Most effective thing you can do, which is also easy to implement and very low in cost:

Disconnect your antennas and toss the feedlines and connectors outside when you're not using the rigs and antennas.  Then, plug them back in when you are.  Don't leave the equipment connected when you're not home.

You should NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have a "lightning" ground inside your home, or even close by.  A "lightning" ground should be independent of any other grounding, very low impedance, and both outside, and as far as possible from, your living quarters.

If this cannot be achieved, do not use any other method.  Neither your scanner antenna nor your J-pole require any sort of ground to function properly.  To drain "static discharge" from distant lighting, any old ground will do, including sticking a 10 penny nail in the ground with some wire attached to it, and an alligator clip attachment to your antenna's ground point.  There's no current in this static, it's just voltage at very low energy levels.  

WB2WIK/6

I use these sources for old-style parts:

http://www.allelectronics.com
http://www.surplussales.com
http://www.fairradio.com

I live only 15 mins from All Electronics (the first one listed), so to deal with them, I'm a "walk in."  The other two, I mail-order from.

73 de Steve, WB2WIK/6

If you're serious about contesting, even casual contesting from a non-competitive home station:

Get rid of the note paper.  Apparently, you've got a computer in there.  With proper contesting software, you surely don't need a pencil or paper anywhere near you...the contesting programs provide "scratch paper" utility, via the keyboard.  

For CW contesting, the contesting software also sends your entire exchange (and keys your rig to do it), so you don't need a key anywhere nearby.  It will also call CQ for you, send sequential serial numbers, several "canned" (memory) messages (QRZ?  QRZ test? etc.), so CW contesting is pretty automated already.

For phone, use a decent headset and VOX.  The Gregoire headset for $44.95 is a good deal and sounds good on the air.

But by all means: If you have a computer in the shack and are using it for logging, learn to use it for everything else, too.  When I operate a contest, I have a headset and a keyboard, that's it.  Nothing else required (except maybe a monitor for the PC, contesting software, rigblaster interface, rig, amplifier, rotor control box, huge stacked antenna systems on tall towers, WX0B StackMatches, Dunestar filters...)  Seriously, anything within "reach" other than your rig and keyboard will be distracting and definitely slow down the operation.

73 de Steve, WB2WIK/6

Sorry to hear about this.  But what would one expect, buying from a company whose sole address is a Post Office Box?  (Seriously.)  They have only one distributor anywhere, no street address, no website.  Hmph.  I live in Los Angeles, and don't even know where they are located, nor does anyone I know.

WB2WIK/6

The last two posts jump to conclusions without a safety net.

First, I wouldn't want to do business with people having little common sense, and I'd recommend all of them should double their money by folding it in half and sticking it back in their pockets.  And then, go buy your goods elsewhere.  As much as customers have "qualified vendor lists," smart vendors have "qualified customer lists."  Any customer who lands on the non-qualified customer list should receive little future heed of any kind.  Smart business practicioners already know this.

Second, the original posting party who commenced this discussion has seemingly backed into the woodwork, so we still don't know if he's satisfied.  Some people never are.

Third, that party complained about a "big black blotch across the LCD," without going into any detail as to what was meant by that.  It seemed, though, from the original post, that he never even turned the little rig on.  Pity.  LCD's are known to create their own big black blotches after being exposed to heat or cold extremes, as indeed there are liquid crystals contained within that can freeze in a single grain orientation that makes them appear as big, black blotches.  Until power is applied, at which time operating bias reorients the crystals and everything works normally.  If the party didn't even plug the rig in before he flew off the handle: Pity.

WB2WIK/6

Do you have the manual?

Are you sure the rig isn't in 'STANDBY' mode?  Most of these older receivers were always in standby unless a jumper was installed across a 2-screw terminal strip (or equivalent) on the rear of the chassis; that was required to take them out of "standby" and place them into "operate."  (Note: All tubes are lit in "standby;" the difference is the operating bias on tubes required to actually receive anything.)

WB2WIK/6

Considerate, knowledgeable operators do indeed take time for "QRP only" stations.  They also identify regularly, operate split, and provide QSL route information at least once every five minutes or so.

I was very impressed last evening to hear the operator of 19th Olympiad special event station W7U (I think that was it) do everything exactly right.  I don't even know who the operator was, but he did it perfectly.  He:

1.  Made a 1-minute transmission now and then telling about the station, how to QSL, the purpose of the operation, the operating schedule and frequencies;

2.  Set aside "QRP callers only" time about once every five minutes or so;

3.  Announced his beam heading, so you would know if you were in an appropriate area to even be calling (if you might have a weak signal), or if you should come back later, when he's aimed your way;

4.  Seriously tried to give "everybody a shot."  Since he was operating from the Olympic games near Salt Lake City, he took time now and then to specifically call for Utah stations (this, on 20 meters, where working something so local might be a challenge), stuff like that.

