I would get a brass flat washer and solder the wire to it. Then, clamp the
washer with the bolt. Use a lock washer under the nut of the bolt and you
are good to go.
Stuart
K5KVH
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A lot of times you can make RS 232 work even without the handshake lines
like CTS, DTR, RTS.
You loop back pin 4 to 5 of the 25 pin D connector, and you hook 6, 8, and
20 together. 2, and 3 are your transmit and receive, and pin 7 is the
common.
Pin 1 is chassis ground, but do not share it
Solder is a very subjective thing.
The thing to do with any solder unfamiliar to you is use it on some cables,
components, connectors and evaluate the quality of joints it makes with your
soldering tools, skill, etc. You can see if it takes more or less heat than
old solder you are familiar
My measurements on ham grade coax switches show 40 dB or less isolation
between positions.
IN FACT, 60 dB is high even for a commercial grade switch. The simple types
from MFJ that are wires to a multiposition wafer switch do not shield quite
long wire runs from the adjacent connectors.
The parent co. is now of the Loctite products group, who make thread locking
compounds to paint on nuts and bolts.
(Permatex whom I thought of makes the gasket compound, or 'goop'. Both
products, Loctite and the gasket stuff are a kind of 'goop', thus the
confusion.
Multicore Solders,
Ball bearing and similar fans have a longer life with quiet than sleeve
bearing fans. You might check out the offerings from Mouser in small fans.
-Stuart
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Verticals are probably preferred for tight locations, and in any case have a
nice low angle of radiation even given ground mounting, or low elevated
mounting. Of the two, if you can get the antenna up six or more feet, so
much the better. Then you could use gull wing elevated radials to
Ron makes a good point about an antenna backed by an upslope, such that the
antenna is below the highest objects, be it hill or house.
You can possibly get more interesting contacts by arranging a rotating guy
ring to which to attach the high point of the antenna. Then, get some
rebar to act
To adequately ground for electrostatic charges does not require a
connection to physical earth at all.
In fact whether to use a strap at all depends on your local temperature and
humidity at the work station. Dry cold winter weather is more risk than a
wet spring unless you have a cold air
The standard circuit Ten Tec uses to test their noise blankers is a relay
wired to open its own coil circuit and then remake. The arcing at the
contacts makes a good close by test source for this.
73,
Stuart
K5KVH
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L. B. Cebik reports favorably on vertical dipoles at Cebik.com. When
elevated sufficiently; since they are a complete antenna, not requiring a
radial set; they radiate quite well at DX angles. See www.cebik.com
-Stuart
K5KVH
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The device is stated to have toroid cores on each side of the line conductor
so as to provide a DC short to the antenna side of the box. On the
transmit side, it may be AC coupled, which is fine when the right size cap
is used for RF. The cores with their windings act as RF chokes while
Whether you will get good results with your loop under the shingles depends
on the amount of metal flashing on the edges of your roof. Also, on the
amount of metal enclosed by it in your attic. we tried one on a Red Cross
building that had perimeter flashing and even on standoff insulators,
A lot of these antenna ideas have been modeled by L. B. Cebik, W4RNL at his
excellent antenna web site: www.cebik.com
Stuart
K5KVH
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For 20 meters and up, the Minuteman antenna I have has been very good in
performance and ease of use.
It does require some guying in a wind, and I modified the upper section to
have another PVC pipe section to provide more Velcro attachments to
stabilize the collapsible whip.
Stuart
K5KVH
You can determine the sign of the reactance by simply tuning higher in
frequency. IF the reactance increases it is inductive, if it DECREASES, it
is capacitive reactance. Remember the basic formula for inductive is Xl =
2Pi fL, while the inverse formula is for capacitive reactance, thus it
The rules are pretty clear, what ever stations you run, free ones included,
the highest power run determines the class of operation. If in battery
class all stations have to be on battery at 5 watts!! No exceptions.
I have always thought that the arbitrary 5 watts for both CW and phone modes
Frank,
There are steel blades still sold at Home Depot for painting clean up of
windows. Single edge razor blades.
Now if the school official crazies won't stomach those, you can simple
substitute some plated metal or even a rusty slip of steel. I wonder if a
scrap of blue banding metal tape
I wonder if the blue blades are the same steel coating procedure as bluing a
gun barrel? If so, you can get solution for treating steel at most gun
shops that cater to those restoring firearms.
Stuart
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Tom see the Cebik Antenna pages, www.cebik.com for optimizing the feedpoint
of a Delta up the side of the triangle for lower angles of radiation.
