PowerGenius Shipping Update

Tim VE6SH · April 2018

The number of operators from Aisa in contests is markedly reduced from years past. Move north of the 49th and issues with propagation become even more of a challenge and EU runs over the pole are often very limited.

Tim VE6SH

Ria · April 2018

DX contests will always favor NA East Coast, except for Asia centric contests.

Domestic contests also heavily feature regional competition. NAQP, sweepstakes, etc. and East Coast doesn't do as well due to the density of mults (New England) and distance from the rest of the US and Canada.

VHF contests also tend to favor the central states, but not really. They are interesting because you can have two kinds - E Skip opening or work the locals. K2EZ likes the work the locals better as a rover because she can move around and have a predictable rove, and she pretty much knows all of them.

So I think there is something for every geographical area in this game.

But to imply no skill is needed is flat out wrong. In CQWW we saw the top 10 shift around because of accuracy. When dealing with high rates it's a lot easier to make mistakes and CQWW has penalties for incorrect copying.

Larry W0NQW · April 2018

Can we stay on the topic of this thread?

Bill-N6RV · April 2018

You know all you have to do is look at how many countries within the a 4000 mile circle from your QTH and do the same with someone in Southern California. The difference is astounding. West Coast has about 15 countries and the East Coast has almost 4 times as many. Take into account the population density of hams in Europe and it is obvious that the West Coast is at a disadvantage.

Ria · April 2018

It's more complicated than that. Contesting is also a question of who you decide to compete against. I can't win against the super stations in Maine, and you can't win against the East Coast. Unless you compete in a lightly competed category (single band, for example) or you compete for regional plaques like zone 3.

But this is not universally true:

Living on the East Coast is like being in a telephone booth

Bill-N6RV · April 2018

It is not that complicated! Just see how many world records are held by West Coast stations. Only a few have won a DX contest from Southern California in the 50 years I have been contesting.

Ria · April 2018

Of course. And look at how many in Sweepstakes, NAQP, All Asian, JIDX, etc. it's won by those out west or in the middle of the country. Even WPX SOSB/20 (a very competitive category) is often won by W7WA, and sometimes K7RL makes a high top 10 in WPX. But if you judge contesting just by judging CQWW and ARRL DX, you're not getting the whole picture. Yes, we get it, we have an advantage. But it's not an automatic win.

Do you want me to feel guilty for living out here and operating from here? Because it sure sounds like it. Trust me, if I could, I would move out of NJ and live in middle America which aligns more closely with my values, or the Southern US where I have family to lean on.

Anyway I'm done with this, and SORRY to bombard this thread addressing the W6 contest jealousy issues. But I'm done.

W0BIZ · April 2018

I haven't either, made my deposit at the Orlando Hamcation for a 6400
John/W0BIZ

W2PP · April 2018

I would like to see a detailed official update on the PGXL frankly. Today would be good.
Peter

Bill-N6RV · April 2018

Wow... ad hominem! One way to avert this sort of discussion is to not start it!!!! Avoid diatribes regarding how great you are at contesting. The message you should have received is stop boasting!!!

Another point... my family and my values are middle American. They were born there and I along with 1/3 this state voted along those lines. To make a backhanded attack about where someone you do not know lives is rude and obviously uncultured. Furthermore implying that they are jealous is something someone with middle American values would never do!!

That said the point I was making is that East Coast is advantaged over the West. I would extend that to say both coasts are advantaged over the center. No whining. No complaining. Just facts. Don't make something out of it that it is not!

Ria · April 2018

Why even mention the coastal difference? People say you only achieved A because you have advantage B. That’s essentially what you’re saying. I don’t buy it. That’s not very nice to put down people who work hard at something.

Am I not allowed to be proud of what my station and the Flex equipment can do in a competitive environment? I think that I am. By the way, Chris N6WM is in california and did quite well with a single band effort, AND he even showed off his results in RTTY roundup here which he did quite well in. I see you said nothing about that. Not that you should anyway.

Also, in 2018 it’s not like anyone is preventing you from moving or even guest operating outside of California. You choose to live with that limitation. You can remote to the east coast and enjoy the advantage here. Beware though, you won’t be the only big station out here and winning is not guaranteed.

Bill-N6RV · April 2018

Compare the number of posts you have made to others on the subject! I have contested outside the US! I do not remote! I enjoy competing against myself. I have have been #1 North America from the Caribbean in the CQWW. I have operated from major West Coast contest stations. I have been doing this for 5 decades. I am not a big station and I do well enough. I do not whine about N6RO, W6YI, or any of the large contest and DX stations that have been in my region (W6BH, W6CCP, W6BA, N6AA, N6RT, N6DX, K6SVL, W6AM...). I celebrate their accomplishments as I hope they do with stations not as capable as theirs. Some were in my neighborhood much closer than 20 miles. I just do my thing!

I am out!

Gerald-K5SDR · April 2018

I want to apologize for the lack of updates. We are as busy as the proverbial one armed paper hanger around here so time flies.

As I previously communicated, we have a much larger than usual beta test group for Power Genius XL. Since my last letter sent to the backlog customers, we have been busy upgrading 100% of the beta group units. The first ones went out shortly after my last communication and the last ones will most likely go out on Monday. Given the sheer volume of units in the field, it has taken that long to get the units shipped in, upgraded, and shipped back. We wanted to have at least two weeks of beta testing with the upgraded units before GA release.

Many of the upgraded units have been in operation for a that long now so I expect that we will get at thorough update from the project manager, Graham Haddock, early next week. He reported today in our company meeting that there are no hardware issues reported from the field testing so far after the upgrade. You can see that Ria has been using the amp with great success for a few weeks as reported earlier in this thread.

Once Graham gives his report next week, I think we will be ready to give more specific delivery information.

Thanks for your patience. It is a great product but we wanted to make sure it is bullet proof before we began broader shipments.

73,
Gerald