Rich,

The 17 meter band is excellent for mobile work. The phone band is small because it's only from 18.110 to 18.168 MHz but the whole phone band is open to anyone with a general class ticket or higher. It's not as crowded as 20 meters, for example, and at this time in the solar cycle it's more reliable than 15 meters. Some mobiles hang out around 18.160 MHz.

It's a good band for rag-chewing around the USA but I have worked quite a bit of DX from my mobile on 17 meters. It has become one of my favorite bands at home and in the car.

73,
Dave, N4KZ

I bought a TS-830S when they hit the market in 1980 and used it to drive my SB-200 Heath linear. Obviously, run a cable between the relay output on the transceiver and the relay input on the amp. But ALC is really optional with the TS-830S. It's unlikely you would overdrive the amp with that rig. I was always careful not to overdrive the amp and never had any problems.

Later, I told the 830S and bought a TS-440S and ran it with the amp for several years and never connected the ALC input on the linear. In fact, I recall a Kenwood ad in QST about the TS-440S and it stated that there was really no need to connect up the ALC control on most amps when using the 440S since there was very little chance of overdriving it.

These days I run an Icom rig and Ameritron amp and still don't use the ALC on the back of the amp. The Ameritron manual says it's not necessary as long as you carefully monitor the drive to the amp.

73, N4KZ

There should be no receive distortion -- unless the NB is on.

My IC-746 has always had a lazy ALC reading unless the compression was on -- which it is.

My LCD display went out on my 746. An Icom rep told me they had a design flaw in the light behind the LCD. The rig you looked at could be getting ready to suffer LCD loss too. The repair bill at AES was $100.

I like my 746. I've had it 5 years now. I was going to buy the Pro model until I began reading about all the xmit failures. Looks like I'll keep my 746 for a few more years now.

73, N4KZ
See you on the air!

You can't go wrong with either the SteppIR or the Tennadyne log. I've had both. Personally, I think the SteppIR is a better performer than a log periodic in forward gain and F/B ratio but I loved my Tennadyne. It's a nicely built antenna and there's really nothing to go wrong with it. The elements droop a lot and sway in the wind but the antenna appears strong. The assembly directions stink -- or at least they used to.

On the other hand, the SteppIR's design, workmanship and quality of materials is top-notch. The instruction manual is superb with clearly written text and color photos.

My 3-element SteppIR is up 56 feet and never ceases to amaze me. I suppose the antenna perfectionists might challenge me but I think having the SteppIR is jut like having monobanders on 20-6 meters. Six meter coverage is something else the SteppIR does -- thanks to the passive 6m element -- that the log doesn't.

I can't say enough about the 180-degree function on the SteppIR either. When I first got the antenna up, I thought, "Oh, that's a nice little feature but I don't see where I will use it that often."

Boy, was I wrong! I use it frequently -- several times a night typically. When DXing or contesting, the ability to flip the antenna around 180 degrees in about 3 seconds sometimes makes all the difference betweeen getting in and making the QSO before the frequency explodes into a pile-up or having to wait before making the contact.

I know Force 12 makes very good antennas too. Many people swear by them. But I had a very bad customer service experience with F12 and they're not on my personal radar anymore. On the other hand, SteppIR and Tennadyne customer service was excellent. Both antennas assemble quickly too.

Good luck,
73, Dave, N4KZ

The ARRL got it right this time. This proposal seems to be a well-thought out compromise between the no-code and know-code camps. And requiring Morse Code knowledge for the highest grade of ticket makes sense too. After all, if the Extra class license is to offer extra privileges (exclusive voice and CW sub-bands), then it ought to require extra expertise -- or Morse Code in this case.

I like how the proposal deals with refarming the novice CW sub-bands and grandfathering some licensees into a higher class in order to consolidate all the different classes into just 3. The way I read it, all currently licensed novices would automatically earn the new novice license with its voice and data HF privileges and increased VHF/UHF frequencies.

It was vitally important this time that no one lose frequencies because of reorganization. (I'm still smarting from the loss of several kHz in November 1969 thanks to incentive licensing.) Although not specifically spelled out, the implication is that the upgrades through grandfathering would be automatic.

I do think a new name is needed for the entry-level license. Novice was a term that served us well for nearly 50 years but it's time to move on. I like the term "Basic" because it implies a beginner status without having a negative connotation such as novice. But I admit that "Basic" isnt't very sexy as a name. So how about the Explorer license? It implies someone trying something new, going where they haven't gone before, new bands, new modes, new adventures as hams on HF, etc. Just my 2 cents worth.
73, Dave, N4KZ
See you on the air!

Sorry but you have confused the early broadcast callsign assignment system with the amateur callsign assignment system. The W vs. K plan used in broadcasting never applied to hams. When the U.S. was assigned the W, K and N prefixes in the late 1920s,(the A calls came later), the guys out West got W calls just like the guys in the East. The initial K calls on the ham bands were U.S. territories, i.e. K6 was Hawaii, K7 was Alaska and K4 was Puerto Rico. The calls for these territories were modified (KH6, KL7, KP4) when the K calls began to be assigned to stations on the mainland. That happened when the supply of W 1x3 calls was exhausted.

I like Trivia questions but let's verify their accuracy before they get posted, OK?

The book, "Don Wallace, W6AM: Pioneer of Amateur Radio," is an excellent source of information about how the amateur callsign system was structured in the very earliest days of the hobby. The book is a great reference and a good read in general for anyone who loves to read about the heritage of our hobby. But you won't find anything in the book about hams out west getting K calls while the boys out East got W calls. That simply didn't happen on the amateur bands. Don was originally 6AM, then used NU as an unofficial prefix briefly -- N being North America and U United States and then was assigned the W prefix when the U.S. ratified an international radio treaty.
73, Dave, N4KZ

It works. I recently worked HC8N from my mobile using my IC-706MK11G and my 2m 5/8 wavelength whip on 6 meter SSB. The reason it works is that on 6 meters, the feedpoint impendance is such that the coil becomes "invisible" to the RF. No need to remove it because it "removes" itself electrically at 6 meters.

73, Dave, N4KZ

I don't remember the specific results in the ARRL digital test other than MFSK16 provided better copy under weak-signal conditions than did PSK31. That only makes sense since MFSK16 uses FEC (forward error correction) and PSK31 has none.
73, Dave, N4KZ