Its cool and wet here in Raleigh today; so much for the spring weather we had
when QST arrived!
Another great cover photo! N3RR and his antennas with green grass and trees
(one even in bloom). In Rockville, MD!? This obviously was not taken this
year! Anyhow, my compliments to WB2ZPI for consistently making great photos.
When I looked to see if he has any other duties, I noticed that my copy does
not have the normal listing of who's who at CQ and all the fine print about
subscription prices, editorial offices, etc. Is this the April Fools joke?
Hold on to your hat guys/gals! There is actually a short writeup about N3RR
and his antennas! Break out the magnifying glass though, it's still in the
same place they usuall y place one or two sentences; on the table of contents
page. At least this is an improvement over the past.
OK, so what's in this issue that is CONTEST related? A review of the
FT1000MP; Cheap Rotatable Dipole for 20 Meters (not sure who would really use
this for contesting, based on the way 20 has been recently, you better have a
big AMP and great ears to compete with all those stacked monobanders); Simple
160M Antenna; Switchable Impedance Matching Transformer; and K1AR's contest
column.
Of course there are the usual columns: W8FX (Antennas & Accessories) talks
about the Beverage Box; W6DDB (Bill's Basics) talks about Getting Started,
with some basic info that may be good for the new contester; K4TWJ (World of
Ideas) talks about QRP and features a new rig, the Micronaut (sorry no CW key
photos this time); W6SAI (Radio FUNdamentals) talks about W6PYK's 160M
vertical, switching power supplies, and the Site Master antenna analyzer
(looks expensive!); N6CL (VHF Plus) talks about red sprites, blue jets and
sporadic-E; W1FB (Doug's Desk) shows us how to build a low-cost 160M
receiver. There is also the Awards, DX, Washington Readout, Propagation, and
Packet User's Notebook columns.
For the CW fans, check out the Vibroplex ad. They have a NEW Square Brass
Racer.
The only other new ad I noticed was for the Patcomm PC-16000 HF transceiver.
It has a built-in keyboard interface and DSP filtering system. I wonder if
QST will do a test report? It is cheaper than the other rigs with built-in
DSP.
I just may build the 20 Meter dipole, since I already have some of the parts
- fishing weights and swivels.
73 and good reading,
Henry Pollock - WB4HFL
henrypol@aol.com
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