Think again. There are PLENTY of CBers out there that have both the means and desire to spend a LOT of money on their stations. And if you think a microprocessor is going to stop them... No, it's not. Just because they are cbers doesn't make them stupid.
So does that mean you are against this proposal? If so, you are against someone with a 1W exciter buying a commercially produced 100W amplifier. Is then 30W an acceptable limit?
Wow...... QRP vs QRO vs Pro Choice (use of an amp, could take it or leave it) vs Down with the Man (anti-government) vs Expert Amps might make money unfairly (?) vs Amateur Radio Service is going to hell (like CB?). There are good and bad examples of operators, signal quality, station design and Progressive-ness all up and down the bands. In the CB band too. I am not going to submit to the RM. IMHO things are fine as they are currently 'portrayed'. Some of the SDR and FPGA (Icom 7300) radios are a major steps toward ' spectrual purity' and flexability.....great! Many hams are more of systems integrators than anything....ya'll will figure something out. There are more serious challenges that the FCC should be focused on for the amateur service.
All right so we don't like cb ? So we're saying that the're gonna spend 6,000 on an amp made for only the elitist of hams who can justify spending that kind of money. These guys run tens of thousands of watts and if they are so smart why would they buy something that barely gets them over 1500 watts? Why would anyone running an illegal station spend all that mone Yes but that's a CLASS C AMP. and it will do over 3kw on AM and will go mobile. Dirty as all getout. That's what these guys think is appropriate not a solid state state of the art PA unit. Show me ONE instance to prove me wrong.
You wrote this right after you quoted my post, so if you're implying that I said that, ummmm, no, I didn't. I happen to know a number of cbers and percentage wise, the good/bad ratio is about the same as the hams I know. How do you know the davemade amps are class C? Did you find specs on the website? I didn't... And I don't think Dave is stupid enough to run class C. No, I'm sure they're 'linear' but it's doubtful that many of the operators do actually run them clean. For the record, I would be FOR the proposal if I thought my comments to the FCC would make a whit of difference, because their arbitrary rule didn't make a damn bit of difference anyway. Those that want to run illegal power on CB are going to find a way to do so regardless of the so-called 'rules'. Whyinhell NOT let manufacturers design and sell CLEAN amps that can be used to take 10 watts to legal limit? Remember that this is NOT a debate about what that legal limit should be, it's about getting rid of a stupid rule that DID NOT WORK for its intended purpose. Get rid of the archaic 'blue rules'.
Right, but by getting rid of a silly rule means that they'll have to integrate one less piece of gear. And probably get a cleaner signal to boot.
Agreed. This guy is blowing hot air. DaveMade amps are biased class AB, or AB1, and are very clean compared to most illegal amplifiers. They are also some of the most expensive. You get what you pay for, even in the outlaw market. Agreed. My favorite part of this hobby is taking old commercial land-mobile, broadcast, and CB gear, and converting it into usable ham radio gear. I would love the ability to have one of my converted CB rigs running 3 Watts carrier/12Watts PEP to be able to go variable output up to full legal-limit in one amplifier. Do you want to work a VERY CLEAN sounding rig on 10 that's NOT a DSP??? Then work me sometime on my converted President McKinley on 28.450 USB, or on 29.000 AM. I run it through a 45 year old pair of grounded-grid 6JS6Cs for about 160 Watts of clean PEP. Remember... All stock CB radios, business-bands, and broadcast equipment start out as being FCC TYPE ACCEPTED. Your ham appliance? No. Agreed. Drop this outdated, non-functional rule.
I stopped reading the replies. Most of you are bringing way too much detail in and suggesting to the FCC that someone should not need to pay 3 fold for an amplifier if the 15dB rule is removed. Some of you think all of us are going to run out and but SDR's to prove your point about how specturally pure we "can" be. Some of the finest rigs are true analog. What CBer's are doing with amp's has nothing to do with our bands. There is no difference between 1.5kw and 2kw to the receiver. So what are the real issues? Is it that Expert Linears wants to increase the Po of the Japanese amplifiers that went bankrupt and sell them to CBer's? Is THAT our issue? That is an FCC enforcement issue and THAT is our issue because some enforcement may hinder our purchases of amps. I like QRP and QRO. My best contact was 1 watt with a 5x9 in both directions across the pond. I used a SteppIR. We all know that the best way to improve our system is by improving the antenna system, right? And you, the guy that wants to be a loud mouth and talk when he chooses running as much power as he can get you might consider going back to CB radio. Even then I'd tell you to buy a Moonraker 4 or two and phase them. Solid state amps can be programmed not to operate on 11 meters. Does anyone object to removing the 15dB maximum but requiring a very strict circuit that shuts down on 11 meters? You can't have it both ways. Oh wait! You already build too many amps each year, which means that you are selling them, and you don't want to have to comply. That sounds like a personal motive. As an experiment several times a year I ask our 75 meter group to all turn their amps OFF for 10 minutes. Our net that usually covers only about 4 or 5 states can effectively communicate with as little as 5 watts. It IS amazing at what happens when QRM caused by many reasons disappears. So again, which is it? You want 4k stereo quality at 4kw? YOU want to eek as much bandwidth as you can get at my expense? We aren't the VOA. Rethink what the 15dB rule is for and then take a position that is not so selfish as to actually write that you want as much power to talk when you want regardless of choosing the proper band. Now that I've pissed a bunch of you off, flame me and prove my points. Some of you have selfish motives and I ask you to think about what is best for all of us.
