The issue with grounding conductors whether for RF current grounding or lightning protection is not the cross sectional area of the conductor but rather the surface area.  That is why copper strap is the recommended material.  It has greater surface area for the weight of the copper.  A wire is a cylinder and minimizes the surface area.  With RF currents or a lightning impulse the current flows only in the first few mils of material below the surface. Hence the term 'skin effect'.  A current due to a lightning impulse behaves the same as an RF current since the wave front of the current impulse contains much high frequency energy.  The skin effect comes into play in either case and only the outer skin is carrying the current. The surface area is essential as what you are trying to achieve is low inductance, NOT just a low  resistance.  Both qualities of the path are important.  You can have a low resistance ground system but if it does not have low inductance as well, you may as well have left it out.  A lighting induced current impulse will not follow the high inductance path to earth.  The current impulse will find the lowest inductance path and if it isn't extremely low a pulse of high voltage will appear across the ground path and it is this voltage impulse that does the equipment damage, not the current flow.

I've spent 33 years in the manufacturing and engineering side of the broadcast industry and I can tell you it is impossible to over design a ground system.  Copper strap used is normally .030 to .060 thick and 2 inches wide at a minimum.  The thicknes is mainly for mechanical issues and to allow the strap to withstand the temerature of braising.  Junctions between grounding conductors must be braised or Cadwelded.  Braising requires much higher temps that soldering and Cadweld is best but requires special equipment and is done at extreme temps.  Strap of less than .020 cannot withstand these temps.  The thinner strap will be destroyed by the braising or welding process.  Soft solder (Tin/Lead) is never used as it will not withstand corrosion.  Soft solder will corrode over time when exposed to moisture and the result will be a bad connection.

These are commercially viable solutions but sometimes the cost of materials may be beyound the average ham.  But each station should have a ground system as close to these goals as possible.  Use the widest and heaviest copper strap you can find and afford from the station to the ground  rod.  Clamp it mechaically to the rod and then braise it to the rod.  If you have several pieces of strap to make up the requied length to reach the station, overlap the strap at each joint and bolt the joint together with brass hardware and then braise the joint. Once in the station it usually becomes difficult to connect each peice of equipment to the ground strap with strap.  Here use a #10 wire as short as possible and bolt and braise the connectio to the strap.  At the equipment end use a firm bolted joint with a crimp on lug.  Most transcievers have a ground post, use it.

That takes care of the inside.  Out side make sure your tower, antenna supports, lightning arrestor feed through panel etc. are also connected to the ground rod with strap.  Again it will not be possible to do a braised joint in each case but at least a firm mechanical joint should be used.  But these joints will require frequent maintenace due to weathering.

Mike NA9Q

The instruction sheet from my 801H shows the following contact information:

DAIWA Industry Company LTD
Foreign Trade Division
3-36  6 Ikegami, Ota-ku
TOKYO 146, JAPAN

03-3755-5645  Voice
03-3755-2253  FAX

I hope this helps..  73,
Mike NA9Q

Without a doubt, use DHL.

Mike

Unfortunately the FT100D does not use flash memory.  It is a one time programed device.  The only way to change the software is to change the device.  You can however, do a hardware mod to the FT100D to open it up for transmit on all frequencies.  This mod is described on many of the modification information sites.  one of them is here:

http://www.mods.dk/view.php?ArticleId=2981

Mike NA9Q

I have seen this in several newer radios and it relates to a DC input supply voltage sensitivity issue.  Since FM mode is a full duty cycle mode (even at a reduced carrier), as soon as the mic is keyed the DC current drain increases to a high steady value.  If the supply voltage sags significanly under this heavier current drain, some of the newer radios will lock on in transmit mode. Only disconnecting it will turn it off. Typically you don't see this in SSB mode as there is only a small increase in DC current when the mic is keyed, unless of course you have a high average content audio input to the mic (like a steady whistle).

I saw this in my FT100D when it was new when, just for initial testing, I tried to run it from a cigarette lighter outlet.  As soon as I keyed it on FM, it locked on and had to be disconnected before it would shut down.  I saw this also on a friends' ICOM 50W FM radio when the engine was off and the DC voltage was at its' lowest.  My own IC207H will do it in the high power mode as well if the engine is off and the battery is low.  If you read the manuals of many of the newer FM 50W and higher radios, the manufacturers caution against transmitting (especially in high power mode) with the engine off.

I hope this helps...

73, Mike, NA9Q

One major consideration.  I took an Astron SS30M on a Ham vacation to the island of Rhodes (SV5) a couple of years ago.  While the supply handled the trip quite well and was ideal in terms weight and compatibility with 230 VAC, 50 Hz, the meters were less than ideal.  Typical of most present day mechanical meters, they are taught-band movements and are quite sensitive to vibration and shock.  In my case the voltage meter arrived back home after the mini DXpedition with a stuck needle.  The meter had to be replaced.  So consider if you will be traveling with this unit or not as to the desirability of meters.  If you only use it at home, no problem.  If it must survive in checked baggage, I would recommend against them.  73, Mike, NA9Q

I run the TS940SAT and I had the YG455CN1 270 HZ filter in it for several years.  Although great for separating stations in a crowded contest situation, it was just too narrow for everyday CW ragchewing.  I replace it with the Kenwood matched YK88C1 and YG455C1 500 Hz filters.  Much more suitable for everyday operation and much easier to tune.  I would suggest this approach to your situation.  73, Mike

I have a copy of the MC-50 wiring diagram scanned in from my manual.  If you want me to send it to you, send your email address.  