Stuart
K5KVH
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My experience of 47 years of use of Multicore solders is that they give
superior wetability, and flow, and clean up to ordinary wire solder such as
Radio Shack solder. It is easier to use Multicore flux to get a better
cleaned joint and hence easier to solder with less heat exposure to the
The 80 m dipole feed with ladder line and a tuner can work well even with
multi lobes on the higher bands.
See any edition of the ARRL Antenna book or handbook for typical patterns,
or www.cebik.com antenna web site for patterns. If you take into account
the lobe directions you will have fine
Charles,
With dual band close spaced beams, everything interacts.
You can try adjusting the wire lengths by the percentage you were off your
target frequency, or just operate them as they fell. They will vary with
height, and there is no compelling need to have them exactly resonant in
cases
Certainly, traps and baluns may contribute some losses as well as loading
coils may.
Tune losses in a decent tuner are pretty low, unless you are trying to match
outside its design range.
There is no advantage save not having a reactance term to match out, to
having resonance on the antenna.
hello all,
You can go to ARRL.org web site and download lists of nets by area, freq.,
mode, etc.
73,
Stuart
K5KVH
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Some of us in US are getting any remaining stocks of genuine lead solders
from Multicore (former Ersin).
They have been bought by another us co. but a google search of Multicore
Solders should give you their web site, and their dealers. Some dealers
will have NOS for awhile. I have a couple
Resistors are fine. Our club uses 2 each 100K ohm, one for each side of the
ladder line to earth tent stake.
Each resistor is carbon 2w.
Stuart
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Craig,
You ARE on the wrong frequencies, listen on 40 by day and 80 by night to
Gulf Coast nets.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Dave,
Much emergency traffic can be handled with QRP phone rigs using NVIS
antennas consisting of a low dipole for 40 and 80 plus a reflector wire
about a foot off ground. It works like a 2 element beam and easily covers a
couple of states.
I have uses such a beam on 40m from Austin TX to
The problem in the affected areas was the flooding of power sources or total
destruction of antennas, and structures.
Hams need strike teams with HF NVIS and VHF portable capability to work
inside the affected areas.
Well planned Disaster Plans include this. LA. was woefully negligent, at
Well, John is with his unit and deployed even before the hurricane struck.
His priority is the Red Cross satellite phone traffic, and Red Cross radio
band.
-Stuart
K5KVH
Red Cross Austin
The Elecraft designers have stated in past discussions that Coil Dope is not
needed if you wind your toroids tight. Remember, that the dielectric
constant of Coil Dope can change your tuning of the coil. It would be
alright to use a few drops on ends of winding as an aid, but a lot could be
Hi Thom,
The loop can be a antenna of choice for QRN/ QRM areas. The end fed antenna
being unbalanced may have more noise than the loop. You will end up with
more of a rectangular loop, or a horizontal Hentenna.
For the higher bands, 20 and up you might investigate the compact beam
designs
Craig,
this comes up from time to time. Check the speaker mounting for the screws
being overly tight and distorting the speaker frame. Or check that the
frame is not bent or warped. You have to dismount the speaker to check
that.
Don't overly tighten the speaker mounting screws when you
You can find many suitable cases at places selling to other markets than ham
radio.
One time, I realized a lot of QRP rigs fit the insulated coolers for six
packs. Makes a good way to store your rig in a car full time.
Larger cases with room for air to circulate would work for operational
How about a roll of 1 lb. solder lasting 40 years?
If you do not use much solder on joints, it will last that long thru a dozen
kits and projects.
Stuart
K5KVH
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A choke will bleed off the static charges, but can be easily blown by too
much static voltage opening the winding. Instead put a 100,000 ohm 2 watt
resistor across the feed line. It will allow the full power RF to pass, but
take the static to ground, if the line feeder is coax. If not coax,
The definition of Marconi antenna is that it is quarter wave.
A half wave antenna is called a Hertz antenna in some older literature.
Stuart
K5KVH
No matter what the ground conductivity is at a given hill top located
antenna, what is shown in one ARRL Antenna Compendium piece on gains from an
antenna near the edge of, and atop a hill, is that you are no longer
shadowing say, a dipole parallel to the cliff face from radiating at angles
Another thing about modern computers and lower noise therein, is they use a
10 MHz master clock then dither it, and multiply it to the Gigahertz max
speeds. Thus instead of a single spur at a frequency, they have the clock
energy spread over a band with each frequency having less power.
And,
This past Field Day, we used some NVIS dipoles atop a hill in Austin TX.
