Couple basics, please. First yes do listen. But skip may mean you are not hearing a station already in QSO but you'll QRM the guy he is working. And he may transmit for a minute or two -- so a brief listen may not let you know the freq is indeed already in use. QRL? a couple times may hurt an in progress QSO. That plus the guy's sending back QRL may be just enough disruption to cause someone to miss a valued DX contact or part of an NTS message or the exchange needed for an award r contest. Listen then a quick ?? and listen and a quick ?? is less disruptive. If you get back a quick C or Y you have your answer. If not a quick de yourcall another listen then CQ will fulfill the ID requirements well enough with a minimum chance of being disruptive. Not ID, tuning up, failing to actually listen, not realizing skip often means you will only hear one of the two stations already in QSO are all bad form. You are to be commended for caring enough to check it out and learn. WELCOME ABOARD.

It's not new .......... but it works beautifully and is as easy as it gets. I love my Kenwood TS-50. Simple enough and easy/large enough display to be safe mobile. Has a good CW filter in it. I get great reports. Used it mobile in the SUV, with poor antennas in parks and campgrounds, hard on field days ........... it does the job well in all cases.

QRP is great fun and Buddipoles are great antennas. However more experienced operators do much better with them. ANY qso is a learning curve at first. Less power and less antenna = less qso at best. You hear about great contacts and DX ........ but they don't say how many hours and calls they made for the one qso they brag about. Go with a mid power rig and a mid effeciency antenna from a home/comfortable location at first and build your operating skills. They go portable or mobile or qrp.

WELCOME ABOARD!

#1 -- get help. You're going to be looking at used in that price and it's buyer beware at fests and even on line. So get experienced help to "godfather" your purchase.

#2 -- enjoy what you can do. Minimal rigs and modest antennas are just as much fun as huge expensive stations. Only difference is you may not be the first one DX hears and you may get stepped on in QRM. So what? Enjoy the QSOs you have and learn/grow. Take a loo at my bio and see what I did at age 14 with a 2 day a week paper route; for example.

#3 -- your CW idea is a good one. CW is easier to work more with less.

#4 -- maybe not QRP at first. It's lots of fun and it's true you can work the world. Many QRP rigs are low cost. But without some experience and a decent antenna you'll have some frustrations. Better to have more QSOs and then get into the fun of QRP. The challenges are part of the fun for QRPers but part of the frustration for newer guys.

I suggest at $300 look for a 70s or 80s vintage solid state rig. TenTec 540 and 544 called the Triton were 5 band very good basic CW and SSB rigs. TenTec Onmi C and D series were also great. Physically large -- not for mobile/portable -- but were good rigs, had some filters, and were easy to learn/use. Kenwood TS-120 and 130 were also good and many live on and are enjoyed still. Icom 720 and 730 may be had for your $$ and are also great.

If need by find an old car battery and use it till you get a few more $$ and then get a power supply. Even a 100 watt rig will run a few hours and then you can use a cheap battery charger to recharge it over night. However, BE CAREFUL as batteries have acid and give off hydrogen gas. If you do it this way get experienced help to teach/sow you what to do and not do so you're safe. DO NOT TRY TO RUN THE RIG WHILE A CHEAP CHARGER IS CONNECTED. The reason power supplies cost what they cost and are called supplies is they differ from chargers.

Take the time to make your antenna resonant at the frequencies you want to operate. Then you don't need a tuner and will save $$. It's not hard to prune a dipole or slide the sections of a vertical and someone with an antenna analyzer can help you. Even today -- 51 years of hamming -- and with about 8 killobucks of gear I don't own a tuner. Don't need one. Resonant antennas perform better and are easier of your gear. Skipping on is easier on your budget.

