Hey Dave, I put together a crappy old 102" whip with 4 ground radials when I started back in April. Man, that thing rocked with the little barefoot box I use. I was thinking about your situation. From what I've been hearing from folks down south especially FL,AL and LA is it's been a pile up the past few days and all of the US has been boomin in there. Without one heck of an antenna and some juice to go with it, it's tough to punch thru the hash. Just a thought. I know the antenna is about 80% of it. I'm living proof if you've seen where I live. LOL. I could take a little POS putting out about 10 watts, connect it to a bangin' antenna and talk half way around the world. Assuming skip (the switch) is on. That amp should serve you well and def' help. The stations from FL that have been boomin in here the past few evenings are all running like 200 watt amplifiers. I hit them barefoot but that's only because of the gain and function of the Moxon. To be honest, they sound like crap! w/ a capital C! Horrible audio. yea, I can hear them but they sound terrible. A mobile station in FL tonight had some major problems with his rig and was comin' in 20 over and couldn't understand a word he was saying. Major problems with that rig. I guess what I'm trying to say is; Get your antenna/coax the best it can be and "Then" connect the amp. That's all I got. peace out and best of luck. Hope you make some contacts soon! Regards, S