 vertical hooked to about 80 feet of RG-174 (yes, 174) and was showing how the KX1 could work cross mode CW to SSB on 20 meters when I heard Vello, ES1QD working a bunch of stateside guys and the pileup was getting pretty deep. I quickly switched the antenna to the K2, dialled in the frequency and turned up the speaker. Pretty soon a bunch gathered around and when I picked up the microphone, one of the big QRO guys started ragging on me and telling everyone around us about how I really thought I could bust a pileup on SSB with that puny K2 @ 5 watts!

You should have seen his jaw drop when I keyed the microphone and said W0EB/QRP. Vello came back and said "Everybody stand by, QRP station go again." I called him again and we had a nice chat for a couple of minutes and he gave me a 57 signal report. I'd attach the QSL card here, but this reflector doesn't allow HTML or attachments. That ended the "life's too short for QRP" ribbing I used to get. It also got a couple of the guys turned on to the K2.

Jim - W0EB

>> The shirt I wear sometimes in the hamfests says up front : "Life
>> is
>> too short for QRP"
>>
> In stark contrast, the first "rig" I built, when I was 13, was a
> 200-
> milliwatt-output crystal oscillator that used half a dozen parts
> with
> their leads twisted together. No PCB, no solder, no box. It was
> ugly.
> But it worked.
>

n7ws

Re: just 500W ?

In reply to this post by AD4C2009

Yes and yes.

N7WS

--- On Tue, 1/25/11, Hector Padron <[hidden email]> wrote:

> The shirt I wear sometimes in the
> hamfests says up front : "Life is too short for QRP"
>
> I run every night not less than 500W on 40M,only way to
> brake the pileups and fight againts the "big guns".When
> every single one on the bands drop their power to 100W or
> less,I drop mine,that is not going to happen never
> anymore,its too late,so design and build another amp for 1KW
> and I am sure you will sell way more than the actual 500W
> unit.
>
> AD4C

AD4C2009

Re: just 500W ?

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Yeah,yeah,yeah, I know all about qrp,I started in hamradio when I was 13 years old,I am 62 now,you figure how long ago,my first QRP was a 6V6 tube oscilating with a xtal on 7005 and that thing made barely 2W and with a dipole I worked in less than a year more than 100 countries in CW from my CO land BUT those were years where the bands were not so crowded and they were not so noisy and the solar cycles were great BUT today with the hundred thousand stations filling the bands,the high band noise,the terrible propagation,QRP working is not the same,besides the courtesy of those old times its gone forever,bands are plagued by guys using full legal power OR MORE who has no respect for anybody and the actual rules is have power or not make a contact,most of the times unless you have a great beam antenna on 40M you won't do much with a QRP,you need to have those 500W from your amp or more.Its tough today to survive in the bands jungle sorrounded by lions who
want to smash your poor signal and you only have a razor blade to defend yourself.
"Life is too short for QRP ! "

AD4C

"If freedom means something,it is the right to tell others what they don't want to hear" –George Orwell

--- On Tue, 1/25/11, Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]> wrote:

From: Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: just 500W ?
To: "Hector Padron" <[hidden email]>
Cc: [hidden email]
Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 8:10 PM

> The shirt I wear sometimes in the hamfests says up front : "Life is too short for QRP"

In stark contrast, the first "rig" I built, when I was 13, was a 200-milliwatt-output crystal oscillator that used half a dozen parts with their leads twisted together. No PCB, no solder, no box. It was ugly. But it worked.

I connected a hand key and a battery in series, paid out a roll of guy wire and tossed it on the roof, then started listening around the rig's 40-m frequency with my Hallicrafters SX101. A guy up in Los Angeles was calling CQ, and when he came back to me, I nearly fell off my chair. 200 miles on 200 mW, with an unmatched wire laying on the roof and a 9-V battery!

A few months later someone gave me an HT37 transmitter (100 W). First thing I did was turn the drive down to nearly zero, measured my output at 200 mW, and worked New York (2500 miles) on 20 m.

Life's not too short for *that* :)

OTOH, I'm quite proud of our engineering staff's achievement with the KPA500.

Wayne
N6KR

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Andrew Moore-3

Re: just 500W ?

> the courtesy of those old times its gone forever

That's like saying CW is dead.

Etiquette may have changed, but like Elecraft has proven: If you innovate
and do what you believe in, you can beat the fray instead of joining it.

