Any update on resuming PGXL deliveries?

Pat N6PAT

fyi...my QTH is upstate NY. I started working on 160 in March with a compromised antenna running just 100 watts via **** Radio Shack RG58 and got WAS in just ten days. Then added a 250 watt RM Italy HLA 305V and racked up 86 countries so far.

Don't buy into the hype that you need gigantic antennas and towers coupled with 1,500 watt amps to work 160. That's a lot of bunk. I just using a Hustler 6BTV vertical that I added a 19 foot wire at the top for an inverted L

Why is it that the guys with the biggest and tallest antennas always need to run the most power? Logic dictates that if those antennas are so good then only a few watts would be necessary.

Larry - WA7LZO

Somebody asked why anyone "needs" 1500 watts? Well, Ham radio is a hobby, and the gamut of interest runs from QRP to QRO. As far as "needing" anything, heck if we go down that trail, who needs HF Ham radio to talk to another person? It would be oh, so much easier and efficient to pick a name at random out of the Internet, and call that bloke on your cell phone, and talk about your brand of cell phone, the WX, etc. So, to each, his own. I guess some Hams like having 1500 watts on tap just in case the going gets rough, while others prefer to go QRP whilst camping in the woods!:)

Pat N6PAT

Yes, but many hams run 1500 constantly and not just when it is absolutely necessary. This is contrary to the FCC requirements in 97.313 that we US hams are required by law to obey.

KF4HR

The subject of this thread has certainly wandered.

KY6LA_Howard

The issue of running power being needed is when the other guy who is trying to copy you is using a Wet Noodle for an antenna and a **** receiver.   It is particularly noticeable on FT8 when trying to work the really weak DX stations using older legacy radios.. they just do not copy you or for that matter much else unless you blast them with huge ERP....

Pat N6PAT

Flimsy excuse. I got 157 countries using 45 or less watts (78 using just 5 watts) with a simple vertical. WAS on 40 SSB with just 5 watts and an FT817ND

I'll wager the vast majority of ops running 1500 do so all the time regardless of who they are communicating with. I hear them almost every night on 80 and 160. It's the same ops talking to the same buddies about whatever while running 1500. They proudly state this every so often.

KY6LA_Howard

A good friend of mine Harvey K6QK (SK) used to say “Life is too short for QRP If you can hear them you should work them because they may never be there again” In many cases the paths are not symetrical so you need a lot of power to make up for the other guys poor antenna and **** radio.

Burt Fisher

Howard life is not short, you were in Kindergarten a long time ago. That phrase is used to excuse less than ideal behavior. At the age of many hams waiting 18 months for a paid for amplifier is significant.

W7NGA

> and perhaps more importantly, because I don't find it's earth-shattering when I can't make a contact.

best comment ever ...

Pat N6PAT

I'd like to see the FCC reduce max allowed power to under 1KW.

If the max allowed was 2KW then there would be ops saying they must run 2KW to make contacts. The same would happen if allowed to use 5KW.

If you need to run 1500 watts all the time to make contacts then you must be using a block of cement as an antenna

DrJ

With that philosophy or analogy, why shouldn’t the Federal government require all automobile manufacturers require speed limiting devices on all cars and trucks sold in the country to not exceed the maximum average highway speed limit??!!?? (70mph....yes I understand their are states and areas that have higher and lower highway limits, but for purposes of debate on this comment, by your theory, NONE of us have any need for any automobile to go faster than 80 or 100mph! ).

Pat N6PAT

"NONE of us have any need for any automobile to go faster than 80 or 100mph!"

I agree with your statement 100%

KY6LA_Howard

@Burt. I should modify it to LIFE “REMAINING” IS TOO SHORT FOR QRP.