Otherwise, the RED wire goes to pin 3. the BLACK wire goes to pin 2, the YELLOW or CLEAR wire goes to pin 1, and the bare copper shield goes to pin 4.  The connector has the pin numbers embossed in the plastic.  Very hard to see but they are there.
 
73, Mike NA9Q

Danny,

Yes, this policy was changed several years ago.  When upgrading your license, FCC will renew it only if there is less than 1 year left on the current term.  The same holds true if you modify a license (such as changing the mailing address).  This question has come up several times at our local VE sessions here due to the recent flury of upgrade activity.

73, Mike NA9Q

You most likely have a cracked ring gear. I have experienced the same problem with my HAM-III, getting stuck in one position until you rock it out. The ring gear is the large gear about 5 or so inches in diameter, internally toothed, that fits just inside the bottom of the bell shaped upper housing.  It is inexpensive cast aluminum (unless you buy the more expensive machined steel version).  I think the aluminum version is about $10 - $15 or so.   Easy to replace as long as you take care in the dis-assembly and re-assembly process and don't loose any of the ball bearings.  

Mike NA9Q

In order to figure Effective Radiated Power you need to take in all the RF power gain or loss factors from the output of the transmitter to the antenna.  In most cases this will involve three numbers or factors.  

The first is the RF output power of the transmitter.  Usually given in Watts.  

The second factor is the loss factor of the feedline (for example coax, open wire line or possibly twin lead).  These loss factors are usually expressed in decibels (dB).  Total line loss for a specific installation is dependent on the type of line or coax AND the total length of line between the transmitter connector and the antenna terminals AND the frequency of interest.  Manufacturers of line will usually give this factor at several frequencies in a table or graph expressed in decibels per measure of length, typically dB per 100 feet or 100 meters.    

The third factor is the antenna gain in decibels.  The manufacturer of commercially made antennas will usually give this data.  If the antenna is homebrew such as a dipole, these antenna gain factors can be found in many of the Amateur Radio reference books such as the ARRL Antenna Handbook.  Typically antenna gain factors are also expressed in decibels (dB).

ERP is the transmitter output power multiplied by the loss factor of the feed line multiplied by the gain factor of the antenna.  

Lets take a specific example:  Lets say we want to know the ERP of a transmitter, feedline and antenna system on the 30 meter (10 MHz) amateur band.  The transmitter has an output power of 100 Watts on the 30 meter band.  The feed line is 150 feet of RG58U and the antenna is a three element commercially built yagi with a manufacturers specified gain of 6 dB on the 30 meter band.

Looking at the manufacturers sheet on RG58U, it has a loss factor of 2.0 dB per 100 feet.  (I have not looked at the actual table, this is a guess on my part just to show how to use the factor.) So we have to take this and factor it to a length of 150 feet.  So you take the loss factor of 2.0 dB/100 feet times 1.5 (150 feet is 1.5 times as long as 100 feet).  This gives a total feed line loss of 3.0 dB.  If you look at tables of dB vs gain or loss (see the ARRL handbook) a 3.0 dB loss factor means a gain or loss of 2.0.  This is a loss and so we take the recipricol of the factor or 1/2.

So, this means that of the 100 watts of RF leaving the transmitter, only 1/2 or 50 Watts (100 watts X 1/2) will reach the antenna.  The rest is lost in the form of heating in the coax.

Now we have to look at the antenna.  Lets say the manufacturer rated the antenna to have 6.0 dB of gain on 30 meters.  So, if you look at the dB conversion table again, 6 dB of gain is a power gain or loss factor of 4.  In this case this is a gain so we take the gain of 4 times the power at the antenna terminals of 50 watts.  

This then is our ERP.  100 Watts of transmitter power times a loss in the coax of 1/2 times an antenna gain of 4 gives an ERP of 200 Watts.

Hope this helps,  MIKE

Scott,  I glad that the suggestion worked for you.  I know how frustrated I got with the frequency jumping before I got in and found the cause.  I too had a couple of stobborn areas but they eventually went away with use.  I think that there may have even been a bit of corrosion involved as well as dirt.  Who knows.  My old 820 is in use in Qatar by a local there and he says it is still going strong, no sign of the difficulty.

73, Mike

At one time I had this same problem on the main VFO of my TS820S.  The problem is that the variable capacitor rotating plates connect to the VFO circuit through a set of bearings at each end of the shaft.  Over the years the bearings get dirt into them and the contact becomes somewhat intermittent.  Like you I observed that the 'bad spots' reepeated at the same points in the band you were on.  

If you look into the radio, the VFO tuning cap is sealed inside an aluminum can making it extremely difficult to get into.  The solution I found was to use a liquid contact enhancer called STABILANT 22A distributed by D. W. Electrochemicals of Ontario.  I put a drop or two of this on the front bearing which you can get to by removing the fron knob and vernier tining dial.

MAKE SURE YOU STUDY HOW THIS VERNIER WORKS AND IS ASSEMBLED SO THAT YOU CAN REASSEMBLE IT CORRECTLY.

Removing the knob and vernier exposes the front of the tuning capacitor and most importantly, the front bearing. A drop or two of the contact enhancer into the bearing cleared the problem up for me and when I sold the radio a couple of years later it was still quite OK.

Good luck as this was a very annoying problem.  On the 820, not only did the problem show up in the audio but you could see the frequency jumping around on the digital display which the 520 does not have.  The jumping numbers was what led me to finding out just what was happening.

73, Mike, NA9Q