You also need to check the propagation charts. Recent solar activity has been playing havoc with HF propagation. In other words, you can't rate your antenna analysis problem on take-off angles alone; you've got to know what's going on in the ionosphere. GL

Here's some advice for anyone wanting to learn about radio, amateur or otherwise: seek out a respected resource.

Robert Shrader's Electronic Communications is a classic, as is William Orr's Radio Handbook. The grammar is exact, the text is peer reviewed, the illustrations are suburb, and the publishers are top-notch. An amateur radio specific handbook, such as the American Radio Relay League's Handbook for Radio Communications, can explain anything many times better than anything on the Internet. In fact, the ARRL's web site lists a virtual library of books that outperform most information you will find online.

As we know, anyone can publish anything on the Internet, but that doesn't make it the gospel truth. Take what you see online with a grain of salt and a dose of skepticism.!

As for KI4JGT, I wish him luck.  With some polish, I think he could provide a viable resource that could aid others who are seeking information about obtaining their ham radio licenses. I just don't think he is going to do very well by misusing apostrophes and making his other grammatical mistakes. Most readers will see that something doesn't look right, and will conclude that his book is like a typical YouTube "fail."

Then again, I could be wrong (and I hope that I am). I do wish him luck--his heart is in the right place, and if he inspires only one new person to join us in our into our hobby, then that's great! More power to him!

A newspaper editor once said, "Apostrophes are like power tools; if you don't know how to properly use them, it's best to leave them alone."

Some quick rules: Apostrophes are not be used to warn readers that the next letter is going to be an "s." Too many times, even here on eHam, I've seen references to radio's, antenna's, power supply's, battery's, etc. The rule-of-thumb is that plurals don't need apostrophes, but they may sometimes need a different ending (e.g. power supplies, batteries).

Apostrophes are not used to designate possession for the words he, her, or it. It is his radio, her QTH, and its frequency range is ....

Apostrophes are frequently used to denote contractions, such as isn't (is not), can't (cannot), he's (he is or he was), we're (we are), you're (you are), and so forth.

Apostrophes are also used to denote possession by proper nouns (John's radio was a ---, Carla's call sign is...," "The FCC's stand on this is...."

So here's my suggestion; once you've written your article, have a proofreader or two check its grammar, and have an elmer or two verify its radio accuracy.  Although you may be a klutz at wordsmanship, your proofreaders can make you look like a pro. GL

GL with the book.

Glad you fixed the Weller. I bought a Weller gun, case, and several tips at a garage sale because "it wasn't working right." Removing all the built-up flux around the contacts, and the oxide from the tips, put it right again--not so bad for a $1 gamble.

For really tough solder, try adding the usual 60/40 mix to the joint. It will likely alloy with the original solder and reduce the melting temperature to something somewhat manageable.

Email radioshack.com; they used to have all manuals online, but lately seem to have whittled it down to 194 or so. They still might have the scan, and could supply you with a copy.

Basic troubleshooting should get you in the ballpark. Does anything power up? If not, start at the battery terminals and trace voltage (or continuity) forward. Look for an open fuse (which sometimes doesn't even look like a fuse) or open PCB traces or broken wires through the on/off switch. If you can determine that the circuit is getting power, then trace backwards from the loudspeaker.

Maybe the loudspeaker doesn't work, but the earphone does--then it's a bad loudspeaker. You might want to check the electrolytics around the audio amplifier--they sometimes go bad and kill audio. If you have a signal injector, work backwards from the speaker until you pinpoint the problem. Most likely it will be a defunct capacitor or broken PCB trace.

If it's a bad IC, you might have to bite the bullet and give up. But, hopefully, it will be something simple like a fuse or open loudspeaker coil. Remember that about 75% of electronics problems are mechanical (e.g. broken wires, fuses, switches and contacts), so try to eliminate those first.

It was Radio Amateur Call Book, Inc.

In looking at the schematic, it appears that the collector of Q4 goes positive whenever you key down. You need to verify that, and if it does, that can be your method to switch on the amplifier (for shame for even thinking of going QRO!!!). I'd tap onto Q4's collector (or pin 7 of U8) to switch on a transistor switch to operate a fast relay. Actually, I'd build in a time delay of a half second or so to keep the relay energized (closed) until the end of the transmission.

You could also fabricate a COR by building a field strength meter (FSM) circuit, but substituting a transistor switch-and-relay circuit where the meter would normally go. GL

Mineral oil is better, transformer oil is best....

Not all stubs are open-air; roll-up J-Poles, where the stub is often TV twin lead, and encased J-Poles come to mind. In these instances, velocity factor should be a design consideration.

A J-pole is a half-wave antenna matched to the coax with a ¼λ wave section. A half wave at 146MHz is 38.5" and a quarter-wave is 19.25". Throw in velocity factor for the quarter-wave section, and you could have up to 29" for the quarter-wave section. 38" plus 29" equals 67"; and there's usually an inch or two at the base for mounting to a mast or mount.

I suggest that you read more about J-poles on the Internet--there's a lot of good information on how to build them to obtain optimum performance, for single band use, or on multiple bands (VHF/UFH). GL

Sharpie makes a "metallic silver" permanent marker that shows up well on dark surfaces. You should be able to find it at office supply stores, although I found mine at Walmart and have seen it at Big Lots, etc. GL

Just a guess, but you may have gotten an audio taper pot instead of the linear taper called for. Radio Shack should have a quick fix. GL

Back on topic; I know of at least two people who are somewhat sensitive to electromagnetic fields. One is a girl who had to drop out of business class because she complained of dizziness in the classroom, which was full of desktop computers and monitors. However, she is a genius on a laptop, and turned out to be a real business entrepreneur.

The other is a woman who can't sleep if there's an electric service entrance near the bedroom, and who gets dizzy and disoriented when trying to use cordless phones. She can use a cell phone, but has to put it in speaker mode so she can hold it away from her body. However, both women watch TV and listen to the radio, so I can't say that they are in the group that wants all radios shut down.

Both of these women swear that their electromagnetic sensitivity is very real, and if I know two people like that, there has to be thousands more. But tell them that they would have to forgo radio, TV and cell phones, and most would have to think twice about a total shutdown.

Just don't give NYC mayor Bloomburg any ideas....

Another consideration: current FCC rules require harmonics to be at least 43dB below the fundamental, the article says the filter shown is good for only 34dB. When you design your board, consider adding a five or seven stage output filter, then you should be OK with the law.

Looks like an interesting transmitter. I'll keep the schematic handy in case I decide to build one myself. GL on your build.

I like K1WJ's answer--they're no longer required, but they're nice to have and look through from time to time. Many years ago I operated air mobile, but I left that job and began a new career in a different town. One day, thumbing through an old log, I saw that one of my AM contacts was with a lady ham in a neighboring town. I found out that she had become an SK, and that her son was keeping up the family hobby. We became good friends.

I also keep copies of my license grants in the log, as well as a copy of the mandatory RF exposure survey, and any other pertinent station data. For example, when I installed my last two antennas, I recorded the Rr, Z and SWR of each, and the tuner settings that produced best matching, so that if anything goes wrong in the future I can refer back to my installation notes. I've also got the serial numbers of all my equipment in there as well.

I may be wrong, but I think you still need to keep records of any third-party traffic. Current FCC rules are available online, and I'll have to check to be sure, but I do it anyway.