Hi Cal,

I have exactly the same problem.  MFJ sells 2 different bypass switches.  The higher power one should work OK, however I am too cheap to buy one.  The switch does not look like a special RF switch.

The relay idea has occurred to me.  You might find something on Ebay or at one of the surplus places (like Surplus Sales of Nebraska).  When I get to building mine I will start there.  They have a selection of ceramic switches and even some RF relays.

Good luck.

73, JP, K8AG

Being Mr. Cheap I wanted to get the most out of my wire.  I chose the ZS6BKW which is a computer optimized version of a G5RV.  With just my internal tuner (antenna SWR must be < 3) I tune 80, (not 75), 40, (not 30), 20, 17, 15, 12, 10 and 6.  Seems to perform pretty well too.

73, JP, K8AG

Ground schmound.  You can't have a decent RF ground with 3-5 feet of lead to an 8' ground rod.  The problem is that a G5RV is a ham bands antenna.  When you divert to SWL bands who knows what impedances, reactances, standing waves you have.

The 945 doesn't have a random wire connection.  With another tuner you could try tying the shield to the ground and running them both to a random wire input (assuming the tuner has one).  My guess is you are getting a high impedance where you want to listen that is greatly influenced by your body capacitance.  By using the random wire connection (which the 945 apparently does not have) instead of the SO239, you are providing for a higher impedance that very well could appear.

My 2 cents.

73, JP, K8AG

I have heard as high as 4000 ohms.  That is probably textbook calculations so you will never see that.

73, JP, K8AG

I'm a big fan of the vertical dipole.  Radials work, but the ground impedance can still be an issue.  With a dipole you minimize ground effects.

You can feed a vertical half wave at the end with the proper tuner.  That is what I do when I go portable.

73, JP, K8AG

I run a ZS6BKW with an FT-920.  The internal tuner handles everything (80-6) but 75 meters and 30 meters.  The antenna is similar to the G5RV but is computer optimized to minimize SWR on more bands.  If the transformer section gets away from vertical too far it effects the SWR on 40+M.  But generally I have had no real problems as long as the antenna is far enough up to keep a generally same direction in the transformer section.  Remember that the transformer section is part of the antenna system, esp on 40 and 80.

Good luck.

73, JP, K8AG

"well im still in experimentation mode here haha."

Welcome to the club.  Been there for 30+ years.

73, JP, K8AG

Hi Scott,

First of all I would check the alignment again if possible.  Check your frequencies to be sure you are not off band with the VFO.  Say your radio reads 14.030 on 14.000, you would hear very little below what your radio calls 14.030 because it actually out of band.

My observations is that sometimes a band can be partially  in at the high (or low) end, but that is rare.  usually if 20 is up, all of 20 is up.

One other possibility is that daytime contacts seem to cluster higher in the CW portions of 20 and 40 than evening QSOs.  I don't know why, except that 040-060 tends to be where I hang out for rag chewing.

Hope this helps.

73, JP, K8AG

Don't bother pushing the braid back to make the other half of the dipole.  Simply cut the braid off and fashion a choke with several turns of coax 1/4 wave down from where the braid was cut.  RF flows on the outside of conductors, including the shield.  The coax choke just serves as a high impedance end of the element.

Believe it or not, this works well.  Really simple to build.

73, JP, K8AG

There are different types of ground.  The can be separated into two categories (technically there are more but essentially these are the divisions):

1) DC and low frequency AC grounds.
2) RF grounds.

The first is the kind of grounding that is used for safety in electrical systems.   It is why we went to 3-prong outlets.  The ground on the equipment case will take the current and probably blow a fuse if a hot AC conductor should contact the case.  Its a safety thing.

The second is many times not needed, except for antennas that use the ground as part of the antenna.  And that ground is at the antenna not the rig.  Then a ground plane or radials are needed.  These act as another half of the antenna.  The more and better grounds, at the antenna, the better your antenna will perform.

Some try to obtain an RF ground by driving a copper stake as near as possible to their operating position.    Unless they are really a small fraction of a quarter wave from the ground point, it serves little purpose.

A dipole is a balanced antenna that requires no ground at all.  Sometimes, with balanced antennas, RF will find itself back into the shack via coax shield.  10 or 12 6" turns of coax will serve as a choke and keep RF out of the shack from a balanced antenna.

One final observation; with a non-grounded rig on the second floor of a house.  The antenna was a random wire and every time the transmitter was keyed RF was on the equipment case.  The electrical ground did nothing to help with the RF.  I changed antennas to a dipole and the problem went away.  Some say attaching a half wave wire to the case can eliminate the rf burns, but I didn't try that.

Hope this helps.

73, JP, K8AG

Adding to what KER says, I have found that the UPS stores ship insured equipment for a lot less than their outlet booths in other stores.  The difference is like twice the price.  The outlet booths will say they charge the same rates, but they do not.  I found that out at a local megaofficesupply store that I frequent.  Find a UPS Store and go there.

Just passing along what I have observed.

73, JP, K8AG

When reading reviews I discard all 0s 1s and 5s.  I then read all of the 3s and 4s looking for trends.  Trends indicate possible problems or shortcomings of all of that type rig.

I check out the seller as well.  Google their call, name and everything.  Anything unsettling, I let someone else have the equipment.

I also only do business with hams and those must be listed in the databases (QRZ, etc).  I only deal with the address in the database.  Its no guarantee, but blatant problems can be avoided.

My entire station is second+hand equipment.  Never a problem, so far.

My 2 cents.

73, JP, K8AG

My FT920 cranks down to about a watt.  For a best rig,  I don't see the point of limiting it to 10 Watts or less.  1 Watt from an IC7800 is the same as 1 Watt from a SW40.  Its all in the receiver and QRO radios tend to have really great receivers.

I own and sometimes operate a highly non standard HW8.  I have and use once-in-a-while a Pixie II.  Owned an FT817.  But the best radio overall is the best QRP radio if it can be turned down below 5 watts.

My 2 cents.

73, JP, K8AG

Hi Graham,

I have to agree with you on all points.  I was away from HF and CW for probably 15 years and returned about 6 years ago.  I listened and thought that I had lost my ability to copy CW.  Things were coming through but I had a really hard time copying 15 WPM.

So I went over to W1AW and listened.  No problem!  I could copy them easily and lost very little speed which I made up quickly.  CW quality has slipped badly in the time I was gone.

2. Sending characters at 20 WPM but throughput is a 5 comes from ops not willing to turn down their keyer speed.  They send slower to allow a slower op to copy.  I have done this myself.  I think it is easy to copy as long as the gaps are consistent.  And it helps develop an ear for higher speed characters and eventually higher copy speed.

I think we all should periodically record our fists and listen and copy them.  We might just find that we complain about our own fists as much as the fists of others.

My2cents.

73, JP, K8AG

I tend to agree with CLEBOT.  The 706 and 897 are portable/mobile rigs.  The 718 is meant to be a base rig and I think will be a little more comfortable to use.

You might even think about an FT747GX.  These lack some bells and whistles, but really are a great, simple-to-use first rig.

My 2 cents.

73, JP, K8AG