73
John  W4FID

For many years I traveled extensively for business. Even back then -- MUCH worse now -- airports don't like a 5/8 whip and mag mount in your briefcase. So I used two wrist straps to hang the HT from the rear view mirror. That puts the rubber duck in the windshield. Used a speaker mic. Used a cigar lighter plug. In 15 seconds I had a "mobile" in a rental car that was fine for urban use. True; not worth a darn in rural settings; but you said local use was your goal. My Icom 02AT had about 250,000 miles on it in about a dozen years and was fun in hundreds of cities where I met lots of nice hams. A J-pole hung from the curtain rod in the hotel window completed my "ham on the go" life.

Same line of thinking could work in your Vette. No permanent vehicle modifications. Not unreasonably ugly. Easy to remove/hide if you're concerned about drawing yet another level of attention (as if the Vette wasn't criminal bait enough in its own right) where you park.

Don't forget when 2M FM became popular a 10 watt xtal controlled rig was de regular and repeaters were much fewer and further between yet we all had lots of QSOs and fun. It's even easier now with so many repeaters and a dual band HT will double your fun -- so it's a workable strategy.

I have the tri (the one with 3 magnets about 5" diameter each) in the middle of the roof of my F-150. The hamsticks that are about 7 ft so they hit a LOT of stuff (about 13'-6 to the tip) so I have a spring then a quick disconnect male. Each band's whip has the female quick disconnect. Been doing it that way for about 10 years. Lots of Interstate trips. Cross winds, 85 MPH, turbulence from semis, country roads, construction zones, no problems. Do buy a good quality one with strong magnets. Do wax the roof a few coats before you place the mount. Do have enough "muscle" or leverage to lift a corner and get your fingers under it then lift it up when you take it off (usually I have someone on the other side of the truck to help me). If you slide it the roof will get scratched.

Remember the mount not only has to hold the antenna physically --- it is the capacitor plate for capacity coupling to the vehicle for the "ground plane" part of the antenna system. The larger diameter the magnets the better they hold and the more coupling surface area you have. The wider spaced the magnets are the better they hold and the more coupling surface area you have. This is more of a factor at lower frequencies like 40M that at 2M but is a factor for all operation. Poor ground plane means poor radiation efficiency.

I destroy a hamstick occasionally and I have to stand in the doorway with my foot on the arm rest to stretch out enough to reach the base of the whip to change it. Both are not good features. But centered on the vehicle helps the radiation pattern be more symmetrical is good. Above the sheet metal from my and nearby vehicles , guard rails, is good. So you look at the pros and cons and choose what you like.

The bottom line is they do what they do well. That's why they are successful and have grown. They are price competitive and great for many uses/users -- especially newer hams and younger lower budget ones .......... of which there are many.

No Art Collins and Bill Halligan wouldn't have liked or used their stuff. They were in a league of their own and sold at the top of the scale in a very different era of all facets of life. No I wouldn't take their stuff on a rare DXpedition. Yes I can understand why the military doesn't use it. But MFJ doesn't target their stuff for those markets/uses. Henry Ford would crap if he drove my F-150 pick up for several reasons. Comparisons and expectations have to be tempered by level playing fields about cost, era, and life in today's world in general.

The troubles and shoddy QC you hear about are true.

The good stuff which is seldom publicized is also true.

I had a loop for a while. It was old and tired when I got it but it worked beautifully and was a much better stealth antenna than any other option. I have a 259 antenna analyzer. Don't know if I am the 3 or the 17th owner. Works perfect and is a great tool. When I broke the batter holder -- my fault - a new one was sent quickly with an invoice in the package so I could send them a check (it was cheap) but I got the part fast since I needed it quickly. I had both the 20M and 40M travel radios. They were used when I got them and were great fun. Their current owners also enjoy them. I have an MFJ clock on each station desk and in the car and in the RV. Worth way more than they cost. The mobile ones get hot, cold, bumped around and are fine. Have a keyer in my HF go kit. Rely on it and it's good. I have their QRP tuner. Been kicking around the RV, on picnic tables, hot, cold, even got left in the rain (my bad -- poop happens) and didn't hurt it. I have their 2M and their 2/440 amps on HTs and even run D-Star and they work fine. D-Star is fussy about the switching time and many amps don't work but my Mirage ones do fine.

