Read W4RNL, LB Cebik's article on choosing your first 160M antennna.  He has a treasure trove of antenna knowledge.

http://www.cebik.com/wire/160new.html

Bill

Malcom,
Heil has recently updated their website with detailed mic/rig compatability charts.  For Kenwood see here (bottom of page):   http://www.heilsound.com/amateur/adapters/Kenwood.pdf

According to that, the Heil Heritage is compatible with the TS-140 and requires that you also purchase the CC1XLR-K   XLR-to-8 pin adapter.

That IS a sharp looking mic, and based on my experience you will be happy with Heil products.

Heil is great on service and they answer the phones if you have questions.

73, Bill

Umm, what microphone are you proposing to use?

What are the pinouts for this mic?  What are the pinouts for the TS-120?

With this info we can tell you how to hook it up.

Bill

Lon,
regarding his multiple posts.. the board has an idiosyncracy in that it is often very slow to post after the 'enter' button is hit.  Unfamiliar users then think their post didn't take, and hit the enter button again.  Thats why you see people making multiple posts every few days.

Bill

Yep.  strip the end of the wire and wrap it around the screw/bolt.  

73, Bill

The thing you have to watch out for is that by straight wiring the mic in and using Vox keying, the mic will be 'hot' every time the radio keys.  This means it will pick up ambient room noise and transmit this over your data audio.  

One of the things the Rig Blaster type devices do is disable the mic.  You could put a manual cut out switch in the mic audio line to prevent this.

Cheers,  Bill

Gail,
Congratulations on the new ticket, and what a wonderful callsign!  

Sorry I missed you on the first go 'round.  Encouraging newcomers is one of the most important parts of the hobby.  

Good luck with your DX antenna project!

73,  Bill

I don't think that you need to feel apologetic with your credit card company.   You should dispute the charge on the basis that you ordered goods, never received them and the company refuses to either ship you the goods or refund the charge.  

That is how most of us in the US would handle it.  BTW, don't be shy about mentioning which company is giving you the runaround.   Also, I would refuse to reorder with them.  It's not your responsibility to bankroll their error, or that of the postal service.

good luck. Bill.

Sounds like it's time to get out the antenna wax and have a cleaning party before the snow flies!

;-)

73,  Bill

I use Duck brand, clear packing tape.  The stuff is incredibly tough.   The ham dealers also have vinyl stickers of various sizes.  You can find them easily at hamfests.

Bill

30 Feet is plenty of room to separate two antennas on the same band.  It's done all the time.  Run the minimum power you need to avoid causing trouble.

Bill

The Gap Titan is an excellent antenna, and while it has a lot of pieces is not difficult to tune up.  Follow their directions exactly.  It should be fed with coax, (pay attention to the routing of the coax per the manual) and does not require a balun.  

The Titan does not require any radials or counterpoise wires as it has an integral wire 'skirt'.    I doubt there is any advantage to mounting it up high, but give the Titan folks a call for their opinion.   The antenna is very light weight and highly flexible.  Guy lines are not required but optional, and a good idea if the site is exposed to high winds.   Do attach any other wires to the mast as they will detune the Titan, and it really isn't strong enough to support them.

See you on the air!

Bill

I don't think you have enough surface area on your vehicle to fully power things from pv panels. (lol) I think it is more realistic to have a good set of batteries and a few pv panels to do some top up charging.  

As others have said, for the price a full pv setup would cost, you could have a deluxe installed generator which would be nearly 100% realiable for several days.  

Good luck with the project.

Bill

QRP, into an extremely lossy compromise antenna located inside.  Three strikes against you.

You gotta put this antenna outside to have a chance.  

If that doesn't work, then go back to the tried and true basics, by putting up a wire dipole outside.  468/Mhz = dipole length.

I'm sure you'll be working them soon.

73, Bill.

That sounds fine.  The more traditional call is a bit longer:  3 x 3 repeated three times, e.g.  CQ, CQ, CQ, de Callsign, Callsign, Callsign. rpt. listen.

Frankly I've never really liked calling CQ much and generally like trolling for others who are calling CQ, or else, tail-ending another QSO.  Wait until the other guys finish then jump in and call one of the parties.  This works well in contests too.

It's a lot like fishing.  Some days you can call till you are blue in the face and get no replies (it's usually a propagation problem, not anything you are doing wrong.  If so, switch bands).  Other days, you can barely finish tuning up and you can hear three or four other guys piling up and calling QRZ to you.  

Good luck.  73, Bill