The term "whacker," strictly speaking, is used to describe people who are untrained, unqualified, and unauthorized to act in a certain capacity but attempt to do so anyway, either by bluffing or, sometimes, outright  lying.  We can all cite personal experiences with this type of person.  Someone who is trained, qualified and authorized to act in a capacity, and does so within the limitations of that capacity, is not a whacker.

As K7RBW points out, if properly trained and authorized radiological monitoring personnel have ham licenses, so much the better, but it is almost certain that they will not be using Amateur Radio for their "official" comms simply because Amateur Radio is not a secure service - indeed, it was never intended to be and we are prohibited by FCC regs from encrypting our comms.  So they are most likely to use Part 90 encrypted equipment and frequencies. 

You do realize, of course, that there is a whole new subgroup of whackers out there ready to start driving around nuclear power plants with geiger counters and HTs, reporting on radiation levels.  Don't give them any more ideas.

That pretty much mirrors my own experiences with clubs.  I have seen too many cases where some club members think they're presidents of a homeowner's association or something and all sorts of petty power wars get started over inconsequential things.  Problems can almost always be traced down to one or two individuals who, intended or not, ruin the experience for the rest of the club members.

The problem is not so much that hamfests are dying.  It's that hams themselves are dying off and not being replaced by the upcoming generations in the same way that used to happen 30 - 40 years ago.

I went to the New Orleans hamfest that was held a couple of weekends ago.  I was glad to see that there is a group of hams interested in putting on a hamfest in our area since it has been over 20 years(!) since the last one was held in this area.  As I walked around the hamfest I realized very quickly that, at age 55, I was one of the YOUNGEST people at the hamfest.

We can debate the (many) reasons for this another time.  My point is that younger people are not getting interested enough in Amateur Radio to make most smaller hamfests viable.

I've a tuner attached at the output of the amp that just does not affect the tuning nor loading of the amp? When I turn the amp off it works perfectly with just my exciter? You thinks this is perhaps a relay problem?
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It sure sounds like a relay problem.

From your description, though, I'm confused - are you saying that fiddling with the knobs on the external transmatch has no effect on the amp when the relay is energized?  If so, then it's definitely a relay problem.

BTW - "ice cube" is a slang term for a large electromechanical relay that is enclosed inside a transparent plastic cover, making it look like an ice cube with pins sticking out of one side.  The stock Heathkit relay is an open-frame type and to replace it with another type requires semi-major surgery on the amp's T/R circuit.  If you aren't comfortable with doing that then don't attempt it - either get someone with the requisite knowledge to do it or replace the relay with the same type.

Check Harbach Electronics' website (harbach.com) for a replacement relay.  Note that, if you opt for the Harbach replacement, you not only have to replace the relay but also the resistor that feeds power to it because of the different resistance of the relay coil.

When you say that it will not load or tune, do you mean that when the amp is properly driven (60W or less) and the T/R relay is activated, no setting of the load or tune capacitors makes any difference in the power output?

How are you measuring the power output?  An external meter would be best; the internal one is a relative indicator only.

The first thing I would look at doing is cleaning the relay contacts.  Heathkit relays are known for becoming intermittent due to oxidation of the contacts.  

Modern rigs have autotuners for one reason - to protect the rig's finals.  It's likely that the $300 you pay for the autotuner is a lot cheaper than replacing blown finals and their associated components.

Just because the tuner can flatten a 10:1 mismatch on coax doesn't mean that it's a good idea to do it, at least not all the time.

For casual operating on, say, 75M with a short, inductively-loaded vertical antenna that has a 2:1 SWR bandwidth of +/- 30kHz from resonance, a tuner can extend the antenna's useable bandwidth somewhat but not as far as you might think.

If you check the SWR curve of such an antenna you'll notice that the SWR jumps up dramatically either side of resonance and you'll hit the tuner's 10:1 limit very quickly.  Once you exceed that limit the rig goes into bypass mode and throttles back output dramatically to protect itself.  Your 100W output is now down to milliwatts but at least your finals still work.

Operating most ham-grade coax (i.e., RG-213 foam dielectric) at 10:1, especially at higher power levels, will dramatically increase power loss in the cable.  The power handling capability of coax is inversely proportional to both frequency and SWR.

Better to get the antenna resonant at as low an SWR as you can where you want to do most of your operating and try to stay within the 2:1 limits, especially at higher power levels.  Think of the rig's internal tuner as a fail-safe, not as a first line of defense.

The Swan 250 (alias Swine Two-Drifty) six-meter rig drifted badly because the VFO's fundamental frequency was in the 13 MHz range (WHAT was Herb Johnson thinking???).  Anyway, a trick we used to tame this beast was to put a small fan over the VFO compartment and have it constantly circulate air through the VFO.  It helped tremendously.

