I've had no run-ins with the "Specific Plan" department, however I have encountered the California Coastal Commission, which has its own regulations regarding what property owners may and may not do when they live on the coastline, or have property visible from the beach...and since some of L.A. City is indeed beachfront, the Coastal Commission regs override the City Zoning Ordinances -- which sounds ridiculous, but it's true.

I'd still recommend looking up the hams in Venice to see if any has a tower.  Hard to believe nobody does, but maybe.

If all else fails, perhaps a roof tower, as opposed to a free-standing or guyed structure, would be a solution.  I know after reading the specific wording of many "Plans," some which completely rule out ground-mounted towers say nothing at all about roof-mounted ones...

WB2WIK/6

WB6UQA: A quick search of the FCC data base reveals there are 93 licensed hams in Venice, CA.

You might look some of them up, or take drives by, to verify if the city employee claim is accurate or not.  I live in the Valley and figure I could probably drive to all 93 addresses in a few hours, Venice isn't very big.

If you find any hams there with towers, that would be a great start...

Good luck!

Steve, WB2WIK/6

Interesting question, and problem.

First, there is indeed life in the Novice/Tech+ CW subband on 10m.  What or who you hear is highly dependant upon your antenna, and when you're listening.  Obviously, you'd want to operate when the band is "open" in your area; that's typically during "daylight" hours and not much after dark, unless you have a terrific antenna system.  (Note: With great antennas, 10m can appear to be open 24 hours a day...few hams are lucky enough to have such an antenna farm.)

Pick a frequency and call CQ.  And call CQ again!  If you have an antenna that really works, and operate when the band is open, you should be able to raise a reply.  If I tune around between 28.100 and 28.300 on the typical Saturday morning, surely the upper half of that region is dominated by beacons, but the lower half has CW activity, and I've made many contacts there.  An especially wonderful time to operate in this subband is during a major contest, when the band gets so crowded with strong signals, that contesters begin to "spread out" and definitely work above 28.100.  The ARRL 10 meter contest (last December) was a prime example of this -- there was tons of activity, from all over the world, right up through the Novice/Tech+ CW subbands.  Ditto for the ARRL DX CW contest, which was in February, and of course it happens again in November for the ARRL Sweepstakes and in June for Field Day -- and many other "contest" weekends.

73 & hope to catch you on CW!

WB2WIK/6

The 160 degree run won't bother it, nor will painting the antenna and its feedline.  But I wouldn't expect paint to stick to wire very well!  You'd be better off using insulated wire of some dark, not easily noticed color, and just paint the center insulator and ladder line.

Good luck on your exam!

WB2WIK/6

I'd recommend...

1.  Use any method that works for you, including CodeQuick, to memorize the letters, numbers and punctuation, and get your General ticket;

2.  Then, get on HF-CW and actually _use_ it, for a while, as much as you feel comfortable with.  That's learning it.  Memorizing the characters to pass a 5 wpm test isn't learning it.

Learning how to stand up on skis without falling over isn't learning how to ski; learning how to ride a bike, or a skateboard at the same speed as walking isn't learning how to ride.  Learning the notes of the musical scale and playing "chopsticks" isn't learning piano.  Learning requires experience and time.  The "not falling down and hurting yourself" is the first step.  The "getting good at it, enjoying it, and being the envy of your friends, who wish they were as good as you" is the result of many steps.

And using CW to actually make contacts, including contacts that you couldn't possibly make on any "voice" mode, is the fun part.  The more you use it (or ski, or ride a bike, or play piano) the better you get.  It's worth the trip.

All the best in your CW endeavors!  Once you've really _learned_ the code, have the ticket, and use it, I think you'll find the 30 minutes flies by like it was seconds...

73 de Steve, WB2WIK/6

If this is the whole, and accurate, story, I don't think the NY operator was trying to tell you that you were "too strong," or to shut your amplifier off.

59+40 is a good signal report.  Most of that has to do with propagation, and your antennas.  Very, very little has anything to do with whether or not you're using an amplifier.  If you dropped from 1kW to 100W, you'd still be 59+30, which is still a nice, strong signal.