There was a sharp drop to the east and to the West.
We not only worked obvious NVIS range signals; but worked a number of skip
signals from antennas no more than 7 feet high at the highest. The 40m
antenna was only 3 1/2
Maybe Paul, you have a better grounding scheme.
Part of good grounding, is to run a computer used with a radio from the same
power strip. IF the computer is NOT used with radio, have it separated or
on different power circuit.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Paul,
NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) dipoles or antennas are any antenna
operated at low elevations above ground from lying on ground to being say
0.1 wave high, and certainly well below conventional heights for that
antenna. They are horizontal dipoles usually a half wave type, or
Another answer for Darrell, is that a balun is designed to see equal antenna
halves either side of it. (on its balanced side).
There is no advantage to using one on an end fed dipole.
If you were to feed with coax, to an end fed dipole, and that coax is
quarter wave long, you would transform
L. B. Cebik, W4RNL, explored the im balance of the end fed Zepp antenna,
a half wave with open wire feed where one side of the wire connects to
nothing, and the other to the antenna end element.
That would seem to be the extreme case of current imbalance but he found
typically, there is only
Hi Reggie, I built my own and adapted it to my supports available, (too low
for the 40 feet of ladder line for my version.)
What did I do to make it the K5KVH antenna?
I put the ladder line horizontal, from the center, to a tree, and a back
stay guy to the center insulator to keep dipole
It is very true that antenna analyzers are affected adversely, without
filtering, in the near field of transmitters such as AM stations.
Here at the research lab, we are about a mile from a directional AM station.
One of the popular antenna analyzers gave swinging SWR meter readings
following
Hmm, I am not sure what that would mean, an analyzer that can see near field
effects.
The in line analyzers indirectly might show near field effects simply by
being interfered with by strong RF nearby.
Almost anywhere on the boat that is away from structure and conductors will
have the same
Yeah Steve, there is a fix, it is called shading the Radio!
You probably exceeded the temperature limits of inside components.
I had a tuner that kept getting out of adjustment at Field Day one year.
Finally, I realized that the sun angle had changed to bear directly on the
dark case and the
The use of a fan does not violate any Field Day rules.
No electronics save Mil Spec is really built to sit out in the sun. Provide
shade at least, and forced air cooling to give long life to your finals and
components.
Stuart
K5KVH
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The transformer is to break the ground loop of having the computer ground
connected to the RF chassis ground of the radio and producing possible
ground loop currents. In that case, you defeat the transformer if you
connect the computer case to radio case.
The computer case ground should be
It is a good idea to use a pigtail adapter if one is going from a small jack
on a radio to a larger jack for legacy headphones that you prefer.
Simply create a plug, pigtail of suitable audio flexible cable, and a jack
to accomplish the transition without an adapter putting heavy weight onto
Terry, you want the part of the antenna in the air to be the longer piece.
And the highest piece for best results. Any antenna configuration that
bends the antenna back upon itself will detract from the overall working as
an antenna, even if it makes the SWR look good. Remember, a light bulb
James,
Before replacing, it may be that you only knocked it off center of the voice
coil.
Take out the speaker and view it from all angles. Is the Cone off center?
If the thing looks like it is, you might put three fingers and thumb equally
around edge of voice coil at narrow end of cone, and
True you do not have to have a license to take all the tests up to Extra,
BUT,
You do have to take the element that makes up the Technician test, just as
you have to take all the elements after Tech, to then take the Extra test.
You cannot just take one or two elements for a particular level,
I invite those seeking answers to why the code testing requirement was
dropped to read the FCC's definition of the ham radio service given in the
NPRM, as well as the detailed FCC comments to each of the petitions they
considered.
They clearly made a case of why test by mode, as CW is a mode;
You can either use a high impedance to low transformer for the D104 mike, or
get one of the D104 amplified mikes which has a impedance converting
transistor circuit in its base, able to drive low impedance modern
microphone inputs.
The crystal high impedance element of the 104 needs to look into
Ah, OK thanks for the update---
Depending on how you wire this particular key, ie have jumper on two side
wires, and common on lever, you COULD use it as a sideswiper, (sidewise
key).
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Hi Glenn,
Let me jump in here and comment. A Ufer ground is for 60 Hz and safety
grounding only. It probably is not such a good RF ground, as that would
depend on its wavelength relationships, ie how big is it in terms of
wavelengths you use, what is it's capacitance to the dirt, what is the
It's a sideswiper.
