160 Meters - Size Matters

Drake L7 Linear Amplifier

Last year, I participated, or tried to participate, in the CQ Magazine 160 Meter contest. I used my Icom IC-756proIII radio into an inverted L antenna with a counterpoise. I ran barefoot with the 100w of the ProIII because my aging Drake L4B won't tune 160.

It was an exercise in frustration. Many of the weaker stations I tried to call couldn't hear me all that well, so multiple efforts were required. And, I just got buried by all the big signals.

This year, 2013, I bought a Drake L7, a later version of the L4B, that does full 1.5kw on 160. I like tube amps for a variety of reasons, but probably due to my background in broadcast engineering 35 years ago, the 3-500Z triodes were very common in drivers for AM transmitters. I know them to be efficient, hardy and, they glow. The only time solid state amps glow is when they melt down.

I had a much different experience this year, and worked nearly every station I could hear. I even tried a couple of CQs, and, at one point, had a bit of a pile up by stations wanting South Carolina. Same antenna, 9 db more power out.

Lesson learned - If you want to play with the big boys, you need big toys!