I commute through the foothills of the appalachians daily. Even though a repeater may be relatively close I often experience alot of dropout using a Larsen NMO2/70 mounted on the rooftop. I know the Larsen is an excellent antenna but for the type of terrain I drive in would something else work better? Thanks for your input.   

Farm supply stores like TSC carry fiberglass rods used for electric fence posts that can be easily cut and drilled. They're designed for long tern use outdoors, are inexpensive and work great for spreaders. But I Have yet to find a good stabalizer yet as hot glue, epoxy, caulk do not always attach to the wire all that well. Mike

I thought listening to tapes of W1AW at 20 WPM and up as I commuted to work each day on lonely country roads would be a great way to increase my head copy speed. To my surprise I found it actually hurt. I've tried this on at least 3 different occasions and the results are always the same. I've gone back to the tied and true method of listening at my desk but I'm at a total loss to explain why listening and driving don't mix. Anyone else have experience with this? TNX Mike

I know the feeling. In my 328IS there is a small opening below the on board computer that is appearently for sunglass storage etc. I set my Icom 208H in there and secured it with a small wood wedge painted black (to match the interior). The wire runs down the side of the console. The only hole I drilled was to mount the mike on the other side of the console and it was small. Really doesn't look too bad and beats tearing up the bimmer's interior. Maybe you can do something similiar in the 740. 73 Mike  

I recently bought an Astron SL-11A linear power supply at a hamfest to run my ICOM 208H. The seller said it would run a 50 watt rig but the 208H pulls 12 amps on high power(55 watts) and the Astron is rated at 7 watts continuous, 11 peak. Should I look for a beefier supply or are the numbers conservative enough that moderate use isn't going to be a problem? Thanks. Mike

I have searched in vain for a good windows logging program for just basic qso record keeping. Packet, radio control, contesting or even award tracking is not really necessary. Does such software exist?