Amen Brother!! I never worked RTTY until a little over 2 years ago and now have work DXCC, 28 zones and all continents ... all on RTTY. I have started working mainly RTTY tests as I just like the pace and style of them over most other modes. I worked SSB for years and wanted something else. PSK31 bores me to tears and my CW, although rusty from years of non-use, is back up to around 15 wpm on a good day. RTTY is a real trip 

Be looking for me in the Roundup this weekend!!

Gene W5DQ

Heard some very, very faint CW on 40M a couple of days ago but never anything worth working. Saw them spotted several times but never anything heard here in the Mojave Desert. Too bad as I need Zone 22 to finish WAZ. Other 39 zones are sitting confirmed and waiting for Zome 22.

A friend told me his fellow club member in Missouri work S21YX on 6M but I want to see the card to believe it!

Well to answer a few of your points .....

"......in your eHam.net shack photos ....." ........ I don't have any eHAM photos - sorry.

"MFJ junker with a crackel-matic speaker " ...... I don't know for sure but most avid contestor do not and would not use a MFJ junker. Just my humble opinion.

"There is no HiFi in ham radio ..." ....... absolutely correct given the usual bandwidth of the transceivers we use

"attempts at SSB high fidelity shorten transmitter range." ....... I'd like to see accurate technical data on this claim!

"photos of Heil microphone arrays in ham shacks hooked up to two or three $10,000 rigs" ....... you won't see that in my shack. TS-940S/AT is the main rig. In fact my entire shack probably is well under $10K.

"wonder how much money people have to blow in the middle of a depression." ........ probably those folks bought those over a period of time. What depression would that be? As far as I have heard, it was a recssion and according to the Brother Barry and his gang of theives, it is officially over.

"..... ADI FM rig I use for a net ....."  FM signals seem to always have better audio than most SSB signals unless you get bad S/N ratio.

" project number 1,254" ...... only 1,254 projects. That many was my list last week!

Band condx weren't the best they have been as for other 10M contests but they were tolerable for this last weekend. Finished with 110 QSO's (66 CW and 44 SSB) with 18 states, 11 DX (best were E51CG in N. Cook Islands and four VK's), and eight of the XE states for a total score just a few points under 18K. I'm sure that probably won't win too many awards but it was fun. The band closed up shop several times on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon and I wasn't around on Sunday so no sure how it was then. I didn't hear a single VE or european at all this year. Had a pipeline into TX and FL from southern CA. Also work several HI stations and a bunch in Colorado.

In case anyone is interested, I was running a TS940S into an Ameritron AL811 into a Force 12 C3S at 40 foot.

Thanks for all those that I did manage to work. 

Gene W5DQ

Many contestors use a combination of their favorite Heil microphone (I like my GM-5) on the Heil PL2T mic boom with a footswitch. I too use this same setup and since going to it, would not dream of ever going back to a desk mic or headset (although I do use headphones most of the time). I like the ability to be able to scissor the mic boom back out of the way when it isn't needed (like in the 10M contest where I worked both CW and SSB) and a simple pull and the mic is right back where it is supposed to be.

As to the response that as far as the microphone that comes with the radio being the BEST one to use, there are alot of seasoned ops out there that will tell you this is plain wrong in most cases. Most microphones that come stock with radios are hand mics and hand mics are notorius for having very poor audio response. Not that they won't work but they just aren't noted for being great mics.

I'm not saying the only mic to use is a Heil but Bob has spent a lifetime perfecting the art of microphones for studio use and I for one, after having used a Heil, would not easily consider using others and I have used alot of microphones in my 35 years in the hobby. Heil mics are very easily tailored to work in any shack with any rig you might own. And yes, they are not 'cheap' but they are quality and the old adage applies here - you get what you pay for.

Another thing to consider if you want really good audio into your rig is to use a small mic preprocessor to optimize the microphone response to your shack and voice. I'm not talking ESSB here or sounding like Art Linkletter or the CBS Evening News, but to be able to put your best audio out. Speech processors in many rigs are poor at best and can actually distort your audio if not run correctly. I found that using a W2IHY EQPlus processor really makes my audio have that punch you would get with a good RF speech processor while still allowing me to declutter the background for crisp clean audio. I have a A/C unit that blows close to my operating position and before the EQPlus was integrated, sometimes my audio sounded like I was at the airport close to jetss turning up. With the downward expander function of the EQPlus, the background virtually disappears and you sound almost like your in a sound proof room with no noise background at all.  Just something to consider along the way to 'the perfect phone station'

Gene W5DQ

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the TP2 a 'power mike' from the CB glory days and as such probably needs some power, either a battery or power up the mic cord? If not, check your element. Probably bad if old used microphone.

If it is a 'power mic' watch your modulation levels and ALC. P-M's are nitorious for splatter on CB as most run them in 'knobs all right' mode!!!

Gene W5DQ

Not a straight forward match. original D104 has ceramic cartridge for HI-Z and FT-897D has LO-Z input (around 600 ohms or so). Like N3JBH's post says, check out Tom's website for impedance matching info. Also check out Heil Sound website for kit to modify D-104 to LO-Z using replacement HC-4/HC-5 cartridge.

Gene W5DQ

AA1ZH,

Did you get a resolution to your problem?

Suggestion would be for folks who post problem queries to follow up on them so the 'listeners' can see what works and doesn't work to fix them.

Thanks

Gene W5DQ

I won't belay the discussion on the pro and cons of this amp or that one but just to add another point of reference for the AL-811 amplifier, I will say I have one and the statements made by others are true. If you have 811 tubes, don't push the amp past about 450-500 on max peaks on SSB and keep it down around 300 on high duty cycle modes like RTTY. I had 811 tubes and blew a hole in one of them pushing the little amp too hard on RTTY at about 450+W. I rebuilt the amp and replaced burnt components, added a high quality fan with about twice the airflow of the original fan and filled it with RF Parts 572B tubes.

