>>This Alpha is a GREAT field day machine.
>
> Yeah, until you actually have to lift it and carry it to Field Day.
*** All I had to lift was my index finger to punch the "on" button :).
But yeah, it's a heavy beast.
Not
> to mention that using it drops your power multiplier to 1 (which doesn't
> really multiply anything). Hihi. Sounds like you're enjoying the new
> amp. Have fun in FD!
*** That was the idea. I didn't and don't expect to win anything. Already
submitted my logs to ARRL. I figured maybe I'd get a couple new states
toward a WAS or something. Part of "fun" for me is that when I call people,
they actually hear me :). I took breaks for supper, snacks, coffee, and
even slept through the night. Not a serious effort at all.
I did not get the impression that my signal was in any way
overpowering. I was strong into the south pacific - worked three
Hawaiian stations and they all commented on my strong signal - one said
I was "20 over 9". But I had trouble getting into New England.
Couldn't get
Rhode Island or New Hampshire, although I did make it into Vermont this
morning. Need to put more radials on the NE side of the vertical. The
QTH
is on the side of a west-facing hill, and I can see San Francisco Bay out
the front windows of the house. I think the Bay helps - pulls the RF down
a bit.
I don't think FD was very stressful to the equipment - especially since
I didn't try to "own" a frequency and CQ on it. Instead, I did "hunt &
pounce" up and down the bands. Got me QSOs pretty much as fast as I
could
log them. The transmissions are very short, and you're mostly tuning and
listening. Keeping it low stress, I mostly copied people's info before
calling them - so then I just had to worry about them hearing ME.
I might be a little more serious about it next year. Should have my
mini-quad up by that time, and the off-grid solar system up in my shed.
The planned off-grid system will be about 500W worth of cells, feeding
an inverter and a battery charger. Should easily handle a 100W
transceiver and a computer, and even give me an hour or so of operating
after dark,
or in the morning before the sun comes up. BTW, the off-grid system is
mostly for the well pump....
- Jerry
>
> Mike N1TA
>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [Amps] Alpha 78 and field day
> From: "Jerry Kaidor" <jerry@tr2.com>
> Date: Sun, June 24, 2012 1:43 am
> To: amps@contesting.com
>
> Guys,
>
> I'm doing a little casual FD operating from my house. This Alpha is a
> GREAT field day machine. With the bandpass tuning, it's like just
> having
> a high power transceiver. No fuss no muss. Just sits there and hums
> along.
> But I think on CW the house lights blinking are going to give me a
> headache :).
>
> - Jerry "who needs 220" Kaidor
>
>
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