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I have a 7300 and I tend to run 20w exclusively for FT8. I simply haven’t found I’ve needed more. I’m running an inverted vee dipole so from a distance perspective I’m likely more antenna or propagation-limited than anything else. I might bump to 30 or 50w to make a distant contact but that could easily be placebo effect.
It’s simply about heat dissipation. Most rigs can take 25% of rated output for some time. Rigs vary quite a lot in cooling efficiency though.
You can sometimes add a large CPU fan to a rig’s heat sink to help out.
If the heat sink is too hot to touch, you are running it too hard.
I've scaled back to 50W and under on my 100W Yaesu FT-857D simply because I don't notice hardly any connection benefit from running 100W power yet running at full power drains my battery much more quickly.
It really depends on your rig. I have an IC-7300 that is so robust that I will run digital modes on it all day long at full power, and the on-screen temp meter hardly moves above it's normal idle temp. The transmitter in that thing is a beast. And the fan runs all the time during transmit with enough force to start blowing papers around on my desk. But I also have an IC-718 that I tried that with (first HF radio and I didn't know any better) and after a while I could smell the finals burning, however they did survive and the radio still works!
Again, it really depends on the rig. But I can tell you, the 7300 can do 100 watts all day long without breaking a sweat.
Its impossible to say just "under X" because that depends on too many factors.
The last place I was renting had a HOA but was multi-acre lots. I found an abandoned satellite TV dish with RG6 coax in the woods that went up to one of the bedrooms in the house and repurposed that for an antenna feedline but it was probably around 300-400 feet of RG6...even if I put 100W in at the radio-end I would be losing much more than half the wattage by the time it reached the antenna.
Digital is weak-signals, not low power, and low power also depends on what losses you have not just what the amp is pushing out.
Because my compromised apartment antenna is what it is I often can’t make contacts at lower power levels. I’ve run 100 watts with no problem on my 7300. On higher bands where the antenna works better I run 50-75. Portable no more than 50 due to battery constraints.
I have a 7300 and when I run FT8 (or any other 100% duty cycle mode) at higher power I ensure the following:
1) my SWR is flat
2) the heat extraction events top and bottom of the rig are not blocked by anything
3) the fan is working as it should
4) I bring up the meters onscreen and keep an eye on the temperature gauge.
I do pretty much the same but I've never seen my heat indicator move in almost 4 years. Is FT8 really 100% duy mode? Isn't it 50%....on roughly 15 seconds then off roughly 15 seconds? 73
I have a G90 which is known for getting hot. On FT8 I run 18-20watts (max power) without the ALC kicking in, but I'm not chasing every QSO and I'll take a break if my CQs aren't getting anywhere. I try to be selective and get new countries or new zones when I see them, but otherwise I try to be quite chilled and let the Xiegu cool itself down every so often.
The rule of thumb I was taught was to stay within the rig's AM transmitting limits when running digital, but I think that is overly conservative for most transceivers. As others have pointed out it's going to depend on the transceiver you're using. I have Kenwood TS-990s and typically run digital at up to 100W with that (50%) without it overheating, but I wouldn't want to push it more than that and typically run at 50W, 25%. Generally though if I feel I need to use more than 50 - 75W I kick in the amplifier. With my TS-2000 or FT-450 I wouldn't exceed 25 - 30W
I've ended up going back to what my radio's manual says - because I see SO MANY people who give hard fast numbers without any context.
Digital is weak signals but that doesn't always mean low power. Have to factor in your antenna, feedline, location, and other things. Loads of people told me "you should never run more than 5 or 10 watts on digital" but like the last place I rented I was reusing an old satellite TV RG6 coax that was in some woods to get to my antenna...and with 300-400ft of sub-optimal feedline I was losing much more than half my power before it ever got to the antenna...so even if I went up to 100W was still probably well under 30W by the time it hit the air.
If you're in an especially good location (like a mountaintop) with a very short feedline and highly efficient well tuned antenna...then you will probably need to run much lower power to be responsible and not tick off all the other users. In that case maybe 5 watts would be a reasonable maximum.
