Every contest I've heard of measures power at the radio - otherwise I
wouldn't have just purchased a couple kilo bucks of Heliax.
73!
Lee, AA4GA
On Thu, Apr 6, 2023, 12:18 AM Randy Thompson <k5zd@outlook.com> wrote:
> Good question.
>
> The rules for the CQWW and CQ WPX contest set the limit at “total output
> power.”
>
> That means output from the transmitter/amplifier. NOT power at the antenna.
>
> Other contests may specify differently.
>
> Randy K5ZD
>
> > On Apr 5, 2023, at 9:57 PM, lstoskopf@cox.net wrote:
> >
> > 38.80835593087689, -97.51169124812611 (or so!)
> >
> > A long question for which I'm afraid I know the answer!
> >
> > I own 80 acres at the above location known as Iron Mound, near Salina,
> Kansas. I have operated from there for the past 30 plus years. I'm not a
> rabid contester, but enjoy working the SSB contests as activity events.
> Usually on 20, 15, and 10M as I get tired (at age 84!). I've used
> everything from dipoles, Moxon's, Inv V, etc at various heights. My usual
> antenna is a 4 el. SteppIR at 40 ft positioned near the NE edge. Using
> manual slope measurements, K6TU's info and HFTA it seems that no matter the
> band, about 45 ft height gets me a signal on the far horizon to wherever.
> We're using slope, not height for gain and this gives a single lobe to EU.
> With 1500 watts I'm almost always able to break a pile first call and hear
> stations early in the openings, sometimes getting a comment like, "Is the
> band open to central US?" It's usually pretty quiet. So I've been playing
> the slopes since way back reading Moxon. I'm able in a few hours to work
> all of the big boys and seldom call CQ a
> > s I'm not good at handling self generated piles.
> >
> > I have a large antenna junk pile and some resources. The SteppIR is
> down again after two days of 50+ mph Kansas wind up the slope. The dog and
> I were hiking the other day and I'm dreaming: Just for fun, what if I put
> a Moxon on the NE corner to EU, another on the SE corner taking care of SA,
> and a third on the NW corner for JA and VK and things in between. I work
> them OK from the fixed antenna, but ... Problem is that those 3 locations
> are all about 250 ft or so from the shack. Critters eat coax. Big coax is
> expensive. etc. I've got two rigs but putting linears out there brings on
> the power problem.
> >
> > So what if I run some old RG8 to each, calibrate the loss to each
> antenna, and just run the shack linear with enough power to get 100 watts
> to the selected antenna? Then I could run in the 100 watt category? I'm
> splitting hairs and am not going to win anything, but just having fun. Or
> should just run wide open and play with the big boys with several hundred
> feet of coax loss in line? The choice latter makes a difference in which
> coax I choose to sacrifice.
> >
> > Who knows the REAL rules on power? Thanks, N0UU
> > _______________________________________________
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> > CQ-Contest@contesting.com
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