Hi Jim,
K9YC wrote:
>Hmmm right back. I have to use a muffler on my car, to protect
for air quality and reduce the noise it makes. That muffler wears
out every few years. I have to buy plugs every year or two. Should
I switch to a car that doesn't need either? Should I switch to a
bicycle that requires neither?
I suggest you check out the design of your next car. One
designed properly will not wear out a muffler every few years.
I have a 1993 BMW that has its original muffler, but my '66 Pontiac
GTO suffered the exact syndrome you mentioned. Bicycling is good
for your health...I use mine to make the 5 mile trip to the Post
Office each day.
>That vacuum relay allows me to operate with a higher degree of
sensitivity to what is going on around me, which, as noted in my
earlier post, I see as my responsibility when I choose to run high
power. I see that vacuum relay, and that muffler, as part of my
cost of ownership of that amplifier and that automobile. It is part
of my responsibility to be a good neighbor.
If you mean the difference between hearing between the dits
at 30 WPM versus between words, I suppose that makes you a better
citizen. In the real world, I doubt it makes one bit of difference
since we are talking milliseconds difference.
>And now you have shared with us your reasoning for the foot
switch, I have another rhetorical question. Would YOU be a more
sensitive operator with a fast vacuum relay instead the foot
switch? Is your reason for avoiding the relay that you don't want
to have a failure in the middle of a contest, or is it the COST of
the relay? If it is the latter, I would say you are being cheap and
not factoring in your responsibility to other hams, especially
since I have learned that good surplus vacuum relays are widely
available for $40. If it is the former, I see it as being conservative
with respect to equipment failure.
I answered your first question above...IMHO it would make NO
difference in contesting or DX-ing. Cost is not the issue...reliability
is. Of course if I changed out my vacuum relay before every contest it
could become an issue of cost (~25 contests in the past 5 years at $40
each is ~$1000). BTW, how long does it take you to change out your
Titan relay? One of only two DX contests I lost on 10m was due to
a failure in a right-angle coax connector. Diagnosing and replacing it
cost me 14 minutes of prime Saturday morning EU run time (and ~35 QSO's
at the ~150/hr rate around 1430Z) which also cost me that contest
(2001 ARRL DX CW):
Call Q's Mult Hr 2R Score Club
W/VE SOSB/10 HP
K1ZZ 1786 111 594,738 YCCC
W4ZV 1752 113 27 593,928 PVRC
Regarding your comments on contests, I think you are a bit off
the mark about RST's. The WAE DOES require perfect copy of unique
info (serial numbers), not to mention callsigns (which every contest
requires). Most of the QRP contests I've recently entered do NO
log-checking of ANY kind, so there are really no checks on what you
copy, unlike the extensive UBN checks in all the major contests.
Time to go call my antenna supplier who installed the 160 meter
Yagi I bought from him...the light at the 500' level needs changing...
and time for my amplifier man to replace the 4CX50000A tube in my
commercial amp, which really helps me hear the weak ones on 160. ;-)
73, Bill W4ZV
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