Great operator.  We need about 100,000 more like that.

WB2WIK/6

A complete dual-mode iambic keyer is contained in a single ASIC chip developed by Curtis many years ago, and still available for purchase from MFJ (I think), who bought the rights to the Curtis product line.

The complete keyer is that chip, a key paddle, a potentiometer to adjust sending speed, and a 9v battery or small "wall wart" power supply.  That's it.  If you want to add features like a monitor, a single-chip audio amplifier IC and small speaker will do it; if you want to add memory, that's a bit more complex.

There is nothing in any commercial keyer that is better or more functional than the single-chip Curtis Keyer; although most modern HF rigs sold today have built-in electronic keyers using a tiny bit of processing power that the rigs include, anyway -- which is why Curtis went out of business.  Nobody needed his chips anymore.  But they still make fun projects.

73 de Steve, WB2WIK/6

I'm not sure what you mean by a "book."  I've worked CW for 37 years, learned it at age 13 and was working it daily at 50+wpm by age 14 and never had a "book."  What kind of book?

I used a small slip of paper with the letters, numbers and symbols written out with the dits and dahs written next to them, and would practice with a buddy, who later became WN2WND (when I became WN2WIK, we took our Novice tests together), for about an hour a day, after school, just sending to each other with code practice setups we built: A key, a buzzer, and a battery.  We would also challenge each other on "CW" using our vocal chords!  No kidding.  "A" is "di-dah."  "B" is "dah-di-di-dit."  And so forth.  You can "say" every character in code, pretty efficiently, and this requires no equipment at all.  

So, when Dave and I walked to school together, we'd "Morse" each other vocally, spelling out car license plates or anything else we'd spot.  Within two weeks we were both going much faster than 5 wpm.

I do realize that it's easier to learn almost anything when you're a kid, and I doubt I could learn that fast today.  Oh well.  But at 23, you're far from over the hill.  I still don't know what you mean by a "book."

Evidently there is some excellent tutorial software out there, though.  I haven't used any of it, myself, but I keep hearing "Code Quick" is great.  You might try that.  

The _only_ challenge, I think, is getting that 5 wpm code endorsement, which gives you CW privileges on four HF-DX bands (and phone privileges on one of them).  Once you're licensed to actually _operate_ CW, increasing speed and proficiency is a cinch, since you can now actually _use_ it to make contacts.  There's nothing like actually using anything to become good at it.  Studying and practicing are a pain...using is fun.

73 & good luck!

Steve, WB2WIK/6

CW is easy to learn and much fun to use.  In the "old days" we learned it out of necessity, since all license classes required a code test, and most new hams came through the ranks starting as Novices, who only had CW privileges on HF, with additional restrictions that Novices and Tech Plus licensees do not have today: Those being, we were restricted to 75 Watts DC input power (typically 40W output), and crystal control (no VFO's!) only.  We had another restriction, too: The Novice license was only good for one year, and was non-renewable.  That was quite an incentive to either learn more or get out of the hobby.

Once you actually _use_ CW, even if fumbling along at 2 wpm and making 50% mistakes, most find it so enjoyable they want to learn more, and do better.  The mode can also easily "spoil" an operator, since 50W on CW is equivalent to 200W on SSB and about 800W on AM or FM, in terms of what can be worked in any situation.  So, getting "spoiled" means working the world with 50 Watts and a wire, on CW.  Then, try that using another mode.  Oops, not so easy.  (Although I must admit that PSK31 is pretty close.  It just takes a whole lot more equipment, like a computer, sound card and software as a minimum, to use effectively.)  A simple QRP CW rig can weigh one pound and run all day off a battery pack, and thus makes the most simple portable DX station possible.

It's also interesting that, despite the popularity of other modes and the elimination of the code proficiency requirement in many cases, CW activity on the bands is about as high as it ever was, at least as high as it's been for the past 40 years or so.  The CW subbands are still crowded, and when the bands are really open, they're more crowded.  All those using it can't be nuts -- it's a great mode.

If that's not enough incentive, then perhaps simply challenging yourself is.  Successful people (in life, and in all endeavors of life) constantly challenge themselves, and when you reach the pinnacle of success in any field, the only one left to challenge you is you.  Reminds me of a really great and very short conversation I heard at a Lakers game last year: After Kobe Bryant did a 180 degree spin, reverse-slam dunk starting out about 15 feet from the basket and made it look about as easy as eating a jelly donut, coach Phil Jackson said to Kobe: "You're gonna hurt yourself."  To which Kobe replied, "No, I'm not."  Pure and simple.

