Hi Mike,

I did this very thing with my Icom 756 and Icom 706. Had no reason to, just wanted to check out the CIV and see if it worked.

It works fine and will do exactly what you are looking for. You will need to deal with the  RX/TX antenna issue as well to protect the receiver.

73
Chris
KB7YOU
http://radio.rocklizard.org

Hi,

I just had to clean my Kent paddle. At first I went the Dremel route but did not like the “whorls” that the buffer brush left on the brass parts.

Here is what I finally did.

First, I used some common electronic contact cleaner to get all the grime off it. I used the kind without any lubricants.

Second, I used a standard Pink Pearl eraser and gently erased the entire unit. I went with the grain of the brushing pattern in  the brass so that I could get in to all the nooks and crannies.

Finally, I re-cleaned the unit with the contact cleaner then blew it out with compressed air.

Looks like new and works great.

Now, I keep my key in a plastic sandwich bag when I’m not using it. Since I don’t use it often this should keep the grime away.

73
Chris
KB7YOU
http://radio.rocklizard.org

Hi,

I've had the SBB-2 on my car for about a month now. I got it as an upgrade for a lower model (whose part # I forgot) and I'm very satisfied.

I live in the Salt Lake City area and I regularly work repeaters over a 60 mile radius - Also simplex up and down the valley out to about 40 miles with no problems and even further on good days. With the lip mount on the hatch of my station wagon I have a really solid support that's easy to adjust.

The antenna seems to be living up to its sales pitch. I can recommend it without reservation.

Good luck with the new antenna!
Chris
KB7YOU
http://radio.rocklizard.org

I think that the safest way to look at this is to follow the exact letter of the law. The simplest and most common sense way is to follow the spirit of the law.

No matter how you go, it's OK for a kid to talk on the radio - including pushing the TX button - as long as the ham is sitting right there. The rules seem really straight forward to me. I do this all the time with kids and with my wife.

I share my radio with my wife frequently. She is a licensed Technician with code privileges, KD7YMZ. We occasionally talk together on 2m or 70cm, no issues there. Sometimes she likes to do some HF and has made several contacts on 10m and 6m in her privilege range.

Sometimes, there is a special event station or something else interesting going on outside of her privilege range. In these cases I am the control operator. I’m in the room with her, I give her tips and instructions and I retain ultimate control. However she is operating the radio.

That’s the whole point – for her to gain experience and interest enough to consider upgrading. When she is working out of band she identifies with my call sign. She then gives the person her call sign as well so that the OP on the other end knows that she is a licensed ham working out of her privilege range with me as the control op. It goes something like “KD7YMZ with KB7YOU in control”. The QSL cards come to her NOT to me but everyone involved knows where the “buck stops”.

I have been known to go grab a drink or use the bathroom while she is in the middle of a contact. I trust her to not suddenly change freqs and start screaming obscenities into the microphone while I’m out of the room for 2 minutes. I imagine that this is probably a technical violation but well within the common sense spirit of the law.

Now for DX, we have not run into that yet. If we do, I’ll just look up the 3rd party regulations in my ARRL Operators Handbook. Everyone should have this book. It really answers a lot of questions.

Hope some of this helps.
Chris
KB7YOU
http://radio.rocklizard.org

Hi,

I recently upgraded the mobile antenna on my car (broke the old one). I decided to go for the large Comet SBB-7 antenna. I also decided to do a better mounting job – my old mag mount just was not working for me and the SBB-7 is way too big for a mag mount.

I got a Comet trunk lip mount and I attached it to the rear lift gate of my station wagon. I also added a second lip mount for an HF antenna.

To make a long story short – the lip mount works great. It is VERY solid and very flexible in installation. I was able to neatly install the antenna and at a height that keeps most of it above the car without it being so high that it’s always running into things. The Comet mount has thin feed-through coax that routes under the weather stripping so the installation is very neat. Also, the antenna is grounded to the body of the car. I went with the tapping screws that cut through the paint on the back side of the lip (you don’t have to do this) and performance is great. On HF I’ve been making 20 meter contacts at 20 watts over 1,000 miles away so something is working well.

The best part is, installation took me an hour and I can take the whole thing off in 5 minutes when I need to. Give it a try. The lip mounts work well on SUV’s. Visit the Comet site at http://www.cometantenna.com/ for more information. They have a FAQ that talks about SUV mounting.

73
Chris
KB7YOU
http://radio.rocklizard.org

Hi,

I used a simple transistor switch connected between my serial port and the keyer jack. Worked just fine. Be sure to set the 706 to straight key mode and everything should work just fine. If you don't want to build your own interface or already have one that should also work fine. In addition to my homebrew interfaces I have a Rigblaster Pro and it works great.

73
Chris
KB7YOU

Hi Steve,

I can answer some of these questions for you.

First, regarding the 6x1.5v versus 1x9v battery; the reason is that the 6 1.5v batteries provide more power. I don’t know the ratings for alkaline cells, but a typical 9v rechargeable might provide 650 mA/hr of power where a cheap AA cell can provide 1000 mA/hr or even more.