QRO, QRP, each has its place.

73,
--Andrew, NV1B
..
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Nelson Moyer

Re: just 500W ?

In reply to this post by AD4C2009

Interesting that little has been said about the ANTENNA. Power is only part
of the equation, and I suspect that there is more dB gain from upgrading
your antenna than upgrading your amplifier from 100 to 500 or 500 to 1500
watts. I've never operated with more than 600 watts power output, but I sure
noticed the improvement when I switched from a HF6V to a TH-11. That station
improvement took me from 305 confirmed to No. 1 Honor Roll. Yes, 1500 watts
may get you there faster, but 500 watts is all you really need to do the
job.

Nelson, KU0A

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Hector Padron
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 3:37 PM
To: Wayne Burdick
Cc: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] just 500W ?

Yeah,yeah,yeah, I know all about qrp,I started in hamradio when I was 13
years old,I am 62 now,you figure how long ago,my first QRP was a 6V6 tube
oscilating with a xtal on 7005 and that thing made barely 2W and with a
dipole I worked in less than a year more than 100 countries in CW from my CO
land BUT those were years where the bands were not so crowded and they were
not so noisy and the solar cycles were great BUT today with the hundred
thousand stations filling the bands,the high band noise,the terrible
propagation,QRP working is not the same,besides the courtesy of those old
times its gone forever,bands are plagued by guys using full legal power OR
MORE who has no respect for anybody and the actual rules is have power or
not make a contact,most of the times unless you have a great beam antenna on
40M you won't do much with a QRP,you need to have those 500W from your amp
or more.Its tough today to survive in the bands jungle sorrounded by lions
who want to smash your poor signal and you only have a razor blade to
defend yourself. "Life is too short for QRP ! "

AD4C

"If freedom means something,it is the right to tell others what they don't
want to hear" George Orwell

--- On Tue, 1/25/11, Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]> wrote:

From: Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: just 500W ?
To: "Hector Padron" <[hidden email]>
Cc: [hidden email]
Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 8:10 PM

> The shirt I wear sometimes in the hamfests says up front : "Life is
> too short for QRP"

In stark contrast, the first "rig" I built, when I was 13, was a
200-milliwatt-output crystal oscillator that used half a dozen parts with
their leads twisted together. No PCB, no solder, no box. It was ugly. But it
worked.

I connected a hand key and a battery in series, paid out a roll of guy wire
and tossed it on the roof, then started listening around the rig's 40-m
frequency with my Hallicrafters SX101. A guy up in Los Angeles was calling
CQ, and when he came back to me, I nearly fell off my chair. 200 miles on
200 mW, with an unmatched wire laying on the roof and a 9-V battery!

A few months later someone gave me an HT37 transmitter (100 W). First thing
I did was turn the drive down to nearly zero, measured my output at 200 mW,
and worked New York (2500 miles) on 20 m.

Life's not too short for *that* :)

OTOH, I'm quite proud of our engineering staff's achievement with the
KPA500.

Wayne
N6KR

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 10.0.1202 / Virus Database: 1435/3400 - Release Date: 01/24/11

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Julian, G4ILO

Re: just 500W ?

In reply to this post by AD4C2009

500W is more than many of us in other parts of the world are allowed to use. Life is not too short for QRP and it certainly isn't too short for 100W, never mind 500. If that wasn't the case we'd have all given up long ago.

Power is like an arms race, people get sucked in to believing they need more than the other guy. The end result is a lot of money spent for no real gain save to satisfy one's ego. Good news for amp manufacturers and that's about all.

"QRP: It's not how much you've got, it's what you do with it." Anyone is welcome to put that on a T shirt.

AD4C2009 wrote

The shirt I wear sometimes in the hamfests says up front : "Life is too short for QRP"

I run every night not less than 500W on 40M,only way to brake the pileups and fight againts the "big guns".When every single one on the bands drop their power to 100W or less,I drop mine,that is not going to happen never anymore,its too late,so design and build another amp for 1KW and I am sure you will sell way more than the actual 500W unit.

Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222 KX3 #110
* G4ILO's Shack - http://www.g4ilo.com
* KComm - http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html
* KTune - http://www.g4ilo.com/ktune.html

k6rb

Re: just 500W ?

