I got the power!

Last Updated on Saturday, July 23, 2011 10:54 AM Written by N1WQ Saturday, July 23, 2011 12:16 AM

Well, just a little. I got an amplifier. After massive fiasco in June, when I heard a lot of stations from Asia, but was not able to get through, I finally decided to buy PA. So the week before Fourth of July I purchased used Yaesu FL-7000 tuned by Bill Grassa, N4ATS. This is solid-state linear amplifier capable of running 500W (officially). Unofficially people are saying FL-7000 can make it up to 600W, but I keep the power in the range of 400-450W.

Not exactly pileup breaker, and of course it is not moving me in the “big gun” category. This amplifier just adds one “S” unit to my signal, which sometimes can be very important. Today, after a few unsuccessful calls to P29CW on 17M, I have heard “sri too weak“. The amplifier quickly changed it to 559. Exactly what I needed!

My new FL-7000, July 2011

 
You can find more information about my shack here.