When the FCC says per CFR § 97.313 Transmitter power standards. (a) An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications - does anyone besides those doing QRP actually adjust power up and down to follow that or if you've got 100W or 1500W you just park it there?
Generally I'd guess that a lot of hams running 100W leave their
radio set at that level, even when they could get through at lower
power, just because it is easier than readjusting the ALC, mic gain,
drive level, or whatever is required. And some HF radios didn't
have the ability to turn down the power conveniently.
Using an amplifier is somewhat different, as you usually can
switch it on or off. But if it only takes 30W to drive it to full power,
some hams won't want to bother resetting the radio for 100W
when not using the amp.
Sometimes you want more than absolutely necessary so there
is margin for fading and other quirks of propagation.
Personally, I use the power control a lot on my radios, often
turning them down to 5 or 10 watts initially, then up to 100W
when needed. This is easier on CW than on SSB, as I don't
have to worry about mic gain or ALC, just the drive level.
But I'm probably in your QRP group anyway.
It also depends on what the "desired communications" are.
Some operators appear to desire to communicate, "I'm the
loudest idiot on the band", along with their total disgust at
any other hams who might want to use "their" band. They
might not limit themselves to a mere 1500W in the process,
but, to be honest, they've probably communicated that
years ago, so don't really need to continue.
Why can't the FCC shut down the bozos on 7.200? Yes, I know I can skip over that frequency when they're having their parties, just wondering how that continues. I read an article on QRZ recently about a 30 year - yes, a three decade - hunt for someone in Utah who got his jollies rebroadcasting commercial radio on his commutes. Is there any teeth in enforcement or not?
Ham radio is well down the priority list for FCC enforcement,
and their field resources have been stretched pretty thin in
recent years.
That's not to say that there isn't any enforcement - we
periodically see licenses revoked or fines issued to hams,
but it takes considerable time to collect the evidence and
prosecute a case. In many cases, the FCC relies on hams
to collect initial data, often coordinated through the ARRL.
On HF, triangulation is more difficult, and trying to DF a
moving vehicle is not a trivial task. But it can be done
when there is enough incentive and a clear violation of
the rules.