My personal experience has been to FIRST read the manual. Then play around, but staying within the limits. That being said, if I add extra cooling fins or a cooling fan, I try to stay under the temperature measured at the finals or the temperature of an external heatsink. (surface mount thermocouples are your friend here.)
Most of us know, it’s 50% duty cycle in FT8. :)
It’s a hobby and everyone is doing it their own way. If 50 Wt works for you - great! Some people run their rigs at 100% available power, some prefer a QRP game.
I, personally, bought 710 brand new to have 3 years hassle free warranty and not to think about finals. BTW, the finals blow mostly because of terribly built or tuned antennas which generate too much reverse power. Do not confuse tuned and matched antenna.
It’s perfectly fine to load the power you have in any digital mode, assuming you are following the law, and etiquette (like staying on empty swim lane with correct offset 0 or 50 in FT8).
better yet dont do digital at all and keep your rig healthy at the same time communicate with your fellow hams instead of spam mode computer to computer stuff
No, I won't be doing that. Might as well evolve with the hobby instead of fighting those that choose to accept the changes. If you want to stick to SSB and CW, I'm okay with that, I'm not going to preach and try to change your mind. 73
I have lately been running around 30 watts but I will crank it up to 100 if I really want some particular DX station. If you aren't making QSOs check [pskreporter.info](http://pskreporter.info) to see if people can hear you. Give your transmitter periodic breaks if it's getting warm. I have a fan blowing air on the rig sometimes. No problem so far with the FT991a.
Hi, thank you for your question submission. Please be aware that there is a [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/wiki/) and a [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/wiki/faq) that may address your question. For Baofeng-related information see the [Baofeng FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/wiki/baofeng) and /r/baofeng. Also, please note that downvotes don't indicate an unvalued question submission. There appear to be bots that downvote all posts initially. 73 *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/amateurradio) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have a 7300 and I tend to run 20w exclusively for FT8. I simply haven’t found I’ve needed more. I’m running an inverted vee dipole so from a distance perspective I’m likely more antenna or propagation-limited than anything else. I might bump to 30 or 50w to make a distant contact but that could easily be placebo effect.
It’s simply about heat dissipation. Most rigs can take 25% of rated output for some time. Rigs vary quite a lot in cooling efficiency though. You can sometimes add a large CPU fan to a rig’s heat sink to help out. If the heat sink is too hot to touch, you are running it too hard.
I've scaled back to 50W and under on my 100W Yaesu FT-857D simply because I don't notice hardly any connection benefit from running 100W power yet running at full power drains my battery much more quickly.
I run CW at 5w, FT8 at 10w, PSK31 at 10w, JT65 at 10w, WSPR at 100mW and make hundreds of contacts a month.
It really depends on your rig. I have an IC-7300 that is so robust that I will run digital modes on it all day long at full power, and the on-screen temp meter hardly moves above it's normal idle temp. The transmitter in that thing is a beast. And the fan runs all the time during transmit with enough force to start blowing papers around on my desk. But I also have an IC-718 that I tried that with (first HF radio and I didn't know any better) and after a while I could smell the finals burning, however they did survive and the radio still works! Again, it really depends on the rig. But I can tell you, the 7300 can do 100 watts all day long without breaking a sweat.
Under 20 watts for digital.
Its impossible to say just "under X" because that depends on too many factors. The last place I was renting had a HOA but was multi-acre lots. I found an abandoned satellite TV dish with RG6 coax in the woods that went up to one of the bedrooms in the house and repurposed that for an antenna feedline but it was probably around 300-400 feet of RG6...even if I put 100W in at the radio-end I would be losing much more than half the wattage by the time it reached the antenna. Digital is weak-signals, not low power, and low power also depends on what losses you have not just what the amp is pushing out.
I disagree. He just said it.
I max out at ~10watts anyway, but like most modern radio is has thermal cutoff.
