Look at the Ten-Tec.  HRD is NOT going to push/pull the audio for you. 

One of the members of our club has a TenTcc and demo'd it at a meeting.  He had full QSO and rig control capability via the internet while sitting in our meeting locale.  Now, the ability to control his rotor or other shack items were not covered by the Ten-Tec software.  But there are ways around that if you would like.

HTH,

Jim - KB1NXE

I've been doing the same and found another program that helps learn the letters through pattern recognition.  It's called "Just Learn Morse" http://www.justlearnmorsecode.com/. 

It works by teaching you a few letters and you have to answer the computer by typing the letter.  After that it builds as you become more proficient.  By that I mean, you learn 3 letters and as you get a higher percentage of correct answers, it adds a fourth then fifth, and so on.  Each session begins at zero, so your first session can be 5 or 10 minutes, then longer until you're sitting there for half an hour and coping almost the entire alphabet, numbers and prosigns.  It also groups the letters that sound alike together.  Like R and K for instance.  You session last as long as you choose.  Once my frustration is reached I quit for a while.

Try it, you may like it.

HTH, Jim

Read the Polyphaser Tech Notes.  Draw your own conclusions  They are here:  http://www.polyphaser.com/technical_notes.htm

Remember, you are also concerned about induced currents in ANY conductor that has a path to your home and shack.  A lightning near strike half a mile away can induce enough current to do damage.  This is why you protect all means of electrical ingress into your house.  Not just the antenna cables, but also the power, telephone and cable TV systems.

Search the web for sellers of Dry Transfer packs  (Google: Dry Transfer).  There's many.  Include those links you see from railroad or hobby suppliers.  The railroad fans use them to apply advertising and signage to their buildings and such and come in many font styles.

The electronic houses sell them that include dial markings that will be either correct or adaptable for your purpose.

Hope this is helpful.

Jim - KB1NXE

Completely possible.  Using a solar cell/wind turbine for power generation and a super capacitor for power storage (eliminates the maintenance of batteries).  It would be a rather compact unit.

However (I love the word however), you need to run cables up the tower regardless.  Other than some less cost (which presumably would be offset if not exceeded by the cost of the power generation and storage systems) and one less cable in the run, what's the gain?

An even bigger issue is audio.  Both receive and transmit.  HRD cannot pass this remotely. You would need a device that packetizes the audio and transports it via TCP/IP.  There are devices that do that.  Check the back of Marches QST.  I seem to remember seeing one advertised there.  GlenLink IIRC.  

It is possible to control your station remotely using HRD.  However, you also need a static IP address on your internet (read:  Business class) in order to complete the connection.  Otherwise your IP address is dynamically assigned and may or may not be the same from day to day.  If you could provide the static IP, then you can control your radio remotely.  It is possible to do this without a static IP, but like I said, it just could be different.

I do not know off the top of my head if that control extends to DM780 so you may use it for code or digital mode QSOs.  So, again, you can control it, but not communicate.  

You could use a computer remote control program like RDP or VNC to control the PC in the shack and then do digital or CW.  But again, you'll need a static IP address.

The TenTec rigs with an Ethernet connection do solve all of these problems.  I have seen it done.  But that is not your question.  I also do not know how it was set up.

You can still  purchase dry transfer lettering.  These are (if you are unfamiliar) sheets of letters/words/graphics that transfer to the case by burnishing (rubbing) them.  Do a Google search for Dry Transfers.  There are electronic suppliers of them, but I also found you can get different fonts at railroad hobbyist sites.

FWIW, I have tried to E-Mail them several times and the mail is rejected because their mailbox is full.

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at mx011.onecommunications.net.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.

<ose@oselectronics.com>:
user is over quota

Their phone is on permanent busy.  Their web site is up, however.  My guess is they are no longer in business.

I did finally receive my order in Early November.  They do not adhere to their own policy statements.  They change and then send out the product a few weeks later - if they have it in stock.

I guess you will wait another week or so and they'll show up.  

ICE does not have any customer service.  I suspect they are a one man show.  He does everything from order intake, manufacturing, bookkeeping, shipping, etc.

About the only thing he does comply with is the Interstate Commerce regulations of 4 to 6 weeks.

I will second the Heil Proset Plus iC.  I also use that combination on my Pro III and get excellent reports.  Also, I have not found a more comfortable headset.  Even over my costly Beyer Dynamics or Sennheisers I use on the stereo.

You are correct.  The CAT interface is only used to send and receive control commands between the PC and the rig.

Audio is handled like you think.  A cable from the rig's audio out to the PC sound cards audio in.  To transmit in the digital modes, you need a way to get the PC sound card output into the rigs audio input, AND key the rig.

There are many ways to handle those duties.  You can:

Place your MIC in front of the PC speakers.  You can see the limitations here.  Ambient audio getting transmitted, pain in the butt and inconvenient as all get out to do, etc...

Run the speaker output from the PC to a connector (whether the front MIC or a rear accessory connector) and use VOX.  Biggest issue here is controlling the audio output so you don't distort or overdrive the audio input to the rig.  There is also going to be an impedance mismatch and a possibility of ground loops.  Another problem is if you use Windows sounds on the PC.  Those could get transmitted as well.

Buy or make an isolation system where audio transformers are used between both audio lines as well as some form of volume control for the mic side.

For any of the above, it's also possible to take a signal off a Serial Port or Parallel Port to key the rig.

Buy an external sound card system like the SignaLink that eliminates all the issues above.

I mention the SignaLink only because I use one.  It is a slick solution.

HRD is some wonderful software.  There's many tricks and other uses that most people don't know about.  If you have a rotor, for example, and it supports connection to a PC, then it's very easy to slew your rotor over to a contact with a click of the mouse button (I just found this one earlier this week).

Also, get ahold of the excellent HRD Utilities to handle LoTW duties.  DOwnload it here:

http://wd5eae.org/Software.html

Hope this has been helpful.  If you'd like to contact me for more help, my private E-Mail is my call at arrl.net.

73 - Jim - KB1NXE

"Problem is, you wind up paying HOA fees and higher upkeep costs, and the HOAs enact rules no government would dare to."

I wonder if HOAs violate the RICO act?  Sounds like the mob to me.  Extortion, payola, protection, HOA - Call it what you will.

Is Effervescence the mature way to say 'Bubbly'?  Must only apply to the over 50 crowd (of which I am now a member!).

Funny.  I can't for the life of me understand why people are so involved in controlling others.  Glad I live where I do - "Live free or die."  They take it serious up here.

Ok, These are the facts:
I ordered two 384 Rotor Surge Suppressors on 12 October. No info if the devices were in stock or not, but the order confirmation said "No credit cards will be charged until the order is ready to ship". I paid with my Credit Card.

Credit Card charged October 14th.

E-Mail requesting status update sent on October 24th. No answer

2nd E-Mail sent October 28th. Again, no answer.

Their products are good quality and of a very reasonable price when compared to others such as PolyPhaser ($44 compared to $149).

There is a lot of posts saying pretty much the same thing I've said here (CC being charged immediately and no response to E-Mail).

So, if you go in with these expectations, you won't be disappointed.

Good luck.  As others have stated, tell the truth and make your case.  Hopefully, there is enough reason left in Government to further judge you fairly.