If you use AA batteries and they are all of the same type and they are all fresh or freshly charged you will rarely need to check single cells for a problem so you should stick with the AA’s for longer life.

Regarding battery types, NiCad’s are the oldest of rechargeable types (except for lead acid). They work ok but provide the least amount of power for their size. They also suffer from the “memory” effect to one degree or another. Lithium Ion batteries are great but they require special charging and are not really suitable as replacements for standard AA, C or D cells. For one thing, each Lithium Ion cell is 3.6 volts and if you charge them wrong they explode (worst case) or blow an internal fuse and become worthless (expensive  but not fatal).

The all around best rechargeable battery is the NiMH. They are cheap and easy to find and you can get AA cells with capacities of 2100 mA/hr or more. Look around online or buy a name brand. I’ve had good luck with the Eveready NiMH batteries in my radios. I believe they have a fairly flat discharge curve until the very end of their charge at which point the voltage drops rapidly. If your RC transmitter has a voltage meter you can monitor your battery life and recharge before this point.

Finally, you can get 9V rechargeable. They don’t seem as common but you can find them. I know Radio Shack carries them.

Hope this helps
Chris
KB7YOU
http://radio.rocklizard.org

I have 2 suggestions for you. First, consider the Icom IC-w32A. It's a dual band HT and it's very rugged and capable. Although it has a good number of bells and whistles you can ignore most of them at the start and grow into them as you want. Basically, the first 3 pages of the manual will have you on the air. Also, it has good output power, can work with AA batteries and again, the advanced features are there in the future.

My other recommendation is the Icom IC-Q7A. It costs $99. It's very simple to use and it has only 9 buttons and 1 knob. 300mw output power is not much but should be fine for local repeaters (it is for me) and its pocket sized and uses AA batteries.

Reviews for both are here on eHam.

Hope this helps.
Chris
KB7YOU

Hi,

I spent some time last summer working on backpack portable verticals and dipoles. One of the variations I tried was the hamstick dipole. I have a few notes and pictures on my web site: http://radio.rocklizard.org. About half way down the page on the left side you will see my "Back pack and portable" section. Click there.

Hope this gives you some ideas.
Chris
KB7YOU

PS - Feel free to email me directly if you have any questions. My email address is my call sign at ARRL.NET

-Chris
http://radio.rocklizard.org

Hi,

2 weeks ago I upgraded my Icom 756 / Icom 706MkII/G setup to a Kenwood TSB-2000. Here is what I like about this rig after using it on HF and VHF/UHF for several weeks:

-   100 W on 2m SSB.
-   Excellent audio on transmit and receive.
-   Functional and efficient DSP.
-   I got the B model with no faceplate. The computer control and remote head control are great for ease of use and mobile operation.
-   Good sensitivity on VHF. I’ve worked stations 50 miles away on SSB using my temporary vertically polarized 2m antenna. I’ve had no problems mainlining regular schedules with low power (20w) 2m operators.
-   Bang for the buck. There are better radios and there are more expensive radios. I’m finding that I am getting great quality and good features in a flexable $1300 package.
-   Excellent HF rig – DSP really works well here.
-   Built in TNC, and packet cluster tune have turned out to be much more useful than I thought.
-   The rig has a standard serial interface and is 100% controllable via computer. A detailed command list is in the manual. Automation is very handy for various digital modes and I can’t wait to try it on satellite.
-   The 1.2 GHz add-on is nice.

All in all, I am very happy with the radio. I have no negative comments so far. In summary, it’s functional, flexible, and reliable and a good deal for the price.

Hope this helps.
73
Chris
KB7YOU

Actually, if you look at some of the enforcement letters and interfernece notices that the FCC sends out you will see that they will do exactly that. As far as pissing off the neighbor goes - let him know that the company/store that sold it to him is at fault. Direct his anger to the correct source.

73
Chris
KB7YOU
http://radio.rocklizard.org

Hi,

I read a similar article recently on plasma TV RF noise issues. You might want to do a search here and on the web to see what you can find.

Ultimately it is up to the owner to fix the interference issue or stop using the TV.  This is per the FCC rules. In order to preserve good neighborly relations you might want to consider helping them find a fix.

If they are uncooperative then a letter to the FCC will solve your problem. If you check out the FCC enforcement letters you will see that they do respond quickly to interference complaints from hams (unless it’s a BPL issue )

Good Luck!
Chris
KB7YOU
http://radio.rocklizard.org

Hi George,

You can acutally build an end fed dipole for any band out of nothing but the 75 ohm coax. I've done this several times and it works OK. Do a web search for end fed coax dipole to see some plans. Here is one link I found that has a few good diagrams: http://www.xs4all.nl/~pa0nhc/antenne/cobra80/cobra.htm

Good Luck
73
Chris
KB7YOU

Hi Dave,

I have an Icom 756 and an Icom 706MKIIg and in both cases I hook my computer up to the radio using the back side connections via the accessory jack.

If you do it this way you can leave the microphone connected and use it as normal.

If you have already ordered or built a microphone jack interface then you will need to make or build another one. If you radio is like mine, then building it yourself is pretty simple. The manual has the pinouts for the accesory jacks.

Good luck
73
Chris
KB7YOU