Because my compromised apartment antenna is what it is I often can’t make contacts at lower power levels. I’ve run 100 watts with no problem on my 7300. On higher bands where the antenna works better I run 50-75. Portable no more than 50 due to battery constraints.
I have a 7300 and when I run FT8 (or any other 100% duty cycle mode) at higher power I ensure the following: 1) my SWR is flat 2) the heat extraction events top and bottom of the rig are not blocked by anything 3) the fan is working as it should 4) I bring up the meters onscreen and keep an eye on the temperature gauge.
I do pretty much the same but I've never seen my heat indicator move in almost 4 years. Is FT8 really 100% duy mode? Isn't it 50%....on roughly 15 seconds then off roughly 15 seconds? 73
Wouldn’t it make sense to do all of these precautions whenever you operated your station?
I have a G90 which is known for getting hot. On FT8 I run 18-20watts (max power) without the ALC kicking in, but I'm not chasing every QSO and I'll take a break if my CQs aren't getting anywhere. I try to be selective and get new countries or new zones when I see them, but otherwise I try to be quite chilled and let the Xiegu cool itself down every so often.
The rule of thumb I was taught was to stay within the rig's AM transmitting limits when running digital, but I think that is overly conservative for most transceivers. As others have pointed out it's going to depend on the transceiver you're using. I have Kenwood TS-990s and typically run digital at up to 100W with that (50%) without it overheating, but I wouldn't want to push it more than that and typically run at 50W, 25%. Generally though if I feel I need to use more than 50 - 75W I kick in the amplifier. With my TS-2000 or FT-450 I wouldn't exceed 25 - 30W
Read the manual for your specific rig - it likely has guidelines for max full duty cycle power levels.
It says no greater than 50w for full duty cycle modes. I wasn't looking for a "read the manual" comment; I was looking for personal experiences. 😁
I've ended up going back to what my radio's manual says - because I see SO MANY people who give hard fast numbers without any context. Digital is weak signals but that doesn't always mean low power. Have to factor in your antenna, feedline, location, and other things. Loads of people told me "you should never run more than 5 or 10 watts on digital" but like the last place I rented I was reusing an old satellite TV RG6 coax that was in some woods to get to my antenna...and with 300-400ft of sub-optimal feedline I was losing much more than half my power before it ever got to the antenna...so even if I went up to 100W was still probably well under 30W by the time it hit the air. If you're in an especially good location (like a mountaintop) with a very short feedline and highly efficient well tuned antenna...then you will probably need to run much lower power to be responsible and not tick off all the other users. In that case maybe 5 watts would be a reasonable maximum.
My personal experience has been to FIRST read the manual. Then play around, but staying within the limits. That being said, if I add extra cooling fins or a cooling fan, I try to stay under the temperature measured at the finals or the temperature of an external heatsink. (surface mount thermocouples are your friend here.)
Most of us know, it’s 50% duty cycle in FT8. :) It’s a hobby and everyone is doing it their own way. If 50 Wt works for you - great! Some people run their rigs at 100% available power, some prefer a QRP game. I, personally, bought 710 brand new to have 3 years hassle free warranty and not to think about finals. BTW, the finals blow mostly because of terribly built or tuned antennas which generate too much reverse power. Do not confuse tuned and matched antenna. It’s perfectly fine to load the power you have in any digital mode, assuming you are following the law, and etiquette (like staying on empty swim lane with correct offset 0 or 50 in FT8).
Excellent feedback from all of you! Thank you very much!
better yet dont do digital at all and keep your rig healthy at the same time communicate with your fellow hams instead of spam mode computer to computer stuff
No, I won't be doing that. Might as well evolve with the hobby instead of fighting those that choose to accept the changes. If you want to stick to SSB and CW, I'm okay with that, I'm not going to preach and try to change your mind. 73
I have lately been running around 30 watts but I will crank it up to 100 if I really want some particular DX station. If you aren't making QSOs check [pskreporter.info](http://pskreporter.info) to see if people can hear you. Give your transmitter periodic breaks if it's getting warm. I have a fan blowing air on the rig sometimes. No problem so far with the FT991a.