Some of us have no stake in the game whatsoever and are thinking about what's best for all of us. The existing rule doesn't do what it was intended to do. Having it isn't helping anyone, but it is harming us. I will probably never buy a commercially produced 16dB amplifier as long as I live. But I've got no reason to think it does me any good to prevent you from doing it.
Wow I think this is the most depressing thread I've ever seen on here. This is *NOT* related in the slightest to power limits. It is about amp efficiency. The limit in the U.S. is 1.5KW no matter what. 90 pct of the postings are completely tangential to the topic. If you folks are actually filing these to the FCC ..all it is going to do is make us look even more incompetent and not worth the bother than they already believe. Forget about code tests. In addition to the multiple choice written exam, how about a one paragraph essay where Passing it requires at least a Third Grade level of literacy and that the candidate write about the actual subject.
I wrote and submitted a short comment in favor of the petition. Personally, I lean toward QRP... in fact I think it's fair to say I *mostly* lean toward just listening! I don't own any amplifiers, and I don't plan to. I don't begrudge people who do run the full legal limit though. Sometimes there are very legitimate reasons to do so. For example, net control on an HF net probably should be running more than a few hundred watts. And although many hams have been doing "QRP++" EME contacts at 100 watts, legal-limit definitely helps with esoteric propagation modes like moonbounce. Every regulation the government makes needs to be proportionate to and justified by some kind of harm. This is not merely a moral proposition, but a legal one; see for example the various presidential executive orders on cost-benefit analysis in federal rulemaking. To put it bluntly, if the concern is that CBers will abuse high-gain amplifiers, the next logical question must be, "so what?" Section 97.313 seems like an antiquated rule that was written at a time when there was a serious RFI problem to broadcast television receivers from CB operators. Yes, there are still some RFI issues, but for the most part, freebanders and CBers are causing less harm because of (1) the popularity of cable television and (2) digital television broadcasts being less susceptible to CB harmonics. If the harm of CB RFI is less than it once was, then it really calls into question the continued need for 97.313. And that has to be weighed against the harm that this regulation does. The harm being, that it is preventing experimentation as well as otherwise lawful sales of cutting-edge electronic equipment. That's nothing to sneeze at. A lot of the comments I've seen here in this thread -- as someone else pointed out -- seems to be rooted in strongly-held, quasi-religious views regarding QRP vs. QRO, as well as prejudice toward CBers (legal or illegal). It almost seems like a moral panic. Which is just so typical; it seems like every time somebody wants to color outside the lines, a sizable minority of hams freaks out about how it will "destroy" amateur radio.
I have immense respect for ALL aspects of the hobby, and those who embrace them. The GREAT thing about amateur radio is the diversity of activities and interests that exist within it. The ONE thing that I see regularly, and dislike intensely, is when narrowminded idiots who have planted themselves in THEIR niche of the hobby start blasting those who enjoy a different niche of the hobby. QRP, SOTA, Contest stations, DX, Satellite, IRLP/Echolink, Digital, RTTY, AM, JT-65, Homebrew, Microwave, Repeaters, EME, APRS, Winlink, SSTV, ATV, RACES, ARES, CERT ... ALL of it adds to the value of the hobby, in its own way. For the "antis": Consider that more hams might BUY 5-10 W rigs, if they can get an amp that will do more than bring them up to the 100-200 W that is considered "normal". THAT means there COULD be a LOT more choices of QRP rigs for you QRP afficionados. And for those who like to go QRP "sometimes" but have real power when they want it, what is better? Some of you are as bad as listening to NASCAR people bash F1.