My experience is the clechet "you get what you pay for" isn't true with MFJ. I got more than I paid for time after time.

No, I don't know Martin -- never even met him. No I don't and never did work for them. I just feel their stuff serves my needs at attractive prices quite often.

My wife has an Acer netbook. Real simple and does a lot -- all the basic stuff easily. She does pix, etc. It has separate phone and mic inputs and is fairly RF resistant. Paid about $200 new at HH Gregg. I have a HP netbook. Same size and specs. Paid the same at Office Depot. it sucks by comparison. Mic/phones are not ham friendly for Skype, dongle, teamviewer, etc.

Or for a desktop the guy's suggestion for a refurbished IBM or Dell is a good idea. Ham software doesn't require the latest highest speed CPU for the most part and we give it way less hard use than say an office so it should last as long as you want till it's time for something newer.

A plain vanilla florescent bulb will light when transmitting. Had one electrical taped to my dipole for a while. It was fun to see it blink. Feed point = higher current portion of the antenna. Ends = higher voltage portion. Position the bulb so it gets enough voltage to light nicely (will depend on actual voltage on your actual antenna and the size/length/wattage of the bulb you choose).

However THAT'S NOT REALLY THE POINT. RELIABLE SAFETY IS THE POINT. Make it an attractive nuisance and it will draw kids -- and liability. Tell them to stay away till you're blue in the face -- do you think 100% of the time they and their friends will? Do your dogs comprehend "if the light is on my antenna will hurt you?" The not too bright one you mentioned probably won't get it when you tell him/her and telling them may encourage the kids to experiment. Kids do that. Adults need to protect them.

RF burns are nasty and slow to heal. Worse than a hot pan on the stove burn. A jolt across the chest can be fatal. NOTE: from a hand or a dog's nose thru the body to the feet they are standing on -- that path -- includes the chest. You need RELIABLE way(s) to avoid them.

Put a "sleeve" around each one -- or a fence around the area. Signs and or lights are only effective for thinking reasoning mature people ............... probably not effective enough to be safe for dogs and kids.

You can do the radiation calculation but I'll bet it will show little danger from brief exposure to 100 watts. Touching and getting burned is the issue ................ unless someone has a medical device (pacemaker, monitoring device, hearing aid, Rx pump, etc) they may be in a different category.

I had a 9440 with the CW board as my only HF radio for a while. Had a mobile whip dipole at 18 feet -- lower than the second story of my aluminum sided townhouse and under trees about 60 feet high. Had a great time with it. Loved it. SSB QSOs at 300 miles were common and solid most days. Evening CW there was no limit to whom and how far I could work and how much fun I could have.

Had the 9420 too. It was fun and I enjoyed it too but I often got "squashed" by the big guys of which 20 has a lot. The radio was just as good and as much fun as the 40M one; but the band wasn't as good for lower power/modest antenna operation. No doubt why 30 and 17 are so popular with the QRP gang.

Both rigs were well used when I got them but worked better than advertised or expected. Simple. Fun. Rugged and totally reliable. For any single band you prefer they are a great choice as well as being about as inexpensive as you can go -- but if you're going to have 2 or 3 of them for 2 or 3 bands you are in the $$ range for an IC-703, FT-817, used older TenTec, etc and the choice is less clear.

I use a NUE PSK dedicated modem on PSK-31 and RTTY with my TS-50 and really enjoy it. It's basic and simple but works well. Easy to learn and use. Small. No RF/ground loop issues. I run th rig at about 1/3 to 1/2 power and have a 30M hamstick dipole about 20 feet high under HUGE trees and routinely work DX, contests, whoever I like.

Whatever manufacturer and wherever you buy a single band base coil loaded mobile whip (generically called hamsticks for many years) you want two things .................. a removable "stinger" and a double set screw stinger secure. If you can remove the stinger by loosening a double nut you can quickly/easily pop the antenna off the quick disconnect, take it apart, and store it in the trunk or back seat if you're parked where you don't want it seen or available ................ parking lots, etc. And you haven't changed the length of the stinger so when you reassemble it you don't need to worry the stinger length is changed and hence the resonant freq changed. If the stinger adjustment system has 2 set screws at 90* it will be much more secure and less likely to loosen. A loose stinger adjustment will allow intermittent contact between the main part and the stinger which will cause intermittent SWR and spikes that can damage your finals.

