W5WMU and LOUDNESS

[Steven.M.London at att.com]

I am quite ambivalent on this subject.  For years, I have thought that W5WMU
was just TOO loud for any antenna system.  I enjoyed reading K5GA's
description of Pat's antenna farm.  Very impressive.  However, after reading
Bill's e-mail twice, I noticed that a description of Pat's amplifier(s)
and an outright denial of running excessive power were missing.

On the other hand, I moved to a new QTH about a year ago.  For my first
contest season at the new QTH, all I had was a KT-34XA at 65 feet.
I quickly found out that 65 feet is at least an S-unit better
for stateside on 20 meters, than the the XA at 88 feet was at the old QTH.
In fact, I gave up trying to run W6 in the CQP
because of all the harassment I got from non-contesting W6's on 20
meter SSB about how I "must be running illegal power", because they never
heard a signal that loud before.  Colorado to W6 is a perfect 1-hop distance
on 20 meters, just as W5WMU to anywhere east of the Rockies is a perfect
1-hop distance.


In summary, a year ago, I thought of W5WMU as one of those "shady characters".
Now I'm not so sure I should be so accusatory.

Steve London, N2IC/0
n2ic at longs.att.com

>From len at ariel.coe.neu.edu (Leonard Kay)  Thu Jul 14 22:03:05 1994
From: len at ariel.coe.neu.edu (Leonard Kay) (Leonard Kay)
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 17:03:05 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: True Confessions (was Re:  Big Power)
Message-ID: <9407142103.AA00361 at ariel.coe.neu.edu>

>>	K1DG wrote:
>>
>>	> I will now confess to  using high power in a contest. Once.
>>
>>	If this was such an ethical conundrum, why didn't you just turn 
>>        the exciter power level down to where the amp was under 1500 W ??????
>>
>>	Paul, NX1H
>>
>>Gee, this was the first time anyone has openly admitting to using
>>high power, don't be too harsh on him.   He was an op among many
>>at someone else's station, and I suppose you do what the boss tells
>>you to do.
>>
>>I now freely confess that I drove at 101 mph for a few seconds
>>in the 70s out in west TX at night.  Phew, I feel better now.
>>
>>Derek AA5BT, G3NMX
>>oo7 at astro.as.utexas.edu
>>

Yeah, well, I once tore the tag off a mattress.

Len KB2R
len at ariel.coe.neu.edu

>From Trey Garlough <GARLOUGH at TGV.COM>  Thu Jul 14 22:45:49 1994
From: Trey Garlough <GARLOUGH at TGV.COM> (Trey Garlough)
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 14:45:49 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Big Power
Message-ID: <774222349.68609.GARLOUGH at TGV.COM>

> > I was out of town on a business trip that resulted in my being away over the
> > weekend of a major contest that I really like. I managed to find a seat at 
> > a multi-multi, only to find out that one of the positions ran pretty big
> > power (don't ask me where - I won't tell you). I operated that position for
> > a while (my band went dead), and ran guys pretty fast with the gas.
> 
> If this was such an ethical conundrum, why didn't you just turn the exciter
> power level down to where the amp was under 1500 W ??????

It's all relative, and as a guest you have to mind your manners.  It is a 
religious issue after all.  If you visit someone's home in some kind of a 
social setting and they have strong religious beliefs that run contrary to 
your religious beliefs, do you

1) make a big scene and stomp out of the house?
2) immediately leave?
3) remain, but remove all religious icons from view and 
   stash them in the closet?
4) make the most of the situation, then decline future 
   invitations

Personally, I'm with Doug and I would elect #4.  After all, multiops
are, in part, social occasions, and I typically try to keep my 
religion to myself in such circumstances.

--Trey, WN4KKN/6