Also make sure the radio is in CW mode, and your software supports hard keying CW. For example, FLDIGI uses audio tones on the data port, and you put the radio in USB/LSB/DIGI mode.

And don't forget that the cell phone in your pocket, if you tried to buy it outright, would cost about $600-$800, depending on what model you have. Your cell phone provider makes it up by charging you more for service.

PCs are subsidized by loading them up with bloatware.

I can't say the microwave oven has any bloatware loaded on it, but I'll bet it came with coupons.

Ham radio equipment manufacturers also took a different path: by knowing that they had a limited market, they load up more features. The turn over rate of a radio can be measured in decades, and so they understand the market wants quality and a real improvement over last years' model. And I also think there's a mindset in most companies that they are hams themselves and want to build their idea of the best rigs, not to get into fights over parts counts and retail price (not that there's no discussion of price, but just consider the Icom 9500 receiver... they can't seriously think they'd sell 10 million of them, but there it is).

If you can lace the coax with a marline hitch (use figure C on the link below) it should work without causing problems, but over time it still might get loose in spots. I've used zip ties to attach .625 hardline to strand and they've held up for years (temporary fixes that are good enough sometimes become permanent). Given the cost of a bag of UV resistant zip ties I would think that and the dacron rope would be the cheapest/best way.

http://blog.makezine.com/2009/07/28/lost-knowledge-cable-lacing/

BTW: Off topic, but in my headends, cable lacing is most certainly NOT lost knowledge!

Coax on its own is not "self-supporting." Most tower sites have a tray running from the tower to the shack with all the cable runs laying on it. In the CATV industry (which I'm much more familiar with), nearly all hardline cable is strapped to a steel strand using a spiral lashing wire. The RG-6 drop has a steel messenger wire that is used for physically supporting the coax. Over time, a coax cable will stretch and thin out, changing the characteristic impedance, sometimes dramatically. The way the coax is attached to the building and mast will also create a flex point that will eventually cause a mechanical problem from the wind blowing the cable around. By keeping the load on the steel messenger, the coax is able to maintain it's integrity. 24' isn't all that far, but I think it would be worth the extra time and effort.

It should be fairly simple to come up with some way to lash up a coax line to a steel messenger, using anything from zip ties to actual lasing wire. Check at hardware stores that sell fencing, or maybe at an electrical supply house. And don't spend too much, it's not an expensive item.

This sort of television almost makes me wish we had Japanese-style game shows instead.

Almost.

This is more of a technical review rather than an plot synopsis. If you want that, check out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659338/

On a total impulse after seeing the promo on the "barker" chanel, I ordered this movie on demand Friday night. I remember hearing numbers stations fairly frequently in the 1980s when I was doing a lot of SWL, and figured it might be a good popcorn movie.

The movie looks OK, but as usual there's a lot of hardware overkill when it comes to Hollywood's interpretation of security. Think underground bunkers, "mantrap" gates, and bank vault doors all over the transmitter facility. Of course, there's no rent-a-cop at any of the gates or remotely viewed cameras over secure fiber links to the station, only a laptop computer that is running the typical Hollywood easy-hack operating system and several iMacs in the main transmitting room. There's no shots of transmitters or other radio equipment (I don't even recall seeing a mixer in the "studio") and there's no engineer or technical people at the site. Being an underground bunker, it's also very very dark all the time.

The plot requires a super-intelligent, but completely helpless woman, to read the numbers out over the air once a computer generates the cypher code. Of course given the mechanical sound of all the numbers stations I've heard, this is completely wrong, the voice might be female but is just a computer playing out audio files. This super-intelligent woman still manages to talk into the wrong side of the mic (a Neumann U87, which is mounted vertically with the capsule on the side http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neumann_U87.jpg). This is forgivable except that there's a big metal band that runs over the top, and you'd think the sound guy might point out the error to someone anyway.

At any rate, the way they describe the decode process isn't too far off from what most people accept as how it's really done, but greatly simplified. There's also a lot of plot holes that would become apparent when you realize that only one station had been compromised (that earlier was said to only send instruction to European operatives), yet instructions were sent to operatives all over the world. And again, I just couldn't get over the fact that an ultra secure location has almost no security or outside monitoring, nor was there any upper-level monitoring of the messages being sent. I don't want to give away too much, but suffice to say the whole system seems to be way too easy to game with far too little security to make sense.

