Ah, my first days with a roller inductor tuner. "Roller Inductors don't wear out .. they just get dirty contacts." Oh well, they do MELT as my MFJ did. All I did (after I tuned it on low power) was a
Thanks for the input, Bob. My problem (as a Novice) at the time, was that tuning on low power and obtaining resonance, does nothing to consider VSWR and heating effects. The antenna impediance and an
I also use openwire feeder with 4" spacing. Rain, snow, ice, wind, hot, cool, the tuner usually doesn't have to be adjusted. (Unless it's unusually hot or cold) 73 de Phil - N8PS PS. I agree with Sco
Bob is right! In the end, propagation will dictate. External conditions have more of an effect than the subtle differences over which we have control. Sure we can increase efficiency, yet the results
Ah, Jim, I wish that were so. Shocking, but true. After all yesterday I ran into a ham and was showing him my HF mobile set-up. He remarked, "why do you need an antenna when you can operate full dupl
Frank, Unfortunately, there is no reasoning with someone who's got a closed mind .. shades of the US Congress, eh. In this case the answer (no matter what) is of no consequence. When there is nothing
Mike, I know it's been over a year, but I've been reviewing my emails. Do you happen to have any of those red LEDs left? Thanks, de Phil - N8PS -- Quoting Mike Bryce <prosolar@sssnet.com>: It's a eas
Hey Jon, Once upon a time, nobody cared about a few hertz. Things were just not that accurate and frankly, nobody cared. But, I do see a parallel. In the past contesting was a paper and pen (pencil)
Well said, Rick. Amen ! 73 de Phil - N8PS -- ...and then there were the receivers and transmitters that we home-brewed ourselves, which didn't have any frequency readout on them at all. We had to dep
Jim, I'd check zero beat with WWV. Sound like you're off QRG a bit. Let us know ! 73 de Phil - N8PS PS. Can you check against another rig? -- Quoting Jim Allen <jim.allen@longhornband.net>: I have an
Stuart, According to the response to the "digital users will have to listen", please refer to the response filed by APRS. (see the ARRL FAQ) In short "monitoring is impractical to listen for all othe
I agree with Bob; however, (as many will testify) neither E-Bay nor their scion PayPal can be held accountable in a court of law. Don't believe me? Check it out and be amazed. A credit card does offe
Note: Most Chinese radios have a 'language switch' hidden in their firmware. I had the same problem, but an internet search revealed the memory location. Granted, it's difficult if you don't understa
"Bottom line -- SWR is DUMB, STUPID, and USELESS as a measure of antenna performance." --> TRUE "I can LOAD a lightbulb, but it's a lousy antenna. --> NOT SO TRUE I once used a 60w light bulb as a du
I do agree with Rick to some extent. The days of building from scratch are quickly waning away. Yes, it still possible to make simple devices, but the degree of complexity of modern items outpaces th
A little OT, but my soap box is right here and has been unused recently: I have also resigned from contest participation. Whether its the newer versions of radios or the attitude of the operators, th
I have been researching the replacement of the three XP machines here in the shack and the results have been discouraging. None of my programs: word processing, spreadsheet, logging, rig interface, a
Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions in my quest to upgrade. I must apologize to those who sent personal email objecting to my use of the reflector to create such a clogging plethora
Old radio equipment -vs- older computers. There is one truth. The lack of support for older software based units is tied directly the ability to force sales of new equipment. Look at the reality of u
About 20 years ago the move was afoot to migrate from something that was indefinitely fixable to, what was called at the time, "planned obsolescence". That included chips that would go out of product