If I understand the original post correctly you are looking for a vertical antenna, not a beam. I use a Diamond V2000 which covers 6m, 2m and 70 cms. This has acceptable VSWR from 50 to 52 MHz and I have used it a lot on 6m SSB. You will not work many locals with a vertically polarised antenna but it will work great for E-skip. Last summer I worked PY1RO at a distance of 9300 kms using the V2000 at only 18 feet above ground, plus JY, 4X4 and OD5 at around 3500 kms.

I hope this helps. 73, Paul G4IJE.

I am not familiar with the SL-1+ interface but I assume you are closely following the example hookups that I assume are in the manual. If the interface's TX gain control is not functioning I suspect a hookup error. I use the West Mountain Radio Rigblaster interface and this provides ONLY the transmitting side of the required hookup. It is up to the user to route the receiver audio from the radio to the MIC (or LINE) input of the soundcard. To re-iterate this point, receiver audio and soundcard MIC connections are NOT made to the Rigblaster interface. The soundcard SPEAKER output goes to the interface which then routes it to the MICROPHONE input of the transceiver. You can then plug your normal PC speakers into the Rigblaster if you desire. Of course the SL-1+ may be different...

The sounds you are hearing from the transceivers monitor facility may just be PSK31 sounds from your PC speakers being picked up by a live microphone. You could possibly have an RF feedback problem although at low power and with a properly isolated interface this is unlikely.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

73, Paul G4IJE.

I'm not familiar with the Ten Tec Scout but it sounds like an antenna changeover problem to me. Does the Scout use a relay for changeover from TX to RX? If the relay contacts were dirty/oxidised or otherwise intermittent, pressing the PTT might (thus causing the relay to operate) might allow a better connection when the relay returns to the RX position. Maybe someone with a Scout can comment on this.

Good luck and 73,

Paul G4IJE.

I'm not familiar with the Ten Tec Scout but it sounds like an antenna changeover problem to me. Does the Scout use a relay for changeover from TX to RX? If the relay contacts were dirty/oxidised or otherwise intermittent, pressing the PTT might (thus causing the relay to operate) might allow a better connection when the relay returns to the RX position. Maybe someone with a Scout can comment on this.

Good luck and 73,

Paul G4IJE.

Well I don't know too much about the other radios you mention, but it's hard to see how you could go wrong with an IC706IIG. If you check out the reviews on this site you will see that many hams agree with me. I have taken mine on holiday many times and it has never let me down. The only minor downside is that the IC706IIG does get quite warm, even when just receiving. On a hot summer day inside the car you could probably fry an egg on it! I would recommend the fan mod at http://svc.cc/706/ which helps a lot.

73, Paul G4IJE.

Someone with a TS-830S will no doubt answer this question soon but in the meantime...

If you are using a PC/soundcard system then its just a case of turning down the Windows volume control until you get the desired output power. This also applies if you have some kind of Terminal Unit (or multimode controller) with the rig set to SSB mode. Just use the audio level control to get the required output power. The only instance where this wouldn't work is if the TS-830S has a "proper" FSK input and you actually set it to RTTY mode but in that case I guess the CAR control would work.

Hope this helps. 73, Paul G4IJE.

I had great success with an SGC237 on the window sill of an upstairs window whilst staying in a holiday cottage on the Isle of Skye. I had a loop of wire strung up outside and simply closed the sash window on the two ends of the wire to trap them in place. The tuner sat on the window sill about 10 feet from the radio. I had no problems with RF in the temporary "shack". However, if you are going to use an end-fed wire you MUST provide either a good RF ground or a counterpoise, but maybe you already have this in hand.

73, Paul G4IJE.

How about the IC735? They must be reasonably priced on the secondhand market by now. Used mine on SSTV with 100 watts continuous duty-cycle for 2-3 minutes at a time and it never complained. The receiver wouldn't compare with todays top-of-the-range transceivers but it's plenty good enough for a starter rig.

73, Paul G4IJE.

Craig, are you taking fixed-level audio from the rig to feed to the soundcard? An output of 100mV or so (the sort of thing many rigs have available for packet use) is ideal and you would not then need to run your soundcard input level so high. Running audio level controls at minimum or maximum is generally a bad idea as you can pick up all sorts of noise that would be completely masked by more mid-range settings.

73, Paul G4IJE

This is crazy... The IC706 mark 1 had an output of 100 watts on 6 metres - I know, as I owned one. The IC706 mark II G has an output of 100 watts on 6 metres - yep, I have one of those now. It seems unlikely that the mark II which came between these two models had only 50 watts - it just wouldn't make sense.

Someone back me up on this please!

The 60m mod is a whole different ball-game and I had heard a rumour that the '706 was one of the few rigs that would TX on this band with no real problems.

73, Paul G4IJE.

Try Ham Radio Deluxe:

http://www.kns.ch/sysgem/hb9drv/HamRadioDeluxe.htm

73, Paul G4IJE.

The feedpoint impedance of two identical dipoles in parallel would be half that of a single dipole (25-30 Ohms approx). I wonder what you are trying to achieve? Remember, you get vertical polarisation off the ends of a horizontal dipole so there is no deep "null" that needs to be filled in. If you are sure you really need an omnidirectional horizontally polarised antenna then you will need to use a phasing line to feed the two dipoles, as mentioned above.

73, Paul G4IJE.

There are many more repeaters on 2 metres than there are on 6 metres in the UK and activity can be VERY low on some of the 6 metre boxes. With a 2 metre HT you do at least stand some chance of a QSO...

73, Paul G4IJE.

I'm only an occasional repeater user but I believe most (maybe all) UK 2 metre repeaters allow access via either a 1750 Hz toneburst OR a CTCSS tone. 70 cms is probably the same. 6 metre repeaters are CTCSS only. If you plan to use mainly 2 metres you may not need to do anything.

73, Paul G4IJE.

I've just checked my V2000 and it is an OPEN circuit. I'd always assumed it was a DC short but that just shows you shouldn't assume anything!

73, Paul G4IJE.