About anything will serve as a receiving antenna. Pee on your shoelace, hang it out the window, you'll hear some stuff. It will hear better at frequencies where it's resonant and multiples (harmonics) of that freq -- but you'll hear plenty with any wire hanging off the antenna connector. However transmitting is a different story. If the antenna isn't resonant at the transmit frequency (tuners can modify this somewhat) the SWR will be high and the reflected power back to the rig not only doesn't radiate to do you any good it may fry the final amp stage of the rig. So a 10M hamstick will transmit on 10M but will hear anywhere -- other bands -- short wave commercial broadcast -- etc.

The entire surface of all the magnets MUST be in solid -- flat -- good contact with the surface for two reasons.

FIRST if the wind gets under an edge or the antenna hits a tree and "pries" the mount loose you will be amazed at how strong the coax is as the mount and what's left of the antenna smack the hell out of your car. The coax will not finally break or you will not get the car stopped quickly enough to avoid significant damage and what's left of the antenna and mount will be in the middle of the road as a hazard to everyone else.

SECOND the antenna is a vertical which is capacity coupled to the car which is capacity coupled to the earth. The magnets are plates of a capacitor and the paint is the dialectric and the car body is the other plate. The car body is a plate of a capacitor and the tires are the dialectric and the earth is the other plate. Capacity for coupling is highly dependent on surface area -- larger capacitor plates have more capacity and provide better coupling. That's why on 2M a smaller magnet is OK -- strong enough for a small antenna and the higher frequency couples with less capacity. But for HF you need all you can possibly get and mag mounts at best are marginal -- mechanical electrical connection to the car's body is much better.

Be careful with violating the conservation area thing. As mentioned by someone else they may watch more than you realize and any troubles/fines will fall in your lap. As will and damage from a lightning strike. At my QTH I would be required to pay for and provide replacement for anything damaged. The "fathers" will automatically believe your "electronic stuff" drew the strike so it's 100% your problem. I could be required to pay for a new 50 foot oak tree to replace one that they say was hit because of my antenna. God help any of us if a forest fire started!

For my RV -- an idea than can easily be duplicated for home use -- I have an SGC237 with a SLA in a wx proof plastic ammo box. On one one end is a wing nut/stud for "ground" and on the other end is a wing nut/stud for "hot. I run a couple 30 ft tape measures out (short flexible pigtails to the post) for "ground" and a random wire for the antenna flung as high to wherever I can. 7 AH SLA lasts months as the tuner only draws a hundred mills when it's working and I think zero when it's not -- then occasionally I recharge it and am good to go for a long while again. The circuits "do the math" between what they see on the "ground" and the "hot" terminals so it radiates as best as it can but the coax sees 50 ohm input so it's happy and the rig sees 50 ohm coax so it's happy.

You could put a large flower pot upside down with the tuner in it and a plant in a planter on top of it. Totally hidden. Run some HEAVY wire out a few feet in 2 or 3 or 4 directions and terminate it in in 8 ft ground rods. True -- it's a lozzy ground especially in FL sandy soil. But the tuner will think it's "sort of" a ground and will do the best it can and use it. Same for a random long wire -- tuner does the math and deals with it to radiate as well as it can. Rig is safe from hi SWR so it's OK. Raise a telescoping mast as needed (the cheap ones don't need guys and will support 25 or 30 feet of 18 gauge hook up wire) -- or run the wire along the house eves or over the roof or wherever you can. Or the same "ground" idea at the base of a 4BTV that's inside a 3" dia PVC "flagpole" will work. They do not REQUIRE the spider cap hat spokes -- so long as the traps fit in the PVC you can make it work.

You do what you can do.