> Jon has made the first letter in the correspondance section of
>the newest QST. He extolls the virtues of low power operating!
Actually, my article can be misunderstood to say that one should always
operate low power. I see that now (hey, I wrote it back in January
before my amp was finished!).
What I was trying to do was slap the face of the guy I referenced who
complained that he couldn't operate DX because of all the guys running
power. I challenged him on that point in a (for once in my life)
diplomatic way. I was actually trying to defend the use of QRO in the
novice/tech portion of 10M by showing that I could work DX w/low power
and therefore so could he.
One error in the letter: I said that I had only worked 5 or 6 stations at
more than 200 Watts. That was true when I wrote the letter, but not now!
:-)
The fact is that a lot of fun can be had operating low power DX and most
US hams do it that way. So belly-aching is a waste of time. Personally,
I find that now by working the same station on high power I work the
station and get out of the way quicker and QRM the frequency less so all
the little guys can get them rather than sitting there yelling "KE9NA"
for 20 to 30 minutes.
Running power can also be fun when you call "CQ DX." I've worked (and
confirmed) a TZ9 (Mali) who responded to a CQ. I also had a blast a week
or two ago working a bunch of S. American stations this way. Several of
them were either new hams or hams who could barely speak English. These
guys would never have called "CQ DX" themselves, but they would work a US
station calling.
Anyhow, I knew I'd have to defend myself on this one on this reflector!
:-) Run all the power you want. I just find that sometimes it is fun to
be a Kilowatt and sometimes it is fun to be a little guy. The bottom
line is that regardless of what power level one can run at it should not
stop one from chasing DX.
73,
Jon
KE9NA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Second Amendment is NOT about duck hunting!
Jon Ogden
jono@enteract.com
www.qsl.net/ke9na
"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
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