-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
Need of new am
- Thread starter Johnboat
- Start date
It runs 45W, you don't need a linear. You'd have to put a 200W linear in at least to see any remotely worthwhile increase.
The 102" whip is a fine antenna however if you can get the Sirio 5000 mounted on the roof it'll probably perform better. A Sirio 5000 on the roof mounted properly compared to a 102" mounted low on a bumper bracket quite poorly could give you as much as 6dB gain over the 102" which is equivalent to running a 200W amp!
Rather than buying the amp, make sure you've got the best antenna installation you can as unlike adding an amp, improvements to the antenna benefit RX as well as TX. Make sure you've got all the bonding done etc. Only once the antenna install is as good as it gets should you think about running more power.
I ran 200W in a car once. Didn't see any advantage over the 100W amateur radio transceiver I was using so I sold it and kept to 100W. I've worked all over the world DXing with 100W however 100W is only half a S point over the 45W you're using now so you'll be wasting your money buying a 100W amp.
Only get the Texas Star if you plan on running ssb. I also have considered the Midnight Special 700. Contrary to all the ham opinions you get on here, that power will help your setup greatly. Sure you can talk around the world on 4 watts, I have myself for 2 years. Running 600 watts will make it easier and less frustrating though. If you have 5 people with equal conditions trying to make a contact and you key up with more power, who do you think is going to get their handle called? Dave made or Xforce Midnight Special linear? Biggest difference is price. I had the exact same choice a few months back. I went with the Midnight Special 700.
Read the rest of what I said as that is the most important part.
Yep. I remember once busting a pileup to the Falkland Islands on 10m. I was parked up running 100W into a Little Tarheel II and made it through the wall of Italians running 1.5kW into beams. I do that operating mobile quite frequently.
Homebase I only run barefoot 100W. I did a 10m only entry in the 2012 CQWWSSB contest. 91 countries/31 ITU zones in 16hrs with 100W on a Moxon at 22ft coming first in England. Even worked China longpath from the UK, 18800 miles, which came as a surprise as I was actually intending on working South America.
I've done England to Argentina on 1W SSB, 7500 miles, with my Hexbeam.
100W is plenty enough. Anything else is just overkill.
Last edited:
Not necessarily who you think.
Explain why I bust pileups of stations running 1500W with just 100W first call?
YB8SI in Indonesia, 7,500 miles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0sG5XP5Fo4
Note the 5/9 peaking 10 over......
And more relevant to CB on 10m although admittedly that was a 200W TS480HX which gave me all of half a S point over 100W although again, still up against 1500W stations...
CO6LC, 4500 miles...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRZ247B1_Uk
Working local on CB with just 4W from a Maycom EM27 into a Sirio 3000 on the roof of my car I've gone right over base stations running 100W or more and have had no problem doing 30 miles with just 4W with that set up. Get your antennas and your TX audio right and you don't need a ton of power.
I like TS because of their versatility . but if you are looking for am only, Dave made is a good choice . I do not own one but i listen to my buddy on the air every night and it sounds amazing .
there are many critics on these type of amps about being dirty amps or splatter boxes . but i can attest to the fact that he has a 500 watt box and has little to no bleed over.
I donot like the a actual design of the box itself or the primitive controls . but it is whats inside that counts .
An amp like this in the right hands and ran properly can make an AM station sound amazing .
I am a bare foot guy , i have a 50 foot tower with a sp 500 and 4 element beam. with that kind of height I have never needed to use my amps . i have 2 TS and a palomar amp and i just run a peaked and tuned president jackson.
But if your antenna isnt very high the amp will help you be heard further.
hope this helps -- right or wrong , just my opinion
Dan
SOC NSW
USN retired
there are many critics on these type of amps about being dirty amps or splatter boxes . but i can attest to the fact that he has a 500 watt box and has little to no bleed over.
I donot like the a actual design of the box itself or the primitive controls . but it is whats inside that counts .
An amp like this in the right hands and ran properly can make an AM station sound amazing .
I am a bare foot guy , i have a 50 foot tower with a sp 500 and 4 element beam. with that kind of height I have never needed to use my amps . i have 2 TS and a palomar amp and i just run a peaked and tuned president jackson.
But if your antenna isnt very high the amp will help you be heard further.
hope this helps -- right or wrong , just my opinion
Dan
SOC NSW
USN retired
So you're comparing a half ass installed 1/4 wave to a perfectly installed Sirio5k?
The difference between 100w and 7kw is over 18dB
Do I think contacts are made worldwide on a few watts? Sure, depending on the band and the conditions it can be done on a coat hanger.
A good Dave made that is biased is going cost some money too. I would venture to say around 4-500 for a 4 pill, depending on what all he wants put into it. Good luck on finding an amp as the good ones are hard to come by these days unless you know a good box builder.
Yes because most mobile antenna installations are half ass.
The difference between 100w and 7kw is over 18dB
Do I think contacts are made worldwide on a few watts? Sure, depending on the band and the conditions it can be done on a coat hanger.
Do you know how many S points the difference is between 100W and 7kW? THREE. Three S points on a properly calibrated S meter.
There are actually antennas so crap that you could run 100W into a dipole and your ERP would be higher than someone running 7kW into one of these antennas.
And do you know how much further your 7kW would get you local compared to using 100W? Zero, nil, nada because 11m is line of sight and the curvature of the earth, the height of the transmitting antenna ASL, the height of the receiving antenna ASL and the topography are the limiting factors. You'll be able to talk all over the 100W station but you wouldn't get any further.
- No one is chatting at the moment.