John: This looks like a simple procedure and it takes the guesswork out of trying to zero beat WWV, but how accurate is the frequency readout capability of Digipan or other PSK-31 software? Isn't it
Dave: My Scout does the same thing, but it is pretty faint, so I don't worry about it too much. My guess is that it is caused by RF getting into the audio stage and being rectified. Might even be aff
I was able to make a substantial improvement in the sound quality of my Model 260 power supply/speaker by taping a plastic food container filled with cotton onto the back of the speaker. It cut down
I bought one of those inductors from Ten Tec a few years ago. I don't know if they still sell them. The cost was $24 and the part number is 80402. It is variable in 47 steps from 0.1 to 20 uH. They a
Frank: Yes, reflowing the solder is definitely the fix. On my Paragon, I also found some balun coils and electrolytic caps that were microphonic. I coated the coils with clear nail polish and replace
Ronnie: Its not hard to rebuild. It takes about one evening. You need to use the right kind of grease. Keep WD-40 away from it. I tried brake caliper slide grease, but it didn't like that. Also tried
Yes, this is normal because it uses a spring riding on a shaft to maintain tension on the coil slug. At one end of the tuning range the spring is compressed. The Scout PTO mechanism looks like a mini
It requires patience. First remove the top and bottom covers. Remove the knobs. With needle nose pliers remove the nuts and washers from the control shafts. Remove the 4 screws from the sides of the
Actually, it has been my experience that the problem is worse with external keying, at least when I use a straight key, I experienced very severe warmup drift. Putting in the mod described in QST a c
Oh, I though you start with the capacitors at maximum capacitance, or is that for the "SPC" or the Ultimate transmatch design? I am building a transmatch using the variable toroid inductor that Ten T
There is also a reed relay that switches the antenna input to the receiver. If you have the amplifier switching relay active, you don't hear the reed relay, but with the amp relay disabled, you will
That's a clever idea. In my reading on L networks, I usually see a series inductance and shunt capacitance at the output end, but the antenna book says that a shunt L and series C can also be used. I
Sounds like the new ARGO V is really nice, but can you tell me anything about the Hamstick Yagi? How many elements, how it is fed, etc.? Thanks. Bob WB2VUF
Field day wasn't too thrilling here, either. Lots of mosquitoes from the recent rains drove me out of the park after only about 3 hours. The bands were really crummy on Saturday, too. I didn't even b
Vin, For working 75 m within a 500 mile radius, you definitely need a horizontal antenna to take advantage of NVIS (near vertical incidence skywave) propagation. A horizontal hamstick dipole will wor
Rob: No, you don't actually open up the feedline. Each bulb is in parallel with a section of feedline. This is a lot easier to do with open-wire line. With window line, you have to strip the wire at
That's interesting, Bill. I didn't know that the blanker in the Argo worked that way. I have a Scout and the noise blanker is excellent. Someone should be able to run a comparison. 73, Bob WB2VUF
Mike: Check the PLL alignment. It sounds like it is taking too long to lock. Check the voltage on the major loop board. The test point is at the junction of Q1 collector and Q3 collector. There are 4