:bdh: :bdh: :bdh: :bdh: :bdh: :bdh:
i used to be very confused-i had a MACO wattmeter. how did i know if i was reading bird watts or dosy watts? well, my 100 watt ar3500 always went to 'THIS' line on the maco. when i added a dx1600, it went to 'THIS' line. over time, different amps, etc, 'THIS' line would change to 'THIS'.
eventually, i blew up the poor MACO. what to do? i went to a PALSTAR. eventually, that one blew up, too. not having the $$ for a bird, and the dosy didn't read enough watts, i went to a coaxial dynamics. it looked like a bird, but 'coaxial dynamics watts' didn't have the same ring.
over all those years, i never bragged about how many watts i had, because i really didn't know how many i had, nor if they were bird or dosy watts. what i always did was, when somebody was getting out better then me, i went to a bigger amp. didn't matter how many watts, how to read 'em or what to call 'em. and you know what, that worked just fine for me.
today, on cb, i run whatever i run & only look at the wattmeter to tell me if i'm 'matched' or not. on the ham bands, i run a 100 watt radio that has made 96.7% of contacts i've ever attempted. and i don't even have the wattmeter facing me.
so what do i call my watts today? enufftagetout watts.
and btw, usb38 around the northeast is a fantastic channel for gaining info on bird vs dosy, different modulation facts, swr info, you name it, radio info galore is available at your fingertips!!!! and half of these guys are general class hams!!!! what test did they take???? i musta missed something!!