Stuart
K5KVH
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Help:
Another resource especially for Moxons is the L. B. Cebik antenna website,
(W4RNL): www.cebik.com
Almost every kind of antenna is modeled there and much good info on limits
of models also.
Stuart
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Erik,
Each of the listed antennas has a good design and application. The Bug
Catcher is more a mobile antenna, and needs radials to work portable.
It will need a mobile base adapted to a portable stand.
The Outbacker is a mobile antenna that now comes with radial kit and
stand,but is short for
Joe,
I mis-remembered, saying Permatex's parent co. It is the Loctite parent
co. that now owns Multicore Solders. Henkle.
However , google on Multicore Solders brings up the distributor list from
the link I will embed here.
http://www.motionnet.com/cgi-bin/search.exe?a=scno=7823
Where are you
In today's ever more crowded circuits; I find that during installation of a
component, I should either hold the end of the wire to be cut or put a
finger on it, so that it will not fly into some part of the circuit and
short something. It is safer than nipping ends of wires with the cutters
The Kester solder Mouser part nos. are different in present Mouser catalog.
However, by inspection of the numbers which are similar I can tell you that
nos. containing 6040 are 60/ 40 solder.
Nos. suffixed with 88xx seem to all be NO Clean type, which you do NOT
want to use!
Most likely you have
Rich,
If you re read the text below the pictures, it pretty much details, along
with photos, how the coils are wound. They are solenoid open wire coils,
and the coil forms are noted, as are the wire sizes and turns for each
winding.
Link coils such as in this Z match tuner, are typically made
The Pomona web site lists all the major distributors as stocking their
products: Allied, Newark, Arrow, McMaster Carr, Powell, as well as Mouser.
Maybe not all stock every item, but Allied , Newark, and McMaster Carr are
usually widely stocking down here.
73
Stuart
K5KVH
Rich,
You will need the Elecraft balun kit for the feeder at the rig before it
connects to K2 by a short coax jumper.
You can use any plastic that has no conductive material in it as insulators.
The one you mention is fine, (plexiglas). You can also use PVC plumbing
fittings from Home Depot, or
I guess one of the issues, are you ordering a K2 with its auto tuner?
In that case, my suggestions apply, to adding the Elecraft balun, and using
the internal K2 tuner for your antenna. It is also true that a balanced
line tuner will work after the K2, and before your ladder line.
Since surplus
Brian,
With a window you could deploy a homemade version of the BW window loaded
antenna. It was a whip as long as you dare, and a base loading coil, which
you can wind and tap for various bands. Put a counterpoise wire for say 33
feet on ground side of feedpoint at base of coil. Tap up on coil
Tony,
To save you and others some work, Frank Witt did an extensive measurement
series on many tuners; and published it in QST and I think, QEX magazines
with additional studies. If you are an ARRL member, you can likely find the
info from the pieces on the ARRL web site. It may be in the open
Google the name Frank Witt, and you will find the tuner studies he did.
Also in archives of QRP-L reflector where he posted them, and maybe on
www.arrl.org technical topics links.
72,
Stuart
K5KVH
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My understanding, from L. B. Cebik, was the German balanced tuners were
discontinued. I could not find them by Google search.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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The MFJ balanced tuner has a double tee network to give the most range of
adjustment.
Note even the vaunted Johnson Matchbox did not cover all of today's bands
and impedances.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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Isn't that the panel that is L shaped for the 100 watt option? Really a
back an top panel heat sink?
-Stuart
K5KVH
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On Board jumpers is the term we use in industry. Check the main
distributors catalogs: Mouser, Digikey, Allied, Newark, etc.
72,
Stuart
K5KVH
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Make sure your speaker bolts are not overly tight distorting the speaker
voice coil travel. This was a problem on a number of units.
An idea: cut some spacers that are beveled so as to tilt the speaker
forward. They cannot be long, as you will get a tunnel stove pipe effect if
the speaker is
Very interesting test and another use for the XG1!
Remember, the fat ladder line may be not canceling the currents, ie is not
as balanced as the more narrow line. Or maybe, the window narrow line is
just the better match to the tuner or it is the routing and the surrounding
influences.
-Stuart
That is a good point, as you do not want the AGC to activate giving a wrong
reading on the comparisons.
If it were possible to disable AGC, you would be able to be sure it is out
of affecting measurements. Also, you should use a step attenuator to make
sure no other circuits are overloaded for
An external 4:1 balun is typically less lossy than the built in 4:1 baluns.
Better still, use the W5YR idea, a bead ferrite choke on the coax output,
then connect there with a coax to binding post adapter for balanced line,
and you eliminate questions about your balun.
An alternate is to use a
W5YR, (sk) used the beads for transition to his balanced line adapter to the
coax connection on his tuner. That is the beauty of the cable choke and
Beads, they are operating on the OUTSIDE of the coax section, and thus the
transformation ratio is taken care of inside the tuner, but RF is blocked
I agree with swapping the two switches to see of problem is on both. Is
there any other grounding to the switch chassis?
Other than that, are you using same length coax jumpers, (same jumpers) and
just subbing antennas? I have seen many problems move with jumpers, even
those you think are good
I looked at the HEX BEAM web site to see if anything special about the feed.
Sounds like it is a simple 50 ohm coax connection. However, compact
antennas have intense near field, so if there is coupling back to shack thru
its gain direction you may have a weird case going.
Keep us informed of
Can the XG1 transmit into a 50 ohm resistor with short stiff wire leads to
couple, near the loop?
-Stuart
K5KVH
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My clubs, (two) have had 3 MFJ's. The only reason we had 3, was we
replaced a 259 with the 259 B for added features, and gave the still working
one away as a door prize. I have the Autek RF 1, and then later got the MFJ
269 to gain 440 band. All have worked well. There was an intermittent
Ten Tec has a great T kit for adjusting Antenna Tuners with out a signal
on the air, save the built in noise bridge. And it costs a LOT less than an
Antenna Analyzer from the commercial sources. The kit is one board, handful
of components and maybe one hour or less assembly. You listen for a
Many pieces of equipment never get a comment from hams when they work as
advertised, or have so many advanced features that most hams never learn to
use them.
Thus, it is likely you hear the war stories of the problem equipment; rather
than of the successes.
In addition to my own MFJ 269, which
In a plated thru hole, you only have to solder one side, and the conduction
is made to the trace on other, as there is already solder in the hole.
Stuart
K5KVH
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I will echo Ron's comment about the colors not being easily to sort out on
today's resistors. It is much better to use a DMM to be sure, and not trust
your eyes. If you want to pick resistors, do so with a high intensity light
and magnifier, and you will have a better chance of picking the
Those having low band noise using indoor or attic antennas, might make a
large copper pipe loop for low noise receiving. It should be symmetric for
best effect.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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I have found that some ear buds fit better if you switch them to the other
ear, or turn them slightly so that the wire exits at an angle to the rear of
the head.
Maybe you can find a more comfortable position that way.
On another headphone note: From time to time, I report on using Cosmetic
Hi Vic,
The diameter of the cosmetic pads I have found is smaller, (slightly) than
the Trimm type and Military Surplus phones I have used them on. I do wear
glasses 100 per cent of the time, and these pads have not been a problem.
They do not stick out forward of the ear enough to touch the
You can get quality 3M electrical tape at Home Depot/ Lowe's in various
colors to have something that does not look like electrical tape. White
is available, orange, and many other colors.
You can use a wide tape, such as the clear vinyl tapes sold at home centers.
While Scotch type tapes will
Never trim precut to length leads such as ICs and relays, and resistor
packs, or crystals.
These have just enough extension thru the normal fillet of solder to not be
a problem, and to provide a place to clip on for troubleshooting probes.
Trimming short leads that were not designed to be
Absolutely do not leave out the fillet. If you have a lead that sticks out
of a hole, you should have a fillet around it. That is a requirement of the
NASA soldering course of years ago, but has not changed as far as I see in
modern assemblies.
The flush plated thru hole is OK for solder bond
MARS has no better email than anyone else. The request for application
could have fallen in the bit bucket and not gotten to MARS; or they might
have been short staffed as they often are at HQ. MARS is pretty far down
the staffing priorities when it comes to the management of the program by
the
These stepped drill bits are OK for the larger holes you might want to make
in thin metal. They are sold at Harbor Freight at import prices. See their
web pages.
72,
Stuart
K5KVH
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Look up the Caplugs Co. on Google, and write for some samples of their
plugs, stating the sizes you need.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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A simple brute force test would be to procure a simple mild steel box
sufficient to contain the K2 on all sides save the front panel. See if the
K2 in the box is still sensitive to nearby power fields. If not then
proceed to use less shielding in a series of tests:
Experiment with sheets of
Bob,
Putting a large speaker magnet near any tuned circuit creates a large
magnetic field that can affect the tuned circuit. The effect of your large
speaker is common upon many radios. This even affects toroid circuits such
as those in the K2.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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