BTW, John....great idea with the 2 x 6.  Never occurred to me.  But we've got plenty of lumber here.

And thanks Steve for your comments.  Many reasons why I did not want to use concrete.  One of them is always the possibility of having to relocate.  And I wanted to keep those wonderful titanium pipes my neighbor custom made for me.  Funny thing. 

We have spared no expense on safety.  I did not own any real rope....just some stuff for fishing boat anchors.  So I went to my long standing hardware store owner (and friend), and he set me up with the best rope he had in stock, with a bit of a price break since it was so expensive.

The next couple of days are the preliminaries.  Gotta remove a dipole that has a center insulator dangling about 2/3's up.  And gonna loosen the nuts and bolts on the bottom pipes.  I've been spraying with Liquid Wrench the past few days.

73, Bill

Thanks, Russ.

I am well familiar with the bottom kicking out since my Dad and I put up many a tower when I was a youngster.  He was on the tallest hill in our town and wanted to get a particular station on UHF from Detroit.  So he had a MASSIVE bow-tie VHF and Yagi UHF amplified system.

Dad had a tilt over tower that was far from aluminum.    It had a floor and walls surrounding the bottom two feet to put sand in it to help keep the bottom down.  Dad NEVER put sand in it....opting to have me STAND/SIT on the bottom instead!  It was safe.  Everything was in concrete and I weighed more than a couple of bags of play sand.  We never needed to use rope, either.  Dad and his neighbor just walked it down.  Now had I decided to jump off the bottom....those two would have had a bit of a problem.  Hi.  It was actually kinda fun "riding the tower" and fond memories of the good ol' days.  Then one day Dad decided to switch to one of those new fangled "banana towers" to gain another ten feet.  BIG mistake.  Kept having problems with the bottom kicking out.  He finally took a long length of well pipe and just used that to secure the bottom.  He bent the hell out of the pipe and bottom of the tower doing that, but it was sure easier to take up and down.  Why did we have to raise and lower this system all the time?  Poor Dad would either have the rotor or the amp go bad on him, so he had to replace constantly.  Then came the invention of cable TV.  That ended that!

I could have used concrete and it would be free standing.  But since I placed it next to the garage, I have a large brace bolted to the side of the garage with the titanium pipes four feet in the ground.

Ya know, telling you this story just gave me an idea.  Maybe I can "ride the bottom"....just like when I was a kid.  I'm 240 lbs.  Two of the young men can man the rope and two others can walk it down.  Or....if we see the bottom starting to give, I can head over to the bottom and stand on it....

In any event, I've got four pickup truck tires we are putting in line with the tower....just in case we can't handle it.

Not suppose to be windy here Saturday.  Sandy should be long gone....

It's an unusual case.  The tower really is not that heavy or tall.  It is the matching length of heavy duty mast pipe on the top of the tower that is complicating the lowering, because that pipe is gonna bow....

73, Bill

I've got some friends of my son coming here Saturday, and we are lowering a thirty foot tower with about 30 feet of combined mast pipe/fiberglass Comet dual band 2 meter/70 cm antenna attached to the tower.

I have turned this into a tilt over tower, using some titanium pipes, nuts and bolts my neighbor machined drilled and gave to me. (He owns a machine shop)

We simply hammered these titanium pipes into the ground, about four feet deep.  I never did cement.  My neighbor claimed that because the tower is aluminum, not very tall and we have some pretty think clay soil here, concrete really wasn't needed to secure the titanium pipes.

Tower went up like a breeze years ago.  But....it has never come down since that time. (And lowering is NEVER as easy as raising!)  Saturday will be our first time lowering it.  I don't want anyone to get hurt, so we are taking every precaution. (I told the boys that if they feel the tower getting away from them....let it fall and get out of the way.  It's not worth getting hurt.)

It is somewhat top heavy because of the extra 30 feet above the tower.  So I am not sure if walking it down by the five of us is going to prevent the bottom pipes from popping out of the ground.  And....I really don't want the biggest fella standing on the bottom of the tower, either.

Will placing a rope about 25 feet up the tower help to alleviate the chance the bottom popping up and relieve some of the top heaviness?  If we've got a couple of these young men pulling on our VERY high load/high test rope, while the other fellas are walking it down....does this help relieve a lot of the force at the bottom of the tower that might make the bottom lift upward?