In reply to this post by Nelson Moyer

To Nelson's point about the antenna, if you want accurate gain figures,
you really should look at gain comparisons between a gain antenna at, say,
75 feet and a dipole at the same height. Using dBi figures is
fantasy-land. Have you ever used an isotopic dipole?

The Force 12 figures for antennas, such as the C31-XR, show dBd figures of
maybe 7 dB gain. That's just a bit more than an S-unit better than a
dipole at the same height. Those claims of 9 to 11 dBi are nonsense
claims.

Now, if you're using a stealth antenna, you are probably not coming close
to a dipole at 75 feet. So, the difference between your wet noodle and a
3-element yagi at 60 feet will be quite noticeable.

One advantage to using a gain antenna over an amplifier is that the gain
is both ways - TX and RX. I know quite a few mobile ops who run 500 watts
into a screwdriver antenna and are loud compared to mobile ops running 100
w into their screwdrivers. But, they don't hear one iota better (hi).

Last point, as someone mentioned, the heavy lifting in QRP QSOs is the guy
on the other hand. One contest that takes that into consideration is the
Stew Perry. Both ops get extra credit for the QRP QSO. I think that's the
most fair.

Rob K6RB

> Interesting that little has been said about the ANTENNA. Power is only
> part
> of the equation, and I suspect that there is more dB gain from upgrading
> your antenna than upgrading your amplifier from 100 to 500 or 500 to 1500
> watts. I've never operated with more than 600 watts power output, but I
> sure
> noticed the improvement when I switched from a HF6V to a TH-11. That
> station
> improvement took me from 305 confirmed to No. 1 Honor Roll. Yes, 1500
> watts
> may get you there faster, but 500 watts is all you really need to do the
> job.
>
> Nelson, KU0A
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Hector Padron
> Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 3:37 PM
> To: Wayne Burdick
> Cc: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] just 500W ?
>
>
> Yeah,yeah,yeah, I know all about qrp,I started in hamradio when I was 13
> years old,I am 62 now,you figure how long ago,my first QRP was a 6V6 tube
> oscilating with a xtal on 7005 and that thing made barely 2W and with a
> dipole I worked in less than a year more than 100 countries in CW from my
> CO
> land BUT those were years where the bands were not so crowded and they
> were
> not so noisy and the solar cycles were great BUT today with the hundred
> thousand stations filling the bands,the high band noise,the terrible
> propagation,QRP working is not the same,besides the courtesy of those old
> times its gone forever,bands are plagued by guys using full legal power OR
> MORE who has no respect for anybody and the actual rules is have power or
> not make a contact,most of the times unless you have a great beam antenna
> on
> 40M you won't do much with a QRP,you need to have those 500W from your amp
> or more.Its tough today to survive in the bands jungle sorrounded by lions
> who want to smash your poor signal and you only have a razor blade to
> defend yourself. "Life is too short for QRP ! "
>
>
> AD4C
>
> "If freedom means something,it is the right to tell others what they don't
> want to hear" George Orwell
>
> --- On Tue, 1/25/11, Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>
> From: Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: just 500W ?
> To: "Hector Padron" <[hidden email]>
> Cc: [hidden email]
> Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 8:10 PM
>
>
>> The shirt I wear sometimes in the hamfests says up front : "Life is
>> too short for QRP"
>
> In stark contrast, the first "rig" I built, when I was 13, was a
> 200-milliwatt-output crystal oscillator that used half a dozen parts with
> their leads twisted together. No PCB, no solder, no box. It was ugly. But
> it
> worked.
>
> I connected a hand key and a battery in series, paid out a roll of guy
> wire
> and tossed it on the roof, then started listening around the rig's 40-m
> frequency with my Hallicrafters SX101. A guy up in Los Angeles was calling
> CQ, and when he came back to me, I nearly fell off my chair. 200 miles on
> 200 mW, with an unmatched wire laying on the roof and a 9-V battery!
>
> A few months later someone gave me an HT37 transmitter (100 W). First
> thing
> I did was turn the drive down to nearly zero, measured my output at 200
> mW,
> and worked New York (2500 miles) on 20 m.
>
> Life's not too short for *that* :)
>
> OTOH, I'm quite proud of our engineering staff's achievement with the
> KPA500.
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
> -----
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 10.0.1202 / Virus Database: 1435/3400 - Release Date: 01/24/11
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>