On 8/20/07, ku8e <ku8e at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> The type of antenna you are using (i.e. ERP) makes probably more of a
> difference than running a kW .
Actually, probably not. What makes a difference is propagation and
the angle of radiation. What's the difference between a big antenna
and a little antenna on 40m - 4 or 5 db? Difference between 100w and
1.5kw is what, 12 db? The amplifier makes a much bigger difference
than antenna gain.
I've seen the antenna used by N5TJ to win SS QRP - with a score that
would have been a top LP score. Two things enabled this: Jeff's
massive talents as an operator, and his location relative to
population centers matched perfectly by his antenna height and the
resulting angle of radiation. His antenna was basically a tribander
on the roof.
> Look at the top ten in every NAQP. It always consists of people who have
> big stations and antenna farms.(almost the same guys who make top ten in SS)
> Why should I have to compete against them with my small station.
By allowing amplifiers, you are making your signal smaller relative to
these guys. 9 times out of 10 you will never beat the W5s in a
domestic contest from south Georgia, no matter how much power you are
running and how little power they are running. The ionosphere makes
them 40 db louder where it counts. They don't have to have a big
antenna to beat us...they only need bigger antennas to beat each
other...depending on operator talent.
The only thing raising the power limit in NAQP will do is raise the
noise floor, and make the signals of the people without amplifiers
even less competitive on the bands. Thankfully, I don't think anyone
who has any decision-making capability for the NAQP would consider
raising the power level for NAQP. Hopefully I haven't missed out on
any such discussions by not subscribing to CQ-Contest....
--
Lee Hiers, AA4GA
"Have Dobro Will Travel"
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