I picked up a David Clark, H10-60, aviation head set at an estate sale recently.

These are very nice and sell for a lot of money.  I debating on rewiring it for ham use, or selling it.  I could likely sell it for enough to buy a good Heil Pro set, so I'm still on the fence.

Opinions?

73
Dan
--
K9ZF
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana. EM78el
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Well, I'm a ham... And I ride...  But I'm not sure the two go together very well.  Unless you ride an Ultra Classic or a Gold Wing, maybe:-)

But, you have my attention.   I may be interested in a ride, or maybe a small patch.  But I'm not interested in displaying colors or anything along that line.

Good luck,

73
Dan K9ZF
(1996 Honda Shadow VT1100C)
--
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana. EM78el
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I just discovered this topic, so sorry for the late comments.

Most of the ideas I wanted to express have already been posted. 
A few of the ones I agree with should be repeated:
KD8DEY:
   A. Perhaps a nice (on site use only) "technical" resource library.
   B. A basic "lab" setup (O-scope, Freq generator, etc) where Hams can learn from each other/experiment/build/repair without a bunch of negative criticism. (What use is a bunch of theory on paper without a little practical hands on to see how all the theory actually comes together?)

NI0C:
One of the best features of our club is the informal group of guys who assist local hams with their antenna installations, and go out to lunch afterwards to celebrate a job well done.  As someone who has both a helper and a beneficiary of this loosely organized antenna committte, I can't say enough about the good will this kind of activity produces.  This is what ham radio is all about!
73,
Chuck  NI0C
W5DQ:
the club has sponsered Technician and General licensing classes to do just that. We have a wide array of talents in many of our more active members and using that skillset, many of the members volunteered to teach sections of the license theory. These classes have been a great success
N0DSN:
Activity!
SCEPTIC:
A friendly approach to new hams (I am one).
An active training programme, and in between that, if possible a mentoring programme to help those who have passed whatever exam there is, but realise its a licence to learn.
A clubhouse with a rig would be nice.
Regular meetings at least once a month, even if they are little more than a pint and a chat. You would meet at (see above).
A yearly trip to somewhere interesting to operate (maybe).



It comes down to activity, and services.  I believe club members should be asking themselves "what can I do for the club?"   And in turn, the club should be asking what can it do for it's members?  What does your members need from the club?

NI0C's antenna party idea is great.  Many club members do not have the means, or the ability, to work on antennas.  Put together a team to help them out!

KD8DEY's tech lab idea is awesome.  Put together test equipment that can be used by club members.  Many of us can't justify the expense of buying an antenna analyzer, but could sure use one once in awhile.  How about a good set of crimpers to install cable ends?  Even a high quality watt / SWR meter and dummy load could be useful.

Activity, activity, activity...  Plan some special events and get a team on the air.  Field day is great, but it's only once a year.  Have a group activate the club station for your state QSO party.  You do have a club station, right?

Presentations are great.  Particularly if you can attract some special guests.  Just make sure the audience attendance is optional.  I have given club presentations on contesting when I know some of the folks had zero interest, but felt obligated to be there.  Not a good idea.

And lastly, do frequent surveys of your members.  What do they want to see the club do?  Pay special attention to members who aren't currently active.   What will it take to get them back?

Good luck with your club, my friend.  And by all means, if you discover something good that works, let us all know so we can put it to use in our clubs!

K9ZF@yahoo.com

73
Dan
--
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana. EM78el
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I'm not an expert but since no one has responded yet, I'll try to help.

I used to own a '271a a few years back and had the same problem.  As I understand it, bad caps is a problem common to all of the 271/471 series rigs.  When I had mine repaired, the standard "fix" was to replace all of the caps.

The fix worked for me, and it was doing fine when I later sold the rig.  I used Malcolm Tech service.  Good job, and a fair price.  http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/mts/

Good luck, and enjoy your rig!


73
Dan
--
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana. EM78el
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Group,

Not sure this is the right place, but thought I would throw this out looking for ideas.

