Charles,
I got a Minuteman vertical on close out at local ham store. It is still
available I think on web. (Google the name) it has pvc mast and base and is
for 20 and up. It has partly a telescoping whip top section. Worked great
last year on a QRP outing in so so propagation.
You could
I replied to George directly.
I have had trouble while mobile with a Radio Shack twist on BNC loosening on
my RG 58 coax antenna lead. Amphenol is carried by Mouser with no minimum
order, and has both crimp on and solder and clamp type BNCs.
They also have a twist on Amphenol, but have not
Crimp tools run from about $50 for limited sets of dies at Mouser, to $200
for a do everything crimp tool from Pasternak Enterprises. I have two types
of Pasternak tools at work and although not cheap they last forever.
But check other distributors catalogs. Places like MCM might have a better
Static buildup depends on the Relative Humidity of the workplace as well.
Down in the South we do not have the problem someone in Phoenix may have
with dry air, for example.
Thus, in addition to discharging yourself, and bringing all work areas to
same voltage potential, you might consider
Make sure the contacts are seated all the way into the connectors. They
should have clicked when inserted.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Any time you have trouble loading a given balanced line, simply try adding 5
or 10 feet of line to the feeder and it should tune. You are moving the SWR
node along the line to give the tuner a more favorable voltage situation.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Tom is very correct. In 3M presentations on their specialty tape products,
they emphasized NOT yanking off the end of any tape; but to unroll as Tom
says, and let it relax then CUT the tape from the roll. That way, you
will not have loose ends hanging off the installation after a few weeks.
This
My understanding of the place to place silicon grease is NOT upon the
outside of the connector, but rather in the interface between male and
female connectors. The idea is to exclude moisture pooling on the insulator
between the center pin and the outer shell conductor.
However, if you over wrap
One of the issues in the operation of an auto tuner, is that it has to
transmit enough power to be rectified by silicon diodes detecting and
operating in a linear manner. Also, you have to transmit enough power to
break down the oxides on connectors, RF switches, antenna connections and
anything
Another good resource is the Polyphasor web page for static protection and
grounding info.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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The tip is not grounded in an isolated tip iron. Allows one to control the
static grounding to include the operator, etc.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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Hank and the group,
One of the worst feeling headphone arrangements is any of the old hard
phones from military or 1950's ham days without cushions. The rubber
cushions that completely covered those types of phones used to be sold by
Allied Radio, and made by Trimm or one of the other headphone
Scott, never ship electronics with a battery installed unless you disconnect
one lead from the battery so that there is not way it can energize in
shipment. DO NOT RELY
ON ANY!! SWITCH! We have shipped equipment all over the world and seen it
accidentally turn itself on through vibration or
4500 Microfarad 150 Volts DC
-Stuart
K5KVH
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Check your local Home Depot or Lowe's home centers and hardware stores.
They have had good buys on brand name 3 1/2 digit meters of late.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Tom, please pass on my own condolences and I am sure all here on the list
join in as well.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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If your local humidity is kept above 50 per cent RH, you can grasp the pins
of any IC and gently squeeze them to close them to fit sockets. I usually
lay them sideways on the desk top and put pressure on them, holding the
plastic or ceramic body. This is the safest way.
-Stuart
K5KVH
Aluminum foil has very slight magnetic shielding, but there is commercial mu
metal foil that is very expensive but very good.
Thin sheet metal is cheaper and more readily found. Check it with a magnet
to see if it will work as magnetic shield. If magnet sticks it is steel or
ferrous (shield
Steve, the Astron has the ratings to handle the K2 plus 100 watts. It also
has voltage regulator that should limit the current, so added breaker is
optional. It should be slightly larger than the current draw of the K2 plus
the amplifier, if used.
If you do not use the breaker, be sure to fuse
Leigh, most of your coupling may be magnetic, if shielding did not reduce
the RFI.
You might want to experiment with steel shim stock or even tinplate from
cans.
The easiest fix is distance: Moving the rig away from magnetic and
electric field sources of transformers as you have found.
GL,
I notice the lack of familiarity with military time and Zulu time keeping
among our ARES members, and new hams during simulated emergency tests, or
public service events where any messaging is done. It is widespread since
the recission of the requirement to keep a log, I am afraid.
-Stuart
K5KVH
It used to be Standard Operating Procedure for all hams to keep their logs
in Zulu, (Greenwich) time, in that for working other countries or other time
zones, this is the only practical way to keep QSL card records.
I think it is remiss of current education in ham radio, that we do not
emphasize
The bottom line on placement of rigs to avoid hum for Elecraft, or any other
brand, is to place the transformers and switchers as far from the rigs as
possible within reason. Use twisted pair leads from DC supplies external to
the rigs, and shield them if possible.
Alternatively (and at great
ARRL requests you send in logs of both operators and guests, so
participants includes all who come to Field Day site.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Actually, Tom switching supplies may have a worse coupling effect since they
have an oscillator going at higher frequency than the power line, in
addition to power line 60 Hz.
And, even coupling of RF between Tuner and Radio can happen. At a Field Day
one time, a tuner was placed on a Yaesu
Ten Tec's 1202 Power and SWR meter kit is a best buy as it can be calibrated
for QRP and for QRO, (two scales). It also has two pickups, one for HF and
one for VHF/ UHF. Although spec'd only up to 2m, I found it useable for
nulls at 440 as well. You can easily change the calibration to suit
All the hard work of balun design has been done in the balun kit offered by
The Wireman, Landrum S.C. (on web). I believe Amidon might also have Balun
kits and both fit the power range you want.
Typically, it is hard to get one balun to work 160m to 10m. See the Jerry
Sevick books, (Baluns
Daniel,
You could forgo the core toroid entirely and use a small loop of smaller
coax than that of the antenna loop coax.
73,
Stuart
K5KVH
Google on small loops for a variety of feed versions.
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Paul,
Are you using an illuminated magnifier of at least 3X power? Also, do you
have a supplemental hand magnifier that you could place behind the
illuminated bench glass and have double the magnification? Makes it much
easier to see the boards and the notations.
Also, be sure to work in the
There are no user adjustments on the slug or pickup of the Bird that I am
aware of.
You could check it against some other known standard and construct a graph
paper of differences, but the Bird is good plus or minus 5 per cent about as
good as it gets for RF unless you go to high dollar
The way to approach a problem that extends over several stages is to half
split it. That means you go half way into the circuit and monitor, for
normal operation. Then, if that works move half way later in the chain of
circuits and so on, until you narrow down the problem to one stage.
Usually,
Don, there is a sensitivity rating on the better quality earbuds packages.
Some of the Sony models are quite efficient among others. The cheap
unlisted specs models vary all over the place. Plus, the insulation gets
stiff on the Dollar store brands.
72,
Stuart
K5KVH
You can find the breaking strength vs. gauge of wire for copper in wire
tables from the manufacturers.
You can also find in some catalogs what the safe tension in pounds is, and
the weight should not exceed the working tension rating.
A wire is going to assume a natural sag of a centenary, and
A foot note to Jim's wire comments: Watch out for fence wire that is
Aluminum clad steel. It will be less ductile than true aluminum and will
quickly rust out and fail where scratched or nicked.
Sadly, copper plated steel fence wire sold for electric fences, rusts out in
about a year in humid
Actually, many manufacturers with multiple but similar models, often have
lapses of keeping everything updated. Things get busy with more than one
product to sell, accessories and parts to sell, and keeping up with parts
inventory for different designs. Not to mention, current production orders
An easy added protection for batteries is to use the appropriate zip lock
bag to add a protective membrane around the battery. Put holes to pass
battery leads but seal those with RTV silicone Rubber caulking compound.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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You can roll off low end by decreasing the coupling capacitor in series with
the mike hot lead, or adding another to the mike alone to effectively do the
same.
You may need to change the gain of the mike preamp to optimize for the Heil
mike.
72,
Stuart
K5KVH
There is a fix for this well known susceptable Wineguard amplified antenna.
Check out the ARRL web site, or Wineguard web site. Something was in QST I
believe also.
They have to fix or trade in the antenna with Wineguard. It is not possible
to fix at the ham station.
72,
Stuart
K5kVH
Pete, I have tried cyanoacrylate and when it heated it let go.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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Yes,
I think we can do simple kits with 1206 parts with home hand tools and
possibly a hold down fixture home made. In fact, that would be a great
kit, a set of SMT sized tools: Needle Nose pliers, light spring tweezer,
hold down device that would sit on desk and exert weight on a 1206
Sandy,
What kind of soldering station do you have now?
How about $5 to put you in SMD capable soldering set up? Or maybe $10
outside, the cost of a proper tip if you have a heat controlled station now.
750 tips would do it, with the narrow end suited to 1206 pads.
