Gee... you sound like everything that is Wrong with the modern phase of ham radio. Pick up your smart phone and call the DX station at home. Your cell plan must allow international calls at a cheaper rate than all the gear you "feel" that you "MUST HAVE" to burn a path through the ionosphere. You cannot create a 24/7 path to anywhere with power if the path does not exist. Make up the gain you feel that you are being robbed of with a descent antenna and you're be much happier. Remember this immutable law; The antenna is ten times more important than the radio gear to which it is connected.
When prop is good to excellent, QRP is exciting. When prop is less than fair, QRO is essential. Tune for maximum output!
They took it once, now take it back. Fix the CB problem by doing away with the Citizens Band. Make it an all-FM/RTTY/Digital-only band so the SSB CBs are obsolete. In the post-cell phone days, why would anyone want to use a CB with crappy range and the filth on it? What, to set up a date with a Lot Lizard? Yes, yes, there are legit uses of it too <sigh>. But it was probably poor form for the FCC to stop issuing CB'ers licenses. Now they are basically unaccountable and look what happens. I like QRO when it is needed, and sometimes it is (esp EME). But it should not be substituted for poor antennas, lousy operational skills, or overcoming closed bands. About the amp specs--no idea on this one. Too technical for me. But it appears this is an industry 'want' driving our comments, and there alone I oppose it. Doesn't seem to be something the ham community has a consensus of support.
Sorry but this is a narrow view from someone who does not realize the necessity for using highe rpower ono occasion and the commenbt has nothing to do with the subject at hand. Puching QRP on everyone else is annoying and short sighted.
I disagree - truck drivers still need and use CB. Let themn have a few channels and give the rest back to amateur radio! It is Unlikely to happen though. How badly do we need it? We have 12m and 10m.
A 5W CW signal is equivalent to a 100W SSB signal. Learn the Morse Code and enjoy the true heritage of Amateur Radio. Invest your money in a good quality ANTENNA, instead of a big ole amp. I run 600W or less and have done very well, working 303+ entities. Most of them in the last 11 years.
LOL! I totally agree. Most of those guys probably passed their exams by luck or by memorizing the test answers, and they probably couldn't pass code if their lives depended on it. Personally I wish the FCC would restrict total power output at the antenna to 100 watts so I wouldn't have to listen to all their nonsense on the Geritol nets!
That is not what this discussion is supposed to be about. There are times when legal limit power is very helpful to make or maintain a contact. That you can sometimes do it with 100 milliwatts from a tuna tin transmitter is not important or even helpful. This is about generating a CLEAN legal limit signal with modern gear that emphasizes the receiver performance over built in transmitter power. All in favor of a CLEAN amplifier that can get 1500 W out with minimal power input. The 15db limit needs to be removed. Personally, I think 2000 watts output would be the best for an amateur power limit. Summertime on 160 is a bitch.
I really do not have a dog in this particular fight, but I do know this: The FCC failed miserably in regards to the mess that is CB. They failed in that they put what was supposed to be a local utility service on frequencies that often open to the world. Yes, I know that back in the day, it was easier and cheaper to use 27 MHz for this service instead of a true VHF, but it still is an example of how bureaucrats in charge can really screw things up. They also failed in trying to regulate CB power levels when amps for HF were and are still easily procured for CB use. The law abiding ham radio operators are the ones who could not get an amp that operated on 28 MHZ while the CB'ers were using amps that far exceeded even the "legal limit" that hams were allowed. Just Google CB amps and see what goes for a big CB amp these days. "Wizard Built" and "Dave Made" amps that routinely run 5-10 KW! Yeah the FCC's rule sure put the kibosh on those guys, huh? Do I care about the high gain ham amps? No, I do not. Should a ham amp manufacturer be allowed to make an amp that can take a low level signal and boost it to legal limit? Sure, why not as long as that amp meets current FCC specification for spectral purity and does not end up trashing the bands. I would be more concerned about the signal driving the amp than the amp itself. Hams who are capable of designing and building amps like this have no restrictions on them. It is only a manufacturer who's product might end up in the "wrong hands" who is restricted. Guys, that particular horse left the barn decades ago, and the door is still wide open. Personally, I would rather have our neighbors on 27 MHz using ham gear than some of the crap that they are using and have been using. Ham gear, even when it is used illegally on 11 meters, usually will not trash the spectrum nearly as bad as some of that crappy CB stuff does. Interesting discussion question: Why do you suppose that the Yaesu 101 series is the most popular "ham" radio ever? Yaesu must have sold millions of those things around the world and most of them are still in use... On 11 meters. Which brings us to the last point. What the FCC does here should have absolutely no effect on the rest of the world. But what we do here does tend to affect the rest of the world because we are the "leaders" in some respects. Because ham radio is a world-wide hobby. Think about that sometime. The USA started the mess that is CB and the rest of the world suffered/ suffers as a result. Really makes me wonder what our hobby/ service would look like now if the CB service had been put on UHF where it belonged in the first place... 73 Gary
A quote from W8SPL "Seems a lot of folks confuse high power w/ crappy operating practices; the ridiculous restriction of power amplifier gain won't fix crappy operating practices, it needs to be done on the CQ'ing station's side by everyone worldwide". That about says it all !!!!