I bought a cheap head set awhile back.  This is basically a computer type head set that has been adapted to use with my FT897D.  I'm not complaining about the quality of the head set, as it was sold quite cheap, but it does need some help to work.

When ever I transmit, I get feed back into the mic.  I believe I am getting RF back into the mic, likely picked up by the head set cord.  As a 'quick and dirty' fix, I grabbed a clamp on ferrite and wrapped several turns of the cord through it.  It may have helped, but didn't solve the problem.

My next idea is to replace the cheap cord with a better, shielded, one. 

What do you think?   Will the shielded cord help?  Bypass caps?  More or different ferrites?

You can reach me direct at K9ZF, at, Yahoo, if you prefer.

Ideas appreciated,
73
Dan
--
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana. EM78el
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Amateur radio station grounding can be a very complicated subject.  Whole books have been written on this, and most of the ham folklore is wrong!

Aside from buying books to learn about the subject, I would recommend starting here:

http://www.w8ji.com/station_ground.htm

And remember, google is your friend    Just don't take everything you read at face value.  Do some research and learn to separate facts from folklore...

Good luck with your station!

73
Dan
--
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana. EM78el
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I'm a long way from an expert, but the way I understand it, the favorite way to do this is to use a USB network adapter.  Then, instead of extending the feedline and raising the antenna, extend the USB cable and raise the whole network adapter.

There are also articles on the net for building a "cantenna" around the adapter to further extend the range...

Google is your friend...

Good luck,

73
Dan
--
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana. EM78el
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>For what I know, the 11 meter J-Pole was compaired to >a know beam. The known Beam did 16DB gain. The J-Pole

16 db gain over what?  As the previous poster pointed out, you have to have a point of reference for db gain. Is it gain over a dipole?  Gain over an isotropic?  Or maybe gain over a wet noodle?  Stating the known beam has 16db gain without a point of reference is meaningless.


>at the same hight, 100 feet away gave 1 S unit less

What is an "s" unit?  "S" meters on a radio are not test instruments.  No two radios will respond with the same "s" reading, they are just not very accurate.   That one "s" unit of difference may equal 6 db, 3db, 1db, or more likely something entirely different.  And they are not very linear.  The difference between s5 and s7 maybe 3db, and s7 to s9 6db....

In the real world, it is very difficult to measure antenna performance.  I suppose if you had a field strength meter that would read out in uV/m, and a calibrated attenuator, you could get close.  But then you are ignoring stuff like noise and other on frequency interference adding or subtracting from your measurements.

>than the beam to several stations about 20 miles away. >Then an IMax 2000 was used and placed were the J-Pole >was, and it gave 2 S units less. Taking that, the IMax >was doing about 3 DB while the J-Pole was doing about >9db. Does this sound right?

No, unless your reference antenna is a light bulb.  The only thing you have proven in your test is the J-pole seems to be slightly better than the IMax, and neither is quite as efficient as the beam  FOR THIS ONE SPECIFIC SCENARIO.  Turn to another station in a different direction, and every single reading could be different.  Turn to a third, and get a third set of results.
>
>
>1326 - Gary
>1326@dxrw.org

BTW, I'm not trying to be critical, I'm trying to teach.  I have no prejudice against CB'ers.  I used to use CB myself, quite a few years ago.  I gave it up when the fun to crap ratio got out of hand.  Since then I discovered how much fun you can have with ham radio.  One of my favorite parts was learning to build my own antennas and other gear.  A big part of this was reading books and learning theory.  It's all part of the fun.


73
Dan
--
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana. EM78el
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Ask me how to join the Indiana Ham Mailing list!

My old FT50r is developing issues with the keypad.

Does anyone have a spare keypad, or parts rig, you will part with?

Thanks,

73
Dan
--
Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana.
K9ZF /R no budget Rover ***QRP-l #1269 Check out the Rover Resource Page at:
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Seems reasonable.

Down East Microwave makes an interface for doing this.  It is intended to couple rigs to transverters, but you can "tune" it to whatever power output you like.  Look for the "Transverter Interface Box" or TIB.  I think the web site is

http://www.downeastmicrowave.com

Good luck,

73
Dