Aug 1, 2026 · 0 min · 12 segments
G1C – Transmitter power regulations; data emission standards; 60-meter operation requirements. Demonstration of PEP vs Average Power. Effective Radiated Power. 49:22
So, peak envelope power is the average power over a single radio frequency cycle at the crest of modulation.
PEP is normally considered the output power at the occasional or continuously repeating crest of a modulation envelope under normal operating conditions.
Many regulatory authorities use PEP to set maximum power standards for radio transmitters in certain services.
Assuming a linear perfectly symmetrical 100% modulation of a carrier, PEP output of an AM transmitter is four times its carrier.
In other words, a typical modern 100 watt amateur transceiver is usually rated for no more than 25 watts of carrier output when operating in AM.
PEP, peak envelope power, versus average power, and average you can think of that as pretty much RMS.
I almost said what does root mean square mean? [laughs]
PEP is equal to steady carrier power, or for CW, a dot or a dash, average power.
Although average power is the same as PEP for complex modulation forms like FM and FSK, the peak envelope power bears no particular ratio or mathematical relationship to longer term average power and distorted envelopes such as CW wave forms with power overshoot or with amplitude modulated wave forms such as single sideband and AM voice transmissions.
Typical average power of a single sideband voice transmission is 10 to 20% of PEP.
Typical average power of a single sideband voice transmission- ... is only 10 to 20% of peak envelope power.
Huh.
The percentage of longer term average power to PEP increases as processing, and commonly, uh, reaches 50%, approximately, with extreme speech processing.
To do this, I've got my rig on the other side of the room here, and I'm using the Icom RS-BA1 software to remotely control it from the laptop.
And I'm just gonna be using earbuds for a microphone, 'cause that'll be good enough for what we wanna do here.
And although I have talked to some folks at night using this when I was away from the shack here-
Yeah
So, peak envelope power is the average power over a single radio frequency cycle at the crest of modulation.
PEP is normally considered the output power at the occasional or continuously repeating crest of a modulation envelope under normal operating conditions.
Many regulatory authorities use PEP to set maximum power standards for radio transmitters in certain services.
Assuming a linear perfectly symmetrical 100% modulation of a carrier, PEP output of an AM transmitter is four times its carrier.
In other words, a typical modern 100 watt amateur transceiver is usually rated for no more than 25 watts of carrier output when operating in AM.
PEP, peak envelope power, versus average power, and average you can think of that as pretty much RMS.
I almost said what does root mean square mean? [laughs]
PEP is equal to steady carrier power, or for CW, a dot or a dash, average power.
Although average power is the same as PEP for complex modulation forms like FM and FSK, the peak envelope power bears no particular ratio or mathematical relationship to longer term average power and distorted envelopes such as CW wave forms with power overshoot or with amplitude modulated wave forms such as single sideband and AM voice transmissions.
Typical average power of a single sideband voice transmission is 10 to 20% of PEP.
Typical average power of a single sideband voice transmission- ... is only 10 to 20% of peak envelope power.
Huh.
The percentage of longer term average power to PEP increases as processing, and commonly, uh, reaches 50%, approximately, with extreme speech processing.
To do this, I've got my rig on the other side of the room here, and I'm using the Icom RS-BA1 software to remotely control it from the laptop.
And I'm just gonna be using earbuds for a microphone, 'cause that'll be good enough for what we wanna do here.
And although I have talked to some folks at night using this when I was away from the shack here-
Yeah
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