As for recruiting, I'm sure there are as many opinions as stars in the sky, but the only thing I've found effective is letting prospects sit at the rig and have a chat with somebody on the other side of the world (with me as the control operator).  It is quite an experience for most people, and many immediately want to know more about this wonderful hobby.  For that reason, my door is always open to anyone remotely interested, and I've set up parking-lot portable stations many times.  Seems about 9 out of 10 people with any interest in anything become as least a bit interested in chatting with the world "for free," using no telephone or internet connection, just a tiny radio and a whip on the car.

WB2WIK/6

Two possibilities:

When the "center conductor only" receives well (when using a coaxially fed antenna) and connecting the shield kills the signals received, this almost always indicates a short-circuit in the coax or one of the connectors on the coax.  Check with an Ohmmeter.

But, your story has a bit of a twist, in that you said you still hear signals, with more noise, when you connect the shield.  If the signals are just as strong with the shield connected, but there's more noise and interference received, this may be normal and an indication that the "whole antenna" (which requires both the center contact and the shield connections to be fully connected) is simply picking up a lot more "stuff," including signals, noise and interference.  That's not unusual.  Sometimes, a very small and inefficient antenna actually "hears" signals better than a great, big one simply because there's no interference or noise received by the little one.  That doesn't mean the stations received are stronger on the small antenna -- usually they are not -- but they may sound "clearer" due to the lack of interference that a bigger and more efficient antenna pulls in.

WB2WIK/6

I tend to agree with WA4DOU.  Hams are a pretty witless bunch.  It's a genuine occasion when I meet a fellow ham who could pass Business 101 with a "C-" grade.

Consider this: If indeed the new rig had a defect (and I'm not even convinced it did, from the description), the company at fault was the manufacturer (Icom), not the distributor (Texas Towers).  The manufacturer offers a warranty to cover defects including cosmetic, electrical, mechanical, DOAs and operational failures.  The distributor's only obligation is to ship the equipment purchased.  A defect is covered by the manufacturer's warranty.

The very fact that the distributor was willing to replace the rig at all indicates considerable customer service, as far as I'm concerned.  They don't really have to do this.  What if the one shipped was the last one in stock, and the dealer had no unit to replace the defective one with?  Would the buyer have become completely unglued?

Although I couldn't care less who anyone buys anything from, and I'm not in this business at all, these kind of stories are annoying and just reinforce what I already knew: Most hams have little common sense.  A pity.

WB2WIK/6

If the HT runs SSB, with 2-3 Watts and a small portable beam (that can break down in a minute and be stuffed into a backpack), I've worked 3000+ miles from such locations.  If you happen to catch rare conditions, it's even easier.  Unfortunately, while June is the E-skip season peak on 50 MHz, it's not a good time for F2 layer (ionospheric) propagation on six meters -- that tends to occur in November-December.

In December 2001, one weekend six meters was so open I worked several mobiles on the east coast from my home in Los Angeles, with "meter pinning" type signals.  One fellow was in Alabama running a barefoot FT817 (2.5W PEP) and a whip.  That's 2500 miles, and neither of us were atop mountains.  Just great conditions.

In the summer months, E-skip is the predominant "DX" mode, and some areas get a great deal of Es while others don't.  For some reason, Florida is the Es "capitol" of North America and gets Es nearly every day from May to July.  The Pacific Northwest isn't nearly as lucky.  So, it really depends on where you are.

Without propagation enhancement like Es or F2, simply being up 3000 feet only extends your horizon, and most contacts would still be within a couple of hundred miles.  Obviously, SSB or CW (or digital modes like PSK31) works a great deal farther than FM, for any given power level and antenna.

WB2WIK/6

If I remember correctly, you do not adjust these to "match" anything.  The filter is designed to work in a 50 Ohm transmission line.  You don't adjust the filter to match your rig or your antenna.  

If you're using an antenna tuner, the filter should be installed between the rig (transmitter) and the tuner, so that the filter is always seeing a 50 Ohm load; otherwise, it won't work properly and could even be overstressed (and fail).

As I recall, the two trimmer adjustments were to adjust the cutoff frequency and slope, and affected the passband ripple as well, and were not intended to ever be adjusted in the field without proper test equipment (like a sweep generator and oscilloscope with detector, or a spectrum analyzer with tracking generator).

73, Steve WB2WIK/6

Tom, I suspect you have magnetic field interference, which, at amateur power levels, is usually very short range.

Fix your own TV and forget about it!

73 de Steve, WB2WIK/6