DrJ

Yes. But we sell them because there are uses and situations for use of high powered cars. Legal racing, experimentation, etc. Racing officially requires organized licensure and training g to do it safely. “Homebrew experimentation to build the most powerful/efficient engine and car is a passion for many. Sounds familiar to Ham radio? I may have needs to operate full 1.5kW. I am mandated to use the least power as possible. Frankly I feel there should be NO limit on maximum powered used, SO LONG as it’s the minimum powered required to allow communication. Whether it’s because I or the other station or both have “cement block antennas” or do to sunspot cycles or whatever. The key is both self “policeing” AND proper oversight (LOL) from the FCC for those that abuse this power. No different than me taking my 950HP customized hot rod racing down the streets. If caught, fines, jail, loss of license. If we did that, Max wattage of 5kW or 1.21 Gigawatts is fine so long as it is used responsibly and appropriately.

Pat N6PAT

Do you honestly believe that there is a QTH anywhere in this country that requires a full 1500 watts for every single QSO? Many of these nighttime ops on 160 and 80 are blasting out the energy like they're trying to contact Voyager 1 and 2.

What's the point in a 150 foot tower with a 200 pound antenna if it takes 1500 watts to make a QSO? It stands to reason that the better the antenna system the lower the power requirement to make a QSO. If that's not the case then the tower and huge antenna are a waste of money

W7NGA

"self policing"?
Seriously? Have you listened to 75 meters lately? 

Larry - WA7LZO

Here’s the ultimate Ham HF station: US Antenna Products LPDA, covering 2 thru 30 MHz continuous (but no worries, 1.8 thru 2.0 also works just fine), measuring in at 70 ft in length, and 70 ft max width, weighing in at 2,800 lbs (so, just slightly less than Tyrus!), mounted atop a 190 ft tower, running the PG XL amp, with its 1500 beautiful heart-hammering watts, baby. Now, that’s a real Ham station!

KY6LA_Howard

Actually such a station should have a triple stack of antennas to be effective.

Makes my 35'x 70' @85' MonstIR look tiny

KY6LA_Howard

@PAT... I do not believe that anyone is saying they need 1500W for EVERY QSO.  However, there are many occasions like busting a DX Pileup or trying to win a DX Contest or working a really weak one which has a poor antenna and lousy receiver, that every watt you can put into the ionosphere helps. 


For example on 40M with my 12dBi gain antenna and 1500 W or about 24,000W Effective Radiated Power, there still many times when I just can't get through the East Coast Wall to work a EU or Middle Eastern Station in a contest.


BTW... I always love how people think its OK for them to tell everyone else how they should live their lives... and I also love driving faster than 100MPH..

You should try driving in Germany sometimes where there are no speed limits... or working DX from Italy or Russia where typically they run 8-20KW --- I think your opinions will change once you have had  taste of the forbidden fruit.

KF4HR

Pat - point made and congratulations on your wonderful achievements. 

I'm sure you must realize that, like it or not, people will continue to decide when they use their amplifiers (and buy vehicles they enjoy), just as they always have.           

Anyone for getting back to the thread subject? 

Bill -VA3WTB

Yes this is off topic

Pat N6PAT

You don't need 1500 watts to bust through a pileup.

Do you recall K1N Navassa Island? It was #1 most wanted at the time and had the biggest pileups I've ever seen. I got them on 6 bands running 300 watts to my Hustler vertical while "big guns" were filling the air with enough juice to light up Denver. If you check their log on Clublog you'll see me in there.

Or how about TI9/3Z9DX the Cocos Island Dxpedition that almost no one could work due to huge mountain barriers on the island. I got them on 3 bands.

More recently I got VP6D on 7 bands including 160 with less power. Their pileups were impressive as well and probably just as filled with high power ops and large antenna arrays .

I have many more examples including Clipperton Island where my little configuration got past pileups. So don't tell me 1500 watts is needed for pileups. That just doesn't  hold water.

I'm not telling people how to operate but I am pointing out that running 1500 all the time when it is not necessary is illegal according to FCC 97.313

I'm also pointing out how illogical it is to need 1500 watts if you have a gigantic antenna halfway to the Moon. If the antenna system is so good then you should only need a fraction of 1500 otherwise it sounds like your antenna is not very good after all.

Bill -VA3WTB

Pat, I am surprised you did not start a new thread, if you wanted to continue. This was about PGXL deliveries.

Pat N6PAT

 Your right. My apologies