Although I do not have before and after tech data for comparisons, I can say I easily push my 811 to appx 600W peak on SSB (using peak reading Bird Wattmeter and SW-2000 Kenwood wattmeter) and up to 400W on RTTY and notice little increase in exhaust air temperature unlike before the mods. Ip and Ig are within limits and no distortion on any signals.

Also for tuning, I have integrated a 3938 pecker pulsing tuner into my microphone switching array so I can switch in the 'pecker' and tune up for peak SSB with avg power being around 100W or less. Been back online in it's new configuration for almost 2 years and operates as smooth as one could want.

Just some additional info for your use.

73

Gene W5DQ

I agree with W2IRT that if you haven't heard anything in a while, contact the buro and ask your status. I am the "L" segment manager for the 6th Area DX Buro and I have a few guys that get regular doses of lots of cards, a couple of them get hundreds every mailing. Others are a hit and miss with one or two cards a year. It varies. Recently I got cards for a couple of calls that had not received any cards in almost 5 years but their accounts were ok so they got cards. I too hold cards on stale accounts until I can verify either non-SK status, moved, don't want any more cards, etc. before I 'trash' them. Even them they don't go into the trash but just into a box in the corner bundled up for that day in the future when someone contacts me and says "How come I haven't received any cards in a long time". I tell them "Remember that notice you got to recharge the postage fees in your account. We never heard from you so we figured you didn't want them."

And now my stock soapbox on behalf of all buro workers ...... Every amateur who works DX should expect to eventually recv cards via the buro and as such they should contact their mailer/sorter/buro mgr to setup an account and verify their name, address and other info, including effective dates especially if you are the holder of a recycled callsign because chances are the previous holder may be getting cards under that call still and I would expect that you don't want to pay to get their cards. Keep your info at the buro current and your account funded and no problems should occur. Communications is a 2-way street and should you not get cards for a while, let the buro know to look into it.

Also while your at it, if you plan a DXpedition or other operations that you expect to get a large influx of cards to your call or for a call where you're the manager, please let the buro know so that these can be expected. It will be greatly appreciated.

Gene W5DQ
W6 Buro "L" Segment Mgr.

Carl,

If you haven't already taken the plunge and gotten your QSL cards ordered/made, I would highly recommend you look to Gennady UX5UO for your cards. Having designed cards for myself and others as well as ordered from several vendors, I can safely say that Gennady's work is top notch and even though he is in the Ukraine (Europe), his prices are very competetive with anything stateside or other places. His response time is almost immediate via email and he can provide assistance and suggestions to improve the layout of your design if you request. His website is "http://www.ux5uoqsl.com/". The cost of 1000 cards is the same or cheaper than most stateside 200 count orders if you take the mulitple of the 200 order costs into consideration. I know personally I will go nowhere else but to Gennady for my QSLcards.

Take a look - you won't be sorry.

Gene W5DQ

Well Perry, it appears that you just MIGHT be a relative newcomer to ham radio, and if so you're still learning. One point to realize, if I am reading your post correctly, is contesters don't use online logs like QRZ.COM as a realtime logger during a contest. Way too much delay in response time and I think if the truth were known, it was never intended for that sort of use anyway. Most use some sort of computerized logging but it's done locally on the host PC. I'd suggest you do some research on how to setup an effective contest station if you're that serious about contesting. Get some real contest software and have fun.

To others who complain about QRZ.COM and praise eHAM, I'd recommend that you take a look at the results page for a callsign lookup on eHAM. It specifically says 'Results courtesy of QRZ.COM' in the upper right of page.

Like some have said to complainers, if you think you can do better, have at it.

Gene W5DQ

I hope I understand what your asking. The answer is even though your power supply can produce 25A, it isn't while operating your 50W VHF transceiver. Think of the power supply as the volume control of your stereo. The stereo can produce alot of sound but when the control is turned down it only produces whatever level of sound is called for at that setting. At 50W using your 13.5V as a reference, your VHF radio is drawing appx 3.7 amps (50W divided by the 13.5V gives the system current draw of appx. 3.7A) from the power supply, far from the 25A you originally mentioned. Most VHF/UHF radios, especially those for FM mobile applicaitons, are in the 25/50W range simply because most operators use these with a repeater systems and most repeater systems do not require a massive signal on the input to work in the general coverage footprint of the repeater. If you are on the fringe area for repeater coverage then you may need 50W or more to 'hit it full quieting' but most FM transmissions can be done with 5 to 10W max and good antenna.

Hope this helps,

Gene W5DQ

I'm lucky that the XYL lets me put a magmount on the new Ford Expedition for 2M. If I drilled a hole in it, she'd probably drill a hole in me while I slept

My Galant has holes and antennas all over it as will my new pickup truck when I get it.

I run three RF Parts (Taylor) 572B's in my AL-811 and have full power on all modes per specs. I had pushed the girl a bit hard in RTTY mode (about 600W) during a RTTY contest and paid for it with a blown (literally melted a hole in the glass envelope) of an stock 811A and burned up the parasitic choke on that tube and toasted another one. I replaced the parasitic choke board assembly with the new design board from Ameritron and upgraded the fan to one that pushed about 2X more air thru the box and quieter too in my opinion. After the rebuild and retube, all is well and running very smoothly with full power out on SSB and I now back it down to around 450W when running RTTY.

The Taylor branded RF Parts 572B tubes were a good buy in my opinion and worth the money. Go for it and get some.

Gene W5DQ