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HOW MUCH IS TO MUCH "POWER" ?

Switch Kit

Switch Kit

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2005
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Is it truly the more the merrier ? Is it sometimes overkill ? They say you need 4 x more to make a differance on the other end of your transmission ? 1KW ? 10KW ? 500 Watts ? 200 Watts ? ....OK ...IM no more or no less then a CB radio operator ,I've never personally ran much more then 400 or so watts pep in 20 years around this hobby ......even when I only ran 200 or so watts pep it was always more then enough .....it seemed to me weather it was a base station or a motor car that it always gave me enough to do my thing and I honestly didn't see much a differance between 200 and 400 watts pep as far as local or skip shooting was concerned ......What do you suppose would truly be the differance if I decide to go for the gusto and run 1600 watts pep ? (4 x 400) Do you think that I would be that much more surprised ? So I might be able to fry my neighbors better or step on my locals for something to do ? .....none of that really impresses me much. ......I figure it this way ......I could always talk to whom ever it was I could hear long distance locally on 200 watts pep without to much interferance weather or not it was a weaky squeaky copy or not (base station operations) .......it seems as if I can do the same thing in the motor car if I can truly get in edge wise. So what is it really all about concerning mega watts used ? Is it just to be the big boy on the block ? Is it to be able to shoot the best skip in the land ? or as far as skip is concerned ? does 800 watts truly make that much more differance then 200 watts ? Skip is a very strange thing ....I've talked all over the world it would seem without to many complacation on 200 watts .........So how much is truly to much or is there no such thing ? Thanks .... Switch Kit (oh ,and as usual,that good ole antenna is always in the back of my mind (-: )
 

You dont need 4x more....You need to double your power to notice. The first 100 watts makes a big differance. Just for easy figuring, if you went from 4 watts to 250 you would notice a 7 fold increase......Now to notice the same 7 fold increase you would need to go from 250 watts to 16,000 watts
 
Barefoot 20W--talk local, shoot some skip, get stepped on at will.

small linear 100W--talk local, shoot skip, step on a few, get stepped on now and then.

medium linear 400-500W--Walk the local band, shoot skip, step on a few more, get stepped on every once in a while.

big linear ~1.5KW--Rule the local band, shoot skip, step on almost everyone, get stepped on rarely.

5-10 KW box--The Local Boss, catalyze skip, step on everyone, get stepped on never.

50 KW--The Local Boss, invent skip, step on everyone, even the big three.

200 KW+--thats too much, but still not enough. You would need a MW.
 
Too much power is an amount of power which exceeds that necessary to suitably carry on a specific conversation with a specific other party. To some extent depending on installation the antenna can be a better upgrade than power, since the improved antenna can help your RX whereas the extra power only potentially helps the distance you can TX.

Just my opinion so nobody take too much offense at it (or take offense, if you so desire)...
 
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Re: Power

Guess I'm more of a QRP guy. Whatever the rig comes out with the box works for me. I remember making a contact on 10m, while driving to work (several years ago) and I wasn't putting out anymore than 15 watts, but it was fun to talk to S. Africa with such low power.
 
IMHO the only reason for running real high power is for bragging rights and ego.Some people need to be the big dog and get a cheap thrill out of stepping on someone else just to prove that they can.Others are quite content with running 100-200 watts and having a ball working the world via skip.As for skip,power will make a small differance but it is all in the conditions.I once worked Rodriques Island in the Indian Ocean via longpath and did it with 100 watts and an MFJ Hamstick on 20m while driving to work one morning.The distance was 15,000 miles and solid copy.Got him on the first call.That really gave me bragging rights.Had I done it with 1500-2500 watts and a beam then no big deal.Remember that all the power in the world will not help you hear the other guy any better.
 
well i guess i beleive in a little bit of powa. It is kinda nice that when dx starts to roll you are the one in your area they hear first. no competing with the locals in your area. ya hear it ya talk it.. i have found this around 500 watts
 
frmboybuck said:
You dont need 4x more....You need to double your power to notice. The first 100 watts makes a big differance. Just for easy figuring, if you went from 4 watts to 250 you would notice a 7 fold increase......Now to notice the same 7 fold increase you would need to go from 250 watts to 16,000 watts
Click to expand...