(I hope I explained this well enough)

73, Bill

W3OWL:

I was feeling like a loner until I read your post.  I, too, was treated tersely.  Last week was the first time I ever tried them.  I ordered a couple of baluns.  Suddenly, I get an e-mail stating my credit card transaction was rejected.  Upon calling the company, to see if maybe I had entered a wrong digit, I attempted to give an order number.  The person on the phone snapped at me; "That doesn't help me!  What's your name?!"  Then he explains he is out of stock and the reason for the transaction refusal.  No further explanation.  I then return back to the e-mail to delete CheapHam's e-mail and find two new e-mails explaining why the transaction was refused.  Had those e-mails gone out FIRST, I would not have needed to call and been snapped at.

Hello Dennis....

Your Special Event is one of the best out there and I wish others would pattern theirs after yours.  Thanks for helping put it on every year.  Your events has three ops scheduled for each state.  Even if one op comes down sick, two ops can handle the slack.  I wish other big SE's would adopt your plan.

You brought up an interesting point.  So I looked up this ham's 'one by one' on DX Summit....just to see who he had worked.  Just one DX spot out of the whole mess.  And the others?  The time of day(s) and the band he was operating would have only yielded stateside contacts.  Yet ANOTHER case for making this just a quick weekend buck.

Your comment lead me to dig into my trash can to once again look at the print-out that he mailed me, just to see if he had instructions for DX contacts.  Sure enough, he states a self-addressed envelope and $2 USD. So....a DX QSL card costs 95 cents to mail (excluding VE & XE, which cost less....).  Therefore, he would actually make five cents more on DX stations.

Probably the clincher in this case: He also states NO QSL BUREAU for DX cards! 

OK.  I can understand a BIG Special Event event.  One that maybe lasts for a long period of time and takes a little money to feed the crew and print up some nice CERTIFICATES. (Route 66 and 13 Colonies comes to mind.)  I don't mind donations for that.

In fact, I use to chase certificates for special events.  And I would always toss in the requested donation OR donate a couple of bucks if a certificate were involved.

It got to the point that I couldn't handle all of the certificates I was getting so I had my print shop reduce their size to that of a post card and laminated them.  And after deciding to do that, I opted out of asking for certificates henceforth and just requested a simple QSL.  I ALWAYS included an SASE for QSL requests.

Then I run into a lone wolf operator who decides to do a holiday SE station for a weekend from his residence.  He doesn't offer a certificate; so I send the traditional SASE.  I receive a QRZ page print-out back, using my SASE, that states he not only wants an SASE....but $1 - for a simple QSL CARD.  And then he goes on to state that no E-QSL's or LOTW will be honored whatsoever.

Don't put me in the 'cheap ham' category because it's only a buck.  But he's wasted my SASE with the ink he wasted printing up the refusal of a QSL.  And his refusal at E-QSL and LOTW makes me wonder if he isn't trying to get enough donations for a nice used rig.  I mean....500 contacts over a weekend might net you a sharp lookin' Heathkit.

Again, we are talking about a lone op, refusing all E-QSL/LOTW and NO CERTIFICATE; just a lil' ol' QSL card.

Not sure what to think on this one and really the first time I've run into something like this.  It's hard to look inside a man's heart; but actions also speak loader than words.



 

What bothers me more are the one by ones who misuse special event call-signs to give themselves an edge in a contest....

73, Bill

A lot of you folks participate in the Route 66 Special Event held at this time each year.  Looking though my logs, I've been doing this for ten years.

I have never gotten a clean sweep, generally because one of the stations is a no show or barely show.  I see that one station that had the fewest number of contacts last year....is attempting to break that record by having even fewer contacts this year!

A few years back, I decided to combat this discrepancy between the no-shows....and those dedicated Route 66 ops that put in MANY hours of their own time and effort.  So I took two certificates from two different years, which combined for a "clean sweep" of all of the stations along Route 66.

I had my local printer photocopy and reduce the size of each certificate, and then placed them on a single certificate.  Along the side of the certificate, I had each city listed, with a box and check mark added to show that each Route 66 city had been worked (even though it was during different years).

Cheating?  Nah.  More like retribution for the no-shows.  Besides, I don't convey this certificate display as being a "Clean Sweep".  I simply demonstrate that all cities represented along Route 66 have been worked. (Just not in the same year....)

73, Bill

Guess who trumps all of us? ? ?  The XYL!  She didn't know I was considering refinishing the cabinet (although I am sure I mentioned it and she wasn't listening....again....) and when I told her I got some good tips on refinishing she said; "Oh, no...don't do that!  Get some Murphy's Oil Soap, clean it good and then some Pledge or Behold."