Nothing you do will eliminate all drift because, no matter how good the design, you're still dealing with a tube-based L/C VFO. But you can make it better.

That depends on the microphone you're using.

When you say that plugging or unplugging the mike will cause it to transmit, I'm assuming you mean that it transmits momentarily, that is, it doesn't stay stuck in transmit.  This is not uncommon with some mikes but the Icom hand mike that comes with the 746Pro doesn't do that so I'm guessing that you're using some other make of microphone.

If that is the case, the culprit is probably the wiring of the microphone.  Check the wiring against the pinout for the mike connector given in the 746Pro's instruction manual.

What are you using for a microphone?

I have an old Ameritron AL-811 (pre-MFJ era) that uses two Svetlana 572Bs.  Rugged tubes and very forgiving.  With a plate voltage of around 1500 - 1600 (after all, the amp was designed for the 811) the 572B isn't being operated anywhere near its capabilities (normal plate voltage for the 572B is around 2100) but that isn't really a problem; the 572B is loafing along at that level.

There is a lot of angst in the ham community over the possibility of many types of glass-envelope tubes becoming unavilable in the near future because manufacturers are phasing them out (i.e., the 3-500Z) but the 811 and 572B should be around for quite a while because of the audio market.  Remember, too, that the Svetlana 572B was designed for audio work.  The Cetron 811 and 572B are somewhat hit-and-miss; either you get good ones or you don't.

Either the 811 or the 572B should work fine in your application.  It comes down to price and availability.  RF Parts Co. is a good source for both of these tubes.

It should work in the sense that it will radiate RF to some extent.  The question is, HOW WELL will it work?

If your intent is to use the wire as an all-band antenna, keep in mind that the impedance of the wire will vary wildly with frequency.  Using a 4:1 balun might help somewhat with the resistive part of the impedance but the complex (+/-j) part is the real problem.  On some frequencies the complex part of the impedance will be so high that the balun won't do anything for you and may actually make things worse.

You might try setting the wire up as an OCF dipole.  See W8JI's website (W8JI.com) for a good design (it's under the heading "Windom Off Center Fed").

Alternatively, just run the wire directly to the tuner and make sure everything is grounded adequately.  You might still have some RF in the shack with this arrangement, though, so avoid high power (>100W) until you have tweaked the system such that RF in the shack is minimized.  How much tweaking is required nobody can say, unfortunately, since every installation has its own unique problems.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

> Another thought occurred to me that I seem to recall having been done before; Would it be possible to use the chain link fence itself as a counterpoise for this antenna? What would the likely results be? Has anyone here ever tried that before with any other vertical? <

I have been using a chain-link fence for an antenna mount and radial system for a couple of years now.  Works very well for me.  I have the advantage here in Southern Louisiana of very high-conductivity soil (high water table).  Antenna is a Hustler 5BTV.  You can get a 5BTV from DX Engineering for around $150 plus shipping and it's a time-tested and proven design.

I have my antenna clamped directly to a fence post but that works for me because my fence posts are in concrete.  If yours aren't, I would suggest mounting the antenna to a pipe a few feet in front of the fence and running radials in addition to using the fence for radials.

My setup won't perform as well as a 5BTV in the middle of a large field of 50 - 100 quarter-wave radials for 80M, but I never expected it to.  My backyard is your typical small suburban yard and space is limited so I have to work within that limitation.

There is no free lunch when it comes to antennas.  EVERY antenna is a compromise of some sort.

Icom says to not use a mag mount because mag mounts do not normally provide sufficient ground for an antenna.

The idea behind a mag mount is that the grounding will happen because of proximity to the metal surface to which the magnets are attached.  Nice theory but, in practice, it seldom happens.  You can't trust the magnets alone to provide an adequate ground at HF.

You can use a Hamstick with a mag mount if you take care to ground the coax shield directly to a large metal surface.  You can run a large-diameter lead (coax braid works well) and directly attach it to the metal surface at a point that gives you a good, solid, low-resistance connection (no paint or rust).

Need more information.

What kind of radio and power level?  What kind of emission do you want to monitor (SSB, AM, etc)?  What is the bandwidth of the oscilloscope you want to use?

You're right, you do need some sort of probe or transformer to couple RF energy to the scope without disturbing your rig or the antenna system.  Check the Handbook for applicable circuits.

You would be much better off using the fence as a counterpoise for a vertical antenna.  I have been using my chain-link fence that way for quite a while.  Works acceptably well.  Probably not as good as a buried radial system would be but it was certainly a lot easier to implement.