In plain language: Many digital modes produce a high average transmitter duty cycle, while normal SSB voice power rises and falls with speech, so the same peak-power setting can impose much more continuous heat and current in digital operation.
Why the station behaves this way
Radio ratings may specify reduced power or time limits for data modes. Supply voltage, cooling, ALC, audio drive, SWR, and ambient temperature all affect safe operation.
A common wrong turn
Setting the display to 100 watts does not mean the transmitter, tuner, battery, or antenna components can sustain a continuous 100-watt waveform.
What to do at the radio
Follow the radio and antenna system’s data-mode ratings, use clean audio drive, begin at modest power, monitor current and temperature, and use the minimum power needed for the contact.
Operating boundary
Use current equipment instructions, legal operating limits, the exact signal path, and observed conditions. A connector, software label, transformer ratio, or forecast value does not prove complete-system performance.
