Hi Bill and List -
The answer is pretty simple. There are many folks that simply
cannot spend *real* money on amateur radio. Other things get in
the way. Mundane items like car repairs, food, school supplies
and taxes. These people need one radio to "do it all". A radio
like the FT817 has a very small footprint and costs little.
Should more power be "required" its relatively inexpensive to
add an amp as an incremental cost item later. For many folks,
radios such as an Orion or even a new FT920 may as well be on
the Moon. An FT817 gets you all mode and all band (less 220) for
1.8 to 440 MHz *and* shortwave *and* FM broadcast for less than
$650. It may not be the best, but its tough to beat to get 'in
the game' for not much. That 5W can be a bit of a liability tho.
An example would be an FT817 at home into a dipole on 40 CW.
This is quite effective. To come to the same ERP level on phone
would require 30 to 50 watts. While some folks have run 5W HF
mobile, I wouldn't consider it with much less than 50 watts.
There are places where a 10 db amp for a QRP rig makes 'sense',
especially if that QRP radio is your only radio.
Last, the increment from 5 to 50 watts is 10 db. It might not
sound like much, but its a huge increase in power and SNR for a
weak signal mode such as CW. Radios such as the FT817 may be
'QRP' but that does not mean that is the intent of the
purchaser.
For many folks, a radio such as the FT817 is close to the only
radio they own (or, perhaps a K2 or Argonaut). I can see where
the addition of a linear to the 50W level is a legitimate
pursuit.
Wayne
VE3CE
Want an HF Amp kit?
http://www.hfprojects.com/
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