Good point, Bill. Smallness isn't everything. I really don't like the
tiny displays and tinny audio on some of the HT's. Ten Tec likes to use
nice big displays and reasonably sized knobs. The real backpackers are
going to take along really small rigs like the NORCAL 40, SST or
Micromountaineer. When I take my Scout portable, it is set up in the
truck, on a picnic table or in a cabin, so I run it on a light switching
power supply, off the (big) vehicle battery, or on a 7 amp hour gel
cell.
The desire for a backpack radio is just for my Special Ops fantasy. Come
to think of it, all the military packsets I've ever seen have been big
and heavy, with big battery packs... Oh, well...
73,
Bob WB2VUF
Bill Meahan wrote:
>
> On Sat, 24 Nov 2001 20:38:49 -0700
> "Kenneth Crips" <w7itc@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> [Comments about battery-portable power consumption snipped]
>
> > Kenneth A. Crips, Amateur Radio Station W7ITC,
> > Home of the Chew Crew. Razz, Beezie, and Morgan.
> > Cheyenne, Wyoming's Irish Terriers with an attitude.
> >
>
> I always grin at how much the QRP crowd (of which I used to be a more
> active member) fusses about size and battery drain as if all of them
> were backpacking after being dropped off by a bush plane 1,000 miles
> from nowhere. IF that's the kind of thing you do, then of course size
> and power are critical. But most QRP'ers operate from their shack or, at
> most, from their car/truck/RV in the parking lot of Taco Bell ("Run For
> The Border" contest, et. al) or an "all-features" campground.
>
> Recognizing this, I find it hard to understand why _all_ QRP rigs must
> fit the backpacker criteria lest they be sneered at for being "too big"
> or "too power hungry." At home, or in the parking lot :-), I like bigger
> knobs, a readable display, a few creature features etc. and if the rig
> isn't as power-efficient as a backpacker special, so what? It's still
> using less total power than the desk lamp. If I ever go on an
> "adventure" I'll simply have to take one of my other rigs. Until then, a
> 516 (or my Omni-A Series B cranked down to under 5 watts out) will do
> just fine, especially while I'm eating my burrito.
>
> Kudos to Ten-Tec for the 516!
>
> --
> Bill Meahan WA8TZG wmeahan@wa8tzg.org
> "Always do right. This will gratify some people
> and astonish the rest." -- Mark Twain
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