73,
Stuart
K5KVH
For manual SMT parts, 1206 is a workable size: 0.12 in. by 0.06 in.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Why not get the spinner attachment for the standard Elecraft knob? Easy
addition as it glues on.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Peter,
There are water clean fluxes that might answer your concern. I was thinking
of ones that dissipate with soldering heat, just a dot on land of the
component that was to be the down side.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Hi,
Indeed, vibration in mobile transport creates triboelectricity, a charge
build up by friction of wires insulations against conductors. It could be
not the foam of the box, (which usually is grey or black indicating carbon
content) but the wiring inside the radio.
It is always good practice
Tom,
The local SCS modem expert is Lewis Thompson, W5IFQ here at ARL. email him
at the adr I will send, for info on the interfacing of the SCS. He has
successfully interfaced them to the little 5 watt Yaesu radio, I know. I
think it is pretty straightforward to interface the SCS to anything.
As others have noted two radials is a minimum. They should be used in
balanced numbers, pairs.
You also may benefit to have one radial in each direction you wish to work,
as that increases the signals from that direction when you have only one
radial in that direction. Pairing radials is
The nice thing about the Ten Tec kit, is that it can be easily converted to
an L network tuner, if you switch the point where the pick up circuit
monitors current, and substitute a coax jack for the connection in one
original hole. That way, it can be converted back to artificial ground
service
I agree with Phil, that a ground mounted vertical would pick up more
household noise than a horizontal dipole placed away from the house. See
the Cebik web site; www.cebik.com for antenna ideas that really work for
limited space.
72,
Stuart
K5KVH
___
Bob,
You might have another world round table. I did one in about 1991, New
Zealand, Australia, Alaska,
Chile, and Texas. SSB, 100 watts, wire K5KVH varient of the G5RV. (Flat
top was tee made up of 40 feet phase line plus the wire doublet).
73,
Stuart
K5KVH
If the average Sun Spot cycle can be called 11 years, and if 2002 was the
peak year, (somewhat muddied because of an apparent double peak this time);
then, from a peak to bottom should be 5 1/2 years. The bottom would be in
2007, and then another 5 1/2 years would bring the next peak around 2013.
The great Sunspot cycle peak in 1957 was the greatest ever recorded. For
some of us that were just coming into radio, it is hard to take cycles that
do not reach those dizzy heights.
For a young ham in 1957, sitting in a mobile with AM rig of about 50 watts,
talking to Australia in the middle
You may have better results with a dipole antenna, or at least you will be
able to tell if it is the band.
A very low antenna as you describe, 12 ft., radiates mostly straight up and
is only good within your state except for exceptional propagation
conditions.
Try something from a tree to the
Posters should disable their anti spam authentication if they want a direct
answer to their question.
A recent query resulted in my receiving a long complicated request for me to
go to web site to prove may answer was not from a machine. The web site
took too long to come up, so I canceled the
Lee,
Maybe a latent bad solder joint? How about the speaker mounting screws
being overly tight?
A couple of the obvious things to check.
72, and GL,
Stuart
K5KVH
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Some rigs will take it fine, as is. Is it the one with amplifier in base?
that type will surely work with all modern rigs and proper adjustment of the
amplifier.
On some rigs, with low Z mike inputs, a high Z to low Z transformer can
match the high impedance crystal element of the D-104 to the
I ALWAYS grip the component with thin needle nose pliers against the body
before using a bending jig or my fingers to move the leads 90 degrees to the
case of component. I have seen diodes fracture if not.
72
Stuart
K5KVH
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Buy a flat screen monitor, and not plasma.
Really, a CRT monitor radiates from cabling and from the screen tube itself.
You might have to slide the ferrite choke along the cables to find optimum
effect from it.
GL,
Stuart
K5KVH
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The use of the conversion from 5 MHz VFO is indeed how the USB vs. LSB
convention got started. With 9 MHz IF you got 4.0 MHz (80M) and 20M, (14
MHz.) 9 -5 in one case, 9+5 in the other, with opposite Sidebands.
The first use of such was probably the Central Electronics or similar tube
Yes Bob, I corrected my post. It was 9 MHz VFO to switch SB.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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I mis remembered, it was a 9 MHz VFO in the radio I described, the one from
ZL1AAX, apparently.
Thanks math gurus.
73
Stuart
- Original Message -
From: Stuart Rohre [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED];
elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 10:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: Long loop antennas
Yes Rhombics are fun. Back in the Army MARS program days
Jack,
Yes, the beam could be shortened with helical wound elements of wire. This
was a beam shown in the ARRL Handbook way back, not sure if 1957 or when.
You could even make the elements of ham sticks!
You can fed one side with a monopole approach to get impedance matching, see
the Kent
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