It's likely the NY station was simply complimenting you on a nice signal, and didn't mean anything other than that.  I hear those kind of quick break-in reports all the time -- just one ham letting another one know that he's got a good signal, someplace.

WB2WIK/6

I don't have an Adventurer schematic.  What are the test points (where are they located in the circuit)?

If you clip your VOM (set to Rx1000 Ohm setting) across the Adventurer's panel meter with the rig shut "off", does the Adventurer's meter indicate?  (It should.)

Does the schematic indicate what the Adventurer's panel meter movement actually is??  (That is, 0-50 uA, 100 uA, 1 mA?  What?)

WB2WIK/6

I haven't seen this VFO in about 35 years or more, and never owned one; however, if the designer used a 1/2-wave rectifier for a VFO, that's really a poor design.

Recommend you change to a full-wave bridge instead, and use a LOT of filter capacitance.  You didn't say how much was used, initially, but if the PS output is in the 150V range as I suspect it is, then several hundred uF would not be unreasonable.  You might also check to make sure the tube doesn't have a heater-cathode short, which can make hum difficult to eliminate.

Another trick is to use DC, rather than AC, on the tube filament.  This can be accomplished by simply rectifying and filtering the AC filament winding, and inserting a bit of resistance in series with the filament to adjust for proper operating voltage.

WB2WIK/6

How do you "check" electrolytics?

The 75S1 averages 43 years old and if its electrolytics have not been replaced, I'd be very suspicious of them.  

An h/k short in a tube usually results in more drastic indications than just hum.

I'd grab a scope and measure power supply ripple, first.  If it's more than ~1% of the DC voltage, e.g., 2.5V ripple on a 250V line, I'd start thinking about replacing the filter capacitors.

Of course, you might try swapping out the product detector tube, since that is clearly a differentiating point in CW/SSB use (I believe the 75S1 uses a diode detector for AM).

WB2WIK/6

Yep, they do exist and I use them all the time, for contesting.

http://www.qth.com/dunestar/

Great "transmitting" (and also receiving) bandswitched, bandpass filters.

73 de Steve, WB2WIK/6

I have them, too.  These were used in the original "Ultimate Transmatch" popularized by a QST article 30 years ago or so...

16250 = 250pF/section split stator, 1.5kV

16520A = 200pF, 2.5kV

WB2WIK/6

K6UUE, is that your real call?  Can't find it listed.  

You could try KE6PZH, he has lived and has been active in HF/DXing from French Polynesia and is very fluent in English!

73 de Steve, WB2WIK/6

Yep, that's public information well documented on the ARRL website, along with all the other states, and some counties and municipalities that recognize and have codified PRB-1.

Of course, this doesn't help anyone having CC&Rs.

My national survey still indicates the ready availability of residential properties not having restrictive covenants, over a broad range of prices, in all 50 states.  I'm going to try to find the time to put together an updated listing of "ham friendly communities" which contain housing tracts without restrictions, to supplement the ARRL info re PRB-1 accommodations.  Problem is, it's a very long list.  I already have some 600 pages of such information, and it's not nearly complete.

WB2WIK/6

Depends on what you're trying to do, and what bands you want to work.

I'd recommend something like the MFJ-1780 or MFJ-1786 for many situations, since it not only works well almost regardless of where it's installed (needs no ground plane, counterpoise, ground connection, etc) but also has an amazing immunity to noise and out-of-band interference, both of which can be horrible problems when operating from the confines of an apartment.

The portable clamp-ons like the B&W AP-10 work pretty well for their small size and low cost, but do require a ground...and are more suited for temporary (like hotel room) operations.

WB2WIK/6

There don't seem to be any that I can find, at least not "10 meters only" kits that don't include other bands.  The MFJ9410 is factory wired only.  The MFJ "Cub" products are inexpensive kits, but start at 15 meters and go down in frequency from there.  Ditto the Ten Tec QRP CW kits, they are available for 15 to 80 meters, but not 10.

The Elecraft K1 is inexpensive and works well, and is a kit, but always includes two bands. You could pick 10 meters and another band of your choice, and then just use 10 meters!

WB2WIK/6