[CQ-Contest] Radio Laws of Propagation....Have they been re-invented?

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

The conversation of what power number to use is as frequent as what 
check is ok in SS.

Does it really matter what you sent as long as it was the same number 
the entire contest and actually claim the power category you were in...  
If I send 100 and am running 1000 and claim HP does it matter?  If so why?

Using an odd power number in the past might have been helpful at 
reducing dupes before the advent of contest grade logging programs.

 From V47 long ago we gave out KW or thousand on SSB.  On 10m we might 
have been getting 800w out on 80 maybe a bit more than 1000.

The issue at hand is the accusation of a station running far more power 
than is being claimed.

I had a huge raging pileup on 10m from J6M and I tried turning down the 
power to 1 watt to help with pileup control, thinking that many stations 
would not be able to hear 1 watt and the pile up would thin.  That 
tactic did not work.

Can you really tell how much power a station is running?  No. This is 
one rule that is entrusted to the integrity of the operator(s) and many 
are more inclined to cheat than earn it the right way.

While this is one case, I have heard of many many others using the 
Italian KW's, the Russian KW's etc.  Has anything ever been done? Not to 
my knowledge.

With similar antennas and very close proximity I would say that the 
station in question has some explaining to do.  My gut tells me that 
Herb knows more than what he told us.  I think many of us know more 
about these situations and stay silent.  Staying silent is not a 
solution and becomes a silent affirmation of what has been done.

Mike W0MU

On 2/27/2014 6:51 AM, Zack Widup wrote:
> Another thing is that I've received all sorts of oddball power levels
> from people in the ARRL DX contest over the years. 999, 995, 763, 155,
> 37 ... I have often had a passing thought about how they measured it
> and how accurate they were. But I also thought if anyone really cared
> how close they were except for the contesting lawyers. I would think
> that if they were within 5% or so, it wouldn't matter. And power out
> of an amp varies across a band or from band to band. Someone may be
> getting 500 watts out on 80 meters and start saying "500" in the
> contest, but then on 10 meters they can only coax 350 out of the amp.
> But they've already started using the number "500." You could say they
> should have planned beforehand and checked the lowest power they would
> get with everything cranked up and then adjust power down on the bands
> where they got more. But if your short-term memory is as bad as mine
> is getting, it would be easy to make this mistake. I don't even
> remember what I did 10 minutes ago. :-)
>
> If someone is reporting a power that is different enough to put them
> in a different category in the contest, though, that's a different
> story. Saying 100 watts and running 500 or a thousand would be a rules
> violation. I guess that's the question at hand.
>
> 73, Zack W9SZ
>
> On 2/27/14, Zack Widup <w9sz.zack at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Yes, good point, Paul. I was just indicating that he wasn't sending 42
>> in the contest.
>>
>> 73, Zack W9SZ
>>
>> On 2/27/14, Paul O'Kane <pokane at ei5di.com> wrote:
>>>> I just checked my logs. I worked KP4KE on three bands. On all three
>>>> bands he sent me the power level of 100.
>>> Hello Zack,
>>>
>>> Whether he says he was running 42 watts or 100 watts makes
>>> no difference.  The charge is that he was louder than other
>>> stations running 1500 watts.
>>>
>>> The issue is - how much power was he actually running and,
>>> if it was more than 150 watts, why did he not enter the HP
>>> section?
>>>
>>>> compare, for Saturday February 15,
>>>> 2014, the signal levels of KP4KE (42 watts) and NP2P (1.5KW) especially
>>>> on the low bands. Antennas on the low band are essentially the same.
>>>> KP4KE claims (3830 report) that has a dipole at 60' on 80 and so does
>>>> NP2P. (NP2P is 65 feet ABG.  He claims on 40 meters a delta loop at 70'
>>>> and NP2P has a dipole at 65 feet.  Now do you know how his claim of 42
>>>> watts to these antennas can outperform similar antennas into the
>>>> mainland locations against a station that is running (NP2P) 1500 watts?
>>> 73,
>>> Paul EI5DI
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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