[TenTec] A new QRP radio

[Bill Meahan]

On Sat, 24 Nov 2001 20:38:49 -0700
"Kenneth Crips" <w7itc@hotmail.com> wrote:

[Comments about battery-portable power consumption snipped]

> Kenneth A. Crips, Amateur Radio Station W7ITC,
> Home of the Chew Crew.  Razz, Beezie, and Morgan.
> Cheyenne, Wyoming's Irish Terriers with an attitude.
> 

I always grin at how much the QRP crowd (of which I used to be a more
active member) fusses about size and battery drain as if all of them
were backpacking after being dropped off by a bush plane 1,000 miles
from nowhere. IF that's the kind of thing you do, then of course size
and power are critical. But most QRP'ers operate from their shack or, at
most, from their car/truck/RV in the parking lot of Taco Bell ("Run For
The Border" contest, et. al) or an "all-features" campground.

Recognizing this, I find it hard to understand why _all_ QRP rigs must
fit the backpacker criteria lest they be sneered at for being "too big"
or "too power hungry." At home, or in the parking lot :-), I like bigger
knobs, a readable display, a few creature features etc. and if the rig
isn't as power-efficient as a backpacker special, so what? It's still
using less total power than the desk lamp. If I ever go on an
"adventure" I'll simply have to take one of my other rigs. Until then, a
516 (or my Omni-A Series B cranked down to under 5 watts out) will do
just fine, especially while I'm eating my burrito.

Kudos to Ten-Tec for the 516!

-- 
Bill Meahan  WA8TZG         wmeahan@wa8tzg.org
"Always do right. This will gratify some people 
   and astonish the rest." -- Mark Twain