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Hand held radio specs question re PEP/Carrier

PostPosted:Mon Mar 11, 2019 9:09 am
by seanxair
Can anyone explain what benefits there are with hand held radios in terms of output power?

E.g. Icom say about the A25:

1.8 / 6 Watts Selectable High RF Output Power
For expanded communication coverage, output power has been increased to approximately 6 W typical (PEP) 1.8 W (carrier) compared to the IC-A24E (5/1.5 W (PEP/carrier)).

Would there be a noticeable difference between 6W/1.5W and 5W/1.5W?

Thanks,

Sean

PS - no idea what PEP stands for either!

Re: Hand held radio specs question re PEP/Carrier

PostPosted:Mon Mar 11, 2019 9:20 am
by Paul_Sengupta
Usually means Peak Effective Power when talking radio. Normally only used when talking about SSB (Single SideBand). But I guess they're using the Peak Envelope Power definition for AM.

Assuming linear, perfectly symmetrical, 100% modulation of a carrier, PEP output of an AM transmitter is four times its carrier PEP; in other words, a typical modern 100-watt amateur transceiver is usually rated for no more than, and often less than, 25 watts carrier output when operating in AM.

It's a bit strange to quote that for AM, as you'd normally talk about carrier power. Using PEP for AM is a bit like quoting 500W for a ghetto blaster where what they should be using is the RMS power.

Re: Hand held radio specs question re PEP/Carrier

PostPosted:Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:20 pm
by lobstaboy
Absolutely no noticeable benefit whatsoever in terms of normal use. Marketing hype.

Re: Hand held radio specs question re PEP/Carrier

PostPosted:Fri Apr 12, 2019 5:04 pm
by Charles Hunt
Maybe, but 6 is more than 5.

Re: Hand held radio specs question re PEP/Carrier

PostPosted:Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:35 pm
by seanxair
Charles Hunt wrote:Maybe, but 6 is more than 5.


But worse if playing golf :)

Re: Hand held radio specs question re PEP/Carrier

PostPosted:Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:54 pm
by Charles Hunt
Did a few of those today :(