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eHam Forums / Misc / Knurled nut wrench
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on: April 21, 2013, 01:31:33 PM
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I found a source for the wrench for knurled finish nuts used on older radios. They have two sizes, 1/2 inch and 5/8 inch. They are a little pricey, but if you want to remove or tighten those round nuts, without going to extremes, or messing up a panel, these are the tool to use. Go to www.gcelectronics.com and search for part numbers 9358 for the 1/2 inch wrench and 9359 for the 5/8 inch wrench. They have a great line of other hand tools as well. I paid $70 for both wrenches, but they are adjustable and will last many years. They operate like a pin vise, and have good gripping power. I use tape on the jaws to prevent panel scratches. |
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eHam Forums / Boat Anchors / RE: There's something really wrong when.....
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on: December 28, 2012, 10:34:09 AM
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How about the difficulty in getting parts? Any radio that you have to canabalize another for parts must surely be a boat anchor. It is getting that way with transistors. They don't have NOS availability like tubes.
WDX: is a Heathkit HW 16 a boat anchor? It it all tubes but for some silicon diodes and a transistor that does the switching for xmit/rcv
73
Rick wn2c
The rig I started with a few decades ago... It served me well as a novice. Can you use substitute transistors like NTE? Or use Partsbase to find your parts? |
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eHam Forums / Antennas and Towers and more / RE: 140 foot rotatable tower?
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on: December 26, 2012, 05:16:03 PM
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I might be a little jealous toward contest stations as this station is close to me here in Pa. BUT where do these guys get the funding for this type of activity? I know Tim Duffy K3LR is a renowned RF engineer...a real engineer...for a major cellular network. Maybe a CEO...dunno. But installations like these are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars!! We common folk struggle to get one 60 foot tower up with a simple Cushcraft aerial and these guys have SteppIrs all over the place. I know I'm off topic to the OP and he wants a rotating tower. Sorry. But just as an aside comment, how do these guys do it  ??$$$$$ Fred Like the song says, all it takes is money. If you don't have the money, find friends that do! Because people with money don't always have time to do the work, but are willing to pay for the work to be done. |
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eHam Forums / Antennas and Towers and more / RE: Best Practice for Grounding a Roof Mounted Vertical Antenna?
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on: December 26, 2012, 05:07:53 PM
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A simple 10 Ga. aluminum or copper (preferred) wire running down
as direct as possible to your meter box ground rod is all you need.
The wire can be bare or PVC covered in a color that provides
the best stealth on the roof or wall.
Use the pipe clamp on the ground rod for a good connection.
An antenna that is 'ungrounded', will have the majority of
current flowing into the shack, rather than to ground, where
do you want it to go?
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eHam Forums / Boat Anchors / RE: Viking II to coaxial relay question
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on: December 26, 2012, 04:03:28 PM
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My Viking II had an octal socket for wiring between
the transmitter and receiver, as well as the T/R relay.
You can go to hamfests and find the plugs needed.
Go to the BAMA site for the manual for your Viking.
Depending on your receiver, you can switch the RX to
standby, or lower the AGC, so you can monitor your signal.
Or your receiver could have the T/R control, and you
have it control the transmitter.
I used the Hallicrafters SX-101 with my Viking II, and
I tried a couple of different setups because of the Viking
VFO I used.
That is the nice thing about the older rigs, plenty of options
to use when hooking them up.
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eHam Forums / Boat Anchors / RE: There's something really wrong when.....
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on: December 26, 2012, 11:24:02 AM
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If you need a special desk just to hold the radios, you might have boat anchors...
Try Hallicrafters HT-32 and SX-101, 70+ pounds each, boat anchor material.
In the past, boat anchors were 6 foot rack cabinets with discrete modules for
the exciter, modulator, amp, and power supply.
Or, as I once had, a 'portable' 75 meter rig with a 100 pound dynamotor power
supply to run the receiver/transmitter/antenna tuner unit.
But for our younger generation, FT-101s and other hybrid radios might be boat
anchors, due to their age, and they have tubes.
It seems every generation has their own definition for boat anchor.
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eHam Forums / Antennas and Towers and more / RE: feeding HF Dipole
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on: December 26, 2012, 09:59:29 AM
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Hey Reg, if money is a problem, then, whatever you can get working for now is ok.
As far as coax goes, RG-58 is ok for HF to 30 MHz without too much worry at
reasonable lengths and power.
If you can put down radials in a circle about 30 feet long, you could put up a
vertical and have much better operation.
By swapping out vertical elements, you could have a multi-band antenna as well.
Or get a trap vertical, then you don't have to swap anything.
Just another option to think about for your current setup.
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eHam Forums / Antennas and Towers and more / RE: Help with S9 31 Vertical
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on: December 22, 2012, 04:43:36 PM
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I'm confused, are you checking SWR before or after the tuner?
If the tuner is out of circuit, then I expect SWR to be all over
the place, depending on frequency. If the tuner is in the circuit,
you should have a perfect match.
However, the tuner needs to be active and tuned, to work.
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eHam Forums / Antennas and Towers and more / RE: SWL Random wire question
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on: December 22, 2012, 04:16:23 PM
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A tuned loop antenna might be a better choice.
You can have a small receiving loop with a switch
to change bands and a variable cap to fine tune it.
They can be small enough to fit inside your room,
plus they can be rotated to get maximum signal,
or minimize interference.
Some DX chasers use such loops for their receivers.
Antennas for receiving follow the same rules as
antennas for transmitting, but antennas for receiving
don't have to worry about high voltages or currents,
so the components can be smaller without worrying
about arcing and failure in use.
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eHam Forums / Antennas and Towers and more / RE: Hustler 6 BTV or Butternut HF-6V What would you go for ?
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on: December 20, 2012, 09:51:01 PM
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If I had the option, I'd probably pick the Butternut.
Here's why (and really the only reason why):
With the Hustler, once it's up and vertical and attached, you can't reach the adjustments that tune it for 40m or 80m -- they're too high above ground. The 40m adjustment is the length of aluminum tubing at the top of the antenna, below the 80m loading coil. The 80m adjustment is the length of the whip above the 80m loading coil. They're out of reach unless you have a very tall ladder or something.
The Butternut has its tuning adjustments at the bottom of the antenna, where they can be easily reached.
With a given radial field, they both work about the same.
Wow, I wish I knew all that when I got my Hustler years ago. But putting it up and taking it down is how I tuned mine. After three rebuilds and the mods, that old Hustler keeps getting better. One of the biggest improvements for any vertical is lots of long radials, at the moment, I have 125 1/8 wave radials for 80 meters. |
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