[CQ-Contest] QRP cheating

[Jim Brown]

On Sun,5/17/2015 4:53 PM, Trent Sampson wrote:
> Saying "In all due respects" does not change the fact that you have a bigoted view on something that should not be in the public arena...
> In Australia we would call your statements defamous plain and simple.

I disagree. Herb's observations have a quite solid engineering basis, 
and he carefully laid them out. By contrast, the posts attempting to 
explain them away were nothing more than pseudo-science and techno-babble.

Like Herb, I worked as a broadcast engineer, and not only computed field 
strengths for AM broadcast stations, measured them at specific points to 
verify that both the transmitter and directional antenna system were 
within their licensed field strength. In the old days (before "small 
government") when the FCC still did serious enforcement, engineers of AM 
broadcast stations had to regularly make those measurements.

And in those old days, before the FCC knocked on your door, they would 
park out front and measure your field strength, then come inside and 
measure your transmitter's input power (which was how it was specified 
in those days).

There are, of course, site-related differences that could account for a 
10-15 dB advantage of one station over another. A horizontally polarized 
antenna system on a mountain top certainly does that on the HF bands -- 
I've worked FD with 5W from a 5,000 ft peak inland from Monterey, CA and 
been able to hold a run frequency on CW for at least half of the time. 
And, of course, a vertical at the water's edge plays like gangbusters in 
the direction of that seawater.

73, Jim K9YC