I've done it both ways several times and I also feel that a stub section is preferable.  I would place the first section on the stub and support it with the house bracket before pouring the concrete.  Of course you want to make sure the thing is truly vertical and well braced.   Remember that if the stub is not vertical you can't adjust it like a base plate. I also think its a good idea to slope the surface of the concrete down and away from the points where the stub legs enter it so that the water doesn't puddle at these points.

Try Googling "AZMAP"   AZMAP creates an azmithal map of the world centered on the location you specify. 

I use braided dacron fishing line.  It's 100Kg test (220 pounds) and holds up well to sunlight.  The line I use is called "Magicbraid." It's about the same thickness as number 16 or 18 wire.

...because life's too short!

If you're interested in digital operation on 160, most of it takes place at about 1838 and some also takes place at about 1807.  Dunno why!

If you can possibly arrange for a discreet outside antenna I strongly recommend that as opposed to an attic antenna.  I've spent the last several days crawling around in a very hot and cramped South Florida attic installing a multiband fan dipole for 17,15,12, and 10 meters.  The amount of electrical noise it picks up from the house is really horrenduous.  My outdoor 20 foot flagpole picks up far less noise.  Just a suggestion.

I don't have an opinion on the "basic liiteracy" issue since I feel that getting a license without basic literacy is next to impossible.   I do feel that the discontinued CW requirement for a license should have been replaced with a typing requirement.  The growing popularity of the digital modes suggests that the need for typing skills among today's amateurs is as important as CW skills may have been in the past.

Check out this site.  You can also download free muultimode digital software (Fldigi) from w1hjk.com

http://w1hkj.com/FldigiHelp-3.20/Modes/index.htm

Make it yourself.

I've been a ham for more than 50 years and managed to work a fair amount of DX.  I do not hold DXCC, WAS or any other sort of award.  I will answer QSLs provided a SASE is provided but I do not ask that other stations send them to me.  Any cards that come to me via the bureau go directly into the Bureau's trash bin. Any cards I receive directly without an SASE go into my trash bin... unanswered.  I do answer cards accompanied by an SASE and then they also go into my trash bin.  

For a while I tried being a "nice guy" by using eQSL but I found I was spending too much time at it and that I would rather be doing other things.

I'd rather spend my time making contacts than collecting wallpaper.

I certainly don't begrudge others their efforts in amassing "evidence" of their DX operating skills but I see no need to accomodate them by inconveniencing myself.

...and how many electrons can dance on the head of an isotrophic antenna?

...and how many electrons can dance on the head of an isotrophic antenna?

I suggest you consider using  homemade open wire line.  Use number 12 or 14 wire spaced 4 to 6 inches.

During WWII US Army Signal Corps installations fed rhombics using thousands of feet of open wire line because the antennas were frequently bombed and it was necessary to place the transmitters far away from the antennas.  A 250 foot run of good open wire line should result in very small losses.

The virtue of the 86 foot dipole is that the antenna pattern consists of two broadside lobes on 80 thru 20 meters.  The pattern does not become fractionated on these frequencies and remains pretty much broadside from 80 thru 20 meters. In other words it's direction of maximum radiation remains the same on 80 thru 20 meters.  Cebik wrote several articles about this antenna.

The 43 foot vertical likewise contains only one lobe at a relatively low angle from 80 thru 20 meters. On higher frequencies it contains multiple lobes at different vertical angles.  The high angle lobes are "wasted" from the standpoint of working DX.

IMHO the real reason 43 foot verticals are so popular with manufacturers is that the aluminum tubing they use is able to handle reasonable windloads without guying.  Many years ago I designed a vertical made of 6 foot sections of standard .058 wall thickness tubing which I doubled up to improve the rigidity and wind handling capacity.  6 foot sections were readily available from Texas Towers and could be shipped via UPS without special shipping charges.  When I did the calculations for surviving a 70 mph wind, the resulting vertical turned out to be very close to 43 feet in height.  The 43 foot vertical represents a happy marraige of convenience between mechanical properties and radiation properties...IMHO

I recently purchased an IC-7200 as a backup rig and for use in the field.  I operate primarily on the digital modes.  I was really impressed with it's filtering capabilities and filtering flexibility.  Purchase of separate filters is not necessary.  DSP filtering is done in the IF and can be set up separately for individual modes (CW, RTTY, CW, AM, Digital.)  Three different levels of filtering can be set up for each mode.  For the digital modes I selected 1000Hz, 500Hz and 100hz.  These settings can be quickly changed to whatever you want. I think the filtering will go down to 50hz which would be very useful on PSK31. It also has twin passband tuning which can be a big help when the QRM gets nasty.  Frankly I much prefer it to my son's IC-756 Pro III for digital work.

The IC-7200 lacks several niceties such as a programmable message memory keyer, a monitor function and one or two other thing which I can't remember at the moment.  None of these drawbacks are dealbreakers as far as I'm concerned.

It's very rugged and the whole case appears to function as a giant heat sink.  I had mine in the Bahamas for the week before the ARRLDXCW contest (C6ARU) and during the contest itself (C6AUM).  It got a real workout and ran cool even during several 12 hour runs at maximum output.

If you plan on hauling the thing around very much, I recommend you purchase the front handles that protrude outward and protect the dials and knobs on the front of the unit.

The "bang-per-buck" ratio on the IC-7200 seems quite high - expecially for what is considered to be an "entry level" transceiver.  I'm very satisfied with the unit.