It takes FOUR times the original power for the receiving station to notice. Thus, 4 X4 =16 watts makes for just ONE S-unit. Then you'd have to go to 16 x 4=64 watts for another S-unit. Then 64 x 4=256 watts for another. So now you are at a 3 S-unit gain. Even then, the benefits of power aren't all *that* great. Like some have said, it is mostly an ego thing, a filler for something missing in one's life :D . As long as you can get heard, whassa the big deal? I have two amps (ham) and both haven't been off the shelf in 6 months. :p The band one is on and the MUF has more to do with it than the actual power. While 10/11 Meters may be dead, 20 and 40 are likely running, so I can go down there and join ECARS and MMSN.

CWM
 
Now I don't have 30 years in this game BUT I do know that when I'm running barefoot and I hit the switch people can DEFINATLY tell the differance? SO tell me again how a little extra power is not much of a benefit? Mr. CW you sir know better, why would you post such a boguess untruth?Everyone out there knows when someone flips a switch even on one of them little bitty amp's.


Come on is there anyone out here who dosn't know this?


Chuck
 
Charlie Marbles,what CW said IS true.You just can't change the laws of physics. :roll: When you "hit the switch" how much power are you running? Even just going from 4 watts to 100 watts will increase your signal a little over two S units.Yes noticable.Going from 100 watts to 200 watts will hardley be noticed.Even going to 400 watts from 100 will only gain another one S unit.Been there and done that many times when changing from 5 watts to 100 watts during contacts.The increase in signal strength assumes of course that the S meter is properly calibrated and in fact most on CB radios are not.Just because the meter jumps up 4 S-units does not mean that you gained an extra 24 dB.
 
Decibel ratings are a measure of how someone "hears" a difference in a sound. To hear a difference in a received signal, you would have to quadruple (4x) your power. The S-meter gives you a visual indication of this (S-3 going to S-4).

The down side to running "too much power" is this:

-it creates a lot of trash on the band for those of us using it.
I get trashed by a guy in Florida who talks on Ch. 34 AM, while I am in Pennsylvania talking on Ch. 37 LSB. His signal is so wide, and full of unwanted harmonics, that it splatters easily from Ch. 28 to Ch.40. This is just ignorant, selfish behavior to destroy the band for everyone else.


-It exposes you and others to serious health risks from the excess RF. It is much more efficient to wrap your lips around the barrel of a 12 ga. shotgun, rather than die a slow death from cancer caused by RF exposure. If you feel the need to run excess power, step on people, and trash the band, do us all a favor and take the honorable way out instead.


-It draws attention to you, especially when you are coming through family & neighbor's TVs & phone lines. It is my opinion that life is better lived without drawing attention to yourself, and doing the things you want to do without bothering others.


To answer the question "How much is too much?"...I would say anything over 350 watts out of a decent antenna (base or mobile) offering some gain is about the most any of us should do. Of course, always run the least amount of power necessary, but if we all kept it 350w or less, we could all enjoy the band more, you would definitely be heard, and if someone on Ch. 34 annoys you, you could change up or down a channel to get away from it, rather than it splattering half of the 40 channel allocation.
 
CHARLEYMARBLES said:
Now I don't have 30 years in this game BUT I do know that when I'm running barefoot and I hit the switch people can DEFINATLY tell the differance? SO tell me again how a little extra power is not much of a benefit? Mr. CW you sir know better, why would you post such a boguess untruth?Everyone out there knows when someone flips a switch even on one of them little bitty amp's.


Come on is there anyone out here who dosn't know this?


Chuck
Click to expand...

He happens to be correct. And the other posters expained it. So who doesn't know what, Mr Marbles? Suggest you do some reading on radio theory before you jump on remarks made by someone who knows what he is talking about. You just "think" it works.
 

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