As far a painting metal stuff....maybe I've been watching too many of those pawn shop shows on TV.  It seems that whenever someone covers over original paint on an item a customer brings in, the owners have a fit.  Now it works for personal use, sure.  I've done it with several Heathkits.  But for resale as a collectable....I just don't know that much about it.

Have to check a few things on the inside of the radio.  I believe this has a dial light.  If it does, it's out.  The tuner and band switch could use a little spray cleaner.

As far as the DELCO....yeah....I saw DELCO Magnascope listed for other radios on-line.  This radio only has the word Magnascope printed in black letters on the back cover.  There was some type of info sheet on the bottom that has been torn away.  As yet, I have been unable to locate a radio like it after surfing for a couple of hours on the I-net.  Maybe when I take the back cover off, I'll have something to work with.

Thanks for all of the help....

I bought an old Magnascope AM/SW at a pawn shop yesterday and it actually works.

I would like to restore it, either to keep it in our already antique riddled living room, or maybe post it on Ebay.

Did a search on wood restoration here in this forum and found very little.

My question: I know painting a metal cabinet is a no-no.  But what about wood?  Is the value/worth of the radio lessened by a re-finish job?

If the answer is no, how would you fill in a couple of minor chips?  Would you use a wood filler? (Again....does it reduce the value of the radio?  And....will the filler stay put???)  Or would sculpting a couple of mini-pieces of wood, gluing them into place and then sanding be a smarter idea??

Never have had to do a re-finish on an antique before.  I have a Stewart-Warner console and an old 1948 Monkey-Ward Airline floor model that have beautiful finishes for their age.  However, this radio has a rough finish.

Works fantastic!  You just can't beat tube audio!

73, Bill - WA8MEA

Well hush my mouth and call me corn pone!  I am now an MFJ Adventure Radio victim....

I decided to go the way of another MFJ-9402 two meter SSB xcvr.  I won't state the dealer I bought it from cuz it ain't their fault.

However, it appears I either received a unit returned to MFJ and then dealt back out, a poor production model they wanted to get rid of....or a much older production model. (Copyrights on the CW module instructions and the xcvr manual were in the mid 1990's....)

I bought the CW board to go with it, just as I did before.  That didn't seem to be as straight forward as I recall a few years back.  I had to solder a choke and a red wire to a pot.  I don't think I had to do that with the previous model I owned.

However, that's not the real beef.  This rig had scratches on the top of the case, all over the front....just about everywhere!  The front panel looked poorly machined with indentations all around the perimeter.  Same for the enclosure.

I shipped it right back....without even powering it up....

73, Bill - WA8MEA  

I just noticed that my Yaesu FT-747 is missing a plastic right side slide lock.  It must've fallen off somewhere and I just cannot locate it.

I know it is impossible to buy these any longer.  However, I really don't want the right side kept together with duct tape.

Has anyone come up with a makeshift slide lock from a common household object or objects?  It doesn't have to be the same length or color.  Just enough area to hold the right side together.

All ideas welcome!

73, Bill - WA8MEA

Count me in as an MFJ CHEERLEADER!

http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/cheerleader-funny-stupid15.jpg

I have had SEVERAL of these fantastic lil' single band xcvr's, and ALL have performed beyond my expectations. (I also have purchased the CW boards for each....)

The 20 meter version would cut through pile-ups like the big boys.  The 40 meter was ample for checking into nets.  The 6 meter was great for DX....BAREFOOT.  I finally invested in a 2 meter, Mirage amp and 4 element yagi for 2 meter weak signal SSB and CW.  I was absolutely amazed at the results!  I really hated to sell the set-up, but had other bills that needed to be covered and ham radio is just a hobby.

Some days I am so tempted to get another 2 meter single bander and Mirage amp, that I'd be willing to get rid of my Ameco AC-1.  I still have that Yagi up in the air, yet it does me no good on 2 meter repeaters.  I use to use it for TV, now everything is HD.  But I keep the antenna up....just in case I do go back to 2 meter weak signal.  

BTW, I NEVER had a bad xcvr in the bunch.  All performed perfectly.  Perhaps it was because I bought from a dealer and not direct from MFJ? ? ? ?

73, Bill - WA8MEA

I am sure there will be some naysayers out there, but probably for entirely different reasons/topics/subjects.

I just wanted to say that the folks at QST Ham Ads (particularly Zoe....) are the greatest folks in the world to work with.  Professional to the core.  Plus extraordinarily friendly!  And friendly is something that has been sorely lacking from American businesses lately.

(BTW, the ads DO work!)

73, Bill