I've owned the TS-590 for over a year, and it will be the last radio I buy. You can beat the price a little, but not the performance. If you are at all using digital, this radio has USB and RS 232 ports and interfaces like no other. I had Yaesu for ten years, great radios, but the 590 is just better. Easy software upgrades, always good reports, runs my ALS600 just fine. IF I had $10,000 dollars, I'd look at the TS990, but I'll bet most of the 590 is in that radio, with the menus made into buttons and a few more goodies. You won't go wrong with the 590. Just check out how many FT 950's are resold soon after they are bought. If you are into CW it is excellent.
Jim WA7NDD

Do what I do. Turn off the radio and do something different.
CW is a lot more fun during the week without raising your
blood pressure on the week end.
Suggest PSK31, at 69 it's more fun and longer conversations.
I know if I want to talk to someone, if I can hear them, I can
talk to them I don't need a contest to prove it.
I gave up chasing DX years ago, I'd rather have
a nice QSO. I really liked CW back in 1960 to early 1970's, you
could ask the DX stations questions and get answers, that
is if it was not the USSR. Remember Box 88 Moscow.
Jim, WA7NDD

No doubt in my mind, I've had a Kenwood TS-590s for the last
year, and it is the best CW rig I've ever used. If your wondering,
I got my ticket in 1960.
Jim,WA7NDD

Thank You. ALL, for the excellent information I'll see if the UPS store
has a box just a bit larger then the Ameritron box. I have used foam
sheets from Home Depot to created a second box inside the first, but I
like the expanding foam idea a lot.
One problem I found is that UPS has a scale for box sizes that does not
take weight in to account the shipping price can go astronomical even for
a medium box size if it falls into their scale of sizes.
Jim, WA7NDD

Question on packing an Ameritron AL-572B amplifier for shipping: I have the original box with two foam mounting brackets. There may have been more but that is all that is there.  I bought this amp from the wife of a SK, three years ago, whom I knew, and he never had a chance to hardly use it, so it was like new. I don’t know if he would have received the amp in a double box shipped as new, and does the amp come with the four 572B separated from the amp for shipping, or does Ameritron put packing around the tubes with in the amp. Because of my own health issues, I have been clearing out my ham gear, and will most likely sale the amp. I have never received or shipped an amp before and would like suggestions.
Thank You,
Jim, WA7NDD
wa7ndd@bdhsi.com

Buy the CT 62 cable on ebay from Affordable Radio then download their Vista 64 driver for the cable. Worked first time on my new HP dv9933nr running Vista 64 running my FT 817. Planing on using it on my FT 897D also.
Jim WA7NDD

I have Just purchased, yesterday, a new AL 572 amp from an estate, and have an AL 600 in good working order with out 10 meter add on for sale. Amp has always been matched with a ATR-30 into tuned coax fed dipoles. I purchased the AL 600 from an estate where it had been stored for some time. I use the amp every morning on 80 meters and it puts out 600 watts, but I only drive it to 500 watts on SSB peeks. Relay is distracting when working CW so I don't use it for CW, Just a SSB amp for more power in the morning on 80 metes.
Asking $850.00 plus shipping. Power supply is heavy!
Jim Griffith WA7NDD, Rigby Idaho.
wa7ndd@bdhsi.com

None that I know of. But I have talked to hams manning the fire towers on .52 in the past, if there are any up there this year.

The best repeter in the Idhao Falls area is the 34/94 mechaine. It is very high, you can look across at the Teton's from its location. We usually can't get to it until some time in July.

Cody Wy, just out side of Yellowstone has a good ham population and repeter plus a great meusem, takes a day or two to see it all. But, living close to the park and having been there very many times, I would suggest not to drive and use any radio of cell phone. Roads are good, but narrow, people will suddenly stop in front of you to see a chipmonk, or some other wild life. The best time for wild life is in May. No more bears that you can see on the roads. They have been trained back to nature instead of the garbage dumps. Forget the radio enjoy the park. I was up there three weeks ago on  a Sunday not a lot of people then, but bet it's loaded now. Good Luck.
Jim WA7NDD

Thank you all for the information. I have looked at all the web sites on M.S., but usisng a single beam on 2 meters was not covered, or very clear if it was.

I do have the extera passive element on my SteppIR for 6 meters. I'll just put up a single 13 element 2 meter beam and see what I can hear to gain experance on 2 meters and see what I can hear on 6 meters. I am well set up with computers and live in the country and in the clear, and am just getting ready to retire so I'll have the time to advance my M.S. skills.

Thank You all,
Jim WA7NDD

I am installing a US TMM433HD tower with a 3 element SteppIR on an 8 foot mast. I would like to add a 2 meter   beam horz. polorized for SSB and Meteor Scatter at the mast head. I have looked at the 13 element Cushcraft and M2 antennas. In reading the reviews here on Eham it was just not clear becasue there was not much talk about using them for meteor scatter. Is there some one out there actually doing meteor scatter with a simple 13 or so element Cushcraft or M2 with advice? The rotator is a Yaesu 1000DXA.

I have had the same problem. There are several manufactures of other lightning protections parts I'd like to buy that would make installation of coax gounding very nice, all are on the web, but without a listing of where to buy from a distrubitor. Hagar is one is one, I even ordered their CD with their parts, and they don't sale direct. AES has about 4 of the hundreds of parts Hagar makes. Good Luck.
Jim, WA7NDD

This is a common problem with the 6-BTV becasue the instructions really don't explain it well.
 
1- The 6-BVT is very sensitive to what you mount it on becasue it makes the antenna look longer than it really is. That is why when you put a pipe in the ground the antenna must be mounted very close to the gound. NO long pipe under it or the vertical will see it as part of the antenna and not a ground if mounted above the soil. So all the adjusting of the vertical sections will not help becasue the vertical is already to long because of the pipe.

The ground must look like a real ground. If the pipe is pounded clear in, the vertical may still not see a ground becasue of the soil around the pipe, the pipe is self may be coated with some subtanace and not make contact with the soil. The vertical still sees the pipe and not the soil or ground, making it look longer. A coating of oil on the pipe could do this.

I know there have been many reviews from hams on how the 6-BTV work well with just a pipe in the ground, well they had very special earth. If you use a pipe stick just enough out of the ground to mount the antenna. Sorry, but use radials! Forget the pipe as a ground connection!

2- The 6-BTV likes to see the coax connected to it as part of the antenna all so. The antenna becomes longer again because of the coax connection. In the instructions it says that the shorter the antenna, the better the ground system. So if you are pulling the sections far apart to adjust for low SWR your ground system is poor!

I know that it says coil the coax into several turns at the base of the vertical to create a choke. That is so the vertical does not see the coax and makes the antenna look longer.

How to fix all of this. At the base of the antenna I insalled a Radio Works line isolator, no more coax problems. The antenna only sees its own length not the coax added to it. You will find that the ground to the antenna has to be a good one and not look to the vertical like part of the antenna it self. It has to be a ground! The pipe many time lengthens the vertical past it design limits in adjustments on the vertical it self because it dose not look like ground to the vertical.

So, slit some pvc slip it over the pipe so the antenna is not connected to the pipe for a ground and install radials! Some can get away with a pipe, most can not. It would be even better to mount it to a wood post 4x4 just sticking out ot the earth. When you do this, install as many radials as you can. At this point the veritcal, which is very sensitive to being made to look longer then it really is by other connections, will just see it self, and you will find that your adjustments will be very short. The entire vertical will be shorter and well with in the adustements because it dose not see the coax or the pipe a part of the antenna, only the radials which look like ground, always, to a vertical. The 6-BTV will then really take off an work well. I expermited a lot with my 6-BTV and did a lot of reading.

Why the instructions are writen the way they are I do not know, but they do not make the information above clear they just sort of hint at it.

Good Luck,
Jim, WA7NDD

I had both radios. 706MIIG and FT857. The big difference I notice, is that the DSP in the 706 is DSP in name only compaired to 857. The noise blanker in the 857 is much better then the 706, and the DSP is way better.

I use the ATAS120 antenna, and feel much safer on the road when changing bands. Hit one button and wait for the radio to tune.

Difference, I had a bug catcher homebrew and it was better then the ATAS and Hamsticks, the radio had QRM on it when running the bug catcher, but I changed out trucks and did not put it back on.

I did not do any grounding or ignition noise stuff I just turned on the noise blanker on the 857, thats all, and it works well. I did some special gounding to deal with the ATAS off the rear door.

My two cents after spending a lot of money on radios.

Jim, WA7NDD

Dennis. The mast has become part of the antenna. This antenna is very sensitive to that. If you still want to use the mast at that hight, insulate the mast from the mounting base of the antenna. Cut a piece of PVC down the center and slip the two pieces over the mast, and put the base back on, tignten very very well.

Also, if you did not use a coax choke at the base of the mast you NEED to do so. I used a Radio Works Line Isolator, and it works much better then a coax choke.

The antenna is seeing the mast and the coax as part of the antenna and there is not enough tunning in the slip sections of the antenna to tune it out.

In the mounting instructions is tells about pounding a 4' pipe into the ground and mounting the antenna close to the ground. That is because the pipe becomes part of the antenna, same for above ground mounting. They just don't say it very well in the instructions.

I mounted my 6BVT on a wood 4x4 foldover mast were I could just disconnect the radials, fold it over, adjust the antenna and put it back. It tuned up perfect first time.

If you have a good radial system the antenna will not require much adjustment from the minimum settings. The longer the antenna gets the more radials it requires. If your run out of adjustment, add radials, and cut ant tune them for each band. Other large metal objects around the antenna will change the tuning.

I did a review on my 6BVT in the Product Review sections for verticals under my call WA7NDD.
The 5BVT is a very good bang for the buck. I have the 6 and the 5, and will tune just fine when installed either right agenst the ground, or on an insulated mast with a choke right at the base.

Hope this helps, form someone who has experimented with this very antenna.
Jim, WA7NDD

I have a 23' BX tower that was a High Gain Hytower vertical. My CD-44 Rotor fits fine in side the tower, and I want to mount a thrust bearing on the top plate.
The top plate has four holes spaced 3 inches apart that is made to fit the FL Mast Clamp. I want to install a TB-3 on the top plate. Are the TB-3 holes spaced 3" apart? I will be mounting a Cushcraft MA5B 3 element beam on top. I have read all the cautions on using a BX tower with boom's more then 10' long. I am going this way becasue the tower and antenna can be installed with out climbing. I had the base plate welded up for it using the Hytower base for measuring it can all be laid down and stood up with climbing. It will sit next to a 9' tall, flat roofed building, were I will brace it high on the wall.
Thank You
Jim Griffith, WA7NDD