Running massive linears.What's the point??

[johnkyrle]

OKay,just seen a 1600 watt amp advertised on here for mobile use.Mobile?You would need a seperate charging system on your vehicle to even run that amp!And what mobile antenna will cope with that power?I suppose take a drive on plate,(I have on) and use a Gainmaster/Imax 2000 on a pole or use a handy metal 5 bar gate as a ground plane.
Point is,why run that much power?Yes,people all over the world can here you.I can here you sat on a hill in Gloucestershire but can I QSO with you?NO.Why?Because I only have 60 watts and a K40 so there is no way,unless sporadic is running very well,that you will ever hear me.
Surely then,the point of running so much power is useless?Yes,you can get out but all the stations that are trying to QSO with you are shouting in vain because you cannot hear them.
Or is that just me?

[dt307]

its over kill no doubt once you get to say 150w things get stupid and no point
to go up 1 s point and your starting with 150w your looking at about 6bd 150x2x2
150w to 600w to get 1 spoint

....ive worked at least 10 divisions in the last 2 weeks before i went away on a mk1 cobra with 10w ssb into a mag mount.
conditions is whats important i worked xmas island usa canada brazil most of europe india japan ect ect with 150w and the same mag mount.

if you cant hear them you cant work them period

[LeakyFeeder]

We have a similar problem in the biking community....blokes of a certain age who must have the fastest, loudest bike on the manor....the type of person that tells anyone in earshot just how fast n powerful a bike they have....yet when u get to know em their riding skills are lacking just as much as their social skills...and they always talk out the corner of their mouth

Its all talk...being the big fish in a muddy puddle...the 'look at me' culture imported from the States...

Oh well a fool and his money........

[recoil]

its like that in my area people running a few hundred watts to talk to there mates down the street or the next village that's a few miles away.most I run from home is 10 watts or if its local half a watt.ive got a few amps but they only get used as a last resort to get over the local muppets if there talking on 19 or 555 .

[Mudslinger]

One person I speak to lives 7 miles away but I need to run a fair bit of power for him to hear me as he gets very bad local QRM.

[Tim]

I often hear a station in Wales who when operating gives me an S3, he's in mid Wales and I hear him telling no-one in particular, 'I'm running 500W, I know you're there but I can't make you out, where are you?, can you turn your power up?, can you turn your beam? Exactly as the OP say's, what's the point?

[Admiral]

It's part of the hobby, probably willy-waving at that power level.

The challenge is to get a 2000 mile contact on 1w and a Heath Robinson antenna you knocked up from bits and bobs from your shed.
In my experience, people who own an OTT amp to almost guarantee a contact are very close to giving up the hobby and usually jack it in soon after as they have lost their radio mojo.

[Mattylad]

Bear in mind that the guy selling the amp is in cyprus.
He does mention the requirements you have, however over there I suspect that they all have big amps, big twigs and no planning enforcement.

[NightProwler]

I recently came to the conclusion that amps are a pain in the arse so I stopped using them and only use what the radio does. Amps can be dirty and noisey, Cause RF in the shack and all sorts of trouble. Im much happier now making a contact without my boots on

[speeddemon]

[NightProwler]

Eh?

[speeddemon]

Keep calm and turn on the amp ......

[slamjam]

There's some ham stations in the UK running 6kw +

[speeddemon]

when in doubt pwr up

[Charlie Hotel]

When I was about 12 I got a 400 watt Zetagi valve powered amp with a built in pre-amp from a car boot sale. I didn't have a clue what I was doing with it and thought I was the cb king (being very young and immature) Like most muppets on muppet band I used it to talk to another station about 4 miles away who, in fairness I could just about see her house on top of the hill. I only ever used it on channel 10 to talk to her.

That being said everyone in my local area could hear me on just about every other channel due to bleed over. I soon became very unpopular and an official looking man came round as well as a couple of local breakers. The official looking man was complaining that somebody in the area was interfering with the mobile nurse call system at the very local nursing home (my mum was also complaining about our wireless home phone and tv too). My Dad being a bit more intelligent than he looked told the guy he didn't know anything about CB and the silver rod had been up there for years before we moved in.

My Dad promptly confiscated the burner and gave me a good rifting for having it (he didn't know has I'd hidden it well) the problem was then solved, and equality was restored in the area I lived in.

Moral of the story I didn't need a burner to talk locally (or further to be fair) I thought I did as people on the radio always talked about burners but never really had them I therefore thought I needed one too. The burner went back to the car boot sale and was never sold after numerous trips so my Mum chucked it in the tip in the end!