The CIA guy assigned to the station does a lot of shooting, gets shot a lot and John Cusack does a good job of trying to make it an action-thriller. But the script really wants to be more of a mystery, or romance, or something. It certainly didn't have anything to do with radio.

I've never had any issues with buying online until last month. I'm looking at buying a new base station. After finding a "deal" on the eham classifieds I started the process. When I asked if the seller took pay pal, he provided me his account email address, which was not the same as the address we'd been using (BTW both were yahoo.com addresses, don't know if that's a red flag or not). At any rate, I Googled the paypal email address and the first hit was a post in a wrist watch forum saying the address in question was a scammer address. Needless to say, bargain or not, the deal wasn't going to happen. The seller did say his email account was hacked, but after I called it off I haven't heard anything from the seller, and I notice "he" pulled the classified ad.

Interesting note: According to QRZ.com, the scammer happened to use the callsign of a former Ohio cop. I made sure I mentioned this to him when I called off the deal.

I just took down my 28' vertical in a tree. It had 2 18' radials, 180° apart. Connected with a 4:1 UNUN it would tune on any band, and was great at picking up the S9+ powerline noise in the area.

There's a lot that goes on "behind the scenes" in the APRS-IS when it comes to messages. For the most part, it works, but both parties have to send at least one position report prior to trying to send a message. The exception is if you are going through all local links (which may be the case if you're just trying to reach your wife). Composing messages is tedious on the front keypad, but can be done. You might be able to use the AFSK or Bluetooth TNC mode on DroidAPRS to make it easier. Also would work if one party has call service and sent yes or no type questions to the other party on the radio.

If the message is going over the Internet you might find that the local gateway operators block traffic, but I've not had that happen anywhere around here.

A google search for Superjack and following a few links led me to this site:
http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/tuningp3.html#anchor485744

The Superjack is a linear actuator arm used for positioning a C band satellite dish. Looks like it was modified to raise or lower the antenna in a very interesting way. I'd have to see the inside, but according to this (http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/150256-Connecting-a-SuperJack-QARL-3024-actuator) page, that limit switch is actually a turns counter to send feedback to a satellite receiver to help position the antenna.

Wow that is very good. Thanks for posting.

Also take a look at the more recent Icom units. They have been moving to a USB interface that emulates a sound card and serial interface built right in. It makes for a one-cable solution and nothing else to buy. I used an IC-7200 during field day last year at the club PSK-31 station and it worked very well. Icom also has a remote control program that will control nearly (if not all) functions of the radio. I don't know of any program that will control 100% of the FT-897's functions.

Nothing really wrong with them, but keep in mind the 857/897 aren't the best for computer control, and some of the tech is getting long in the tooth. The price is right though. Understand, I own an FT-897d and an FT-817 and have been happy with them, but there's better stuff out there today, even from Yaesu.

I tried using an Icom R-10 for a downlink when starting to build a duplex station. It did a fair job at picking up SO-50 and almost nothing on linear satellites. I could pick up the VO-52 beacon when the satellite was directly overhead, but that's about it.

Later I bought a used FT-817. Difference was night and day. And it wasn't too expensive either. I think I have more in coax and antennas than the cost of the 817.

Thanks for posting the video. I noticed some movement on the servo bracket when first starting up, maybe put a rubber shim in the U bolt? I use old bicycle innertubes. Just anything that can get some grip instead of metal on metal.

Make sure you are using the correct wiring scheme on the CAT-5 cable:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet#Power_capacity_limits

I usually use T568B wiring on straight cables and it works OK. If you wire a T568A on one end and a T568B connector on the other it will make a "crossover" cable, saving you the need to buy a switch to interconnect 2 devices.

Try using a short 6' jumper as a test. If it works, there's your answer. Also, it could be that the POE feature is not true POE and doesn't like the 48VDC or so that the trendnet injector is putting out. If that's the case, there are passive injectors available, but I don't know that 5VDC would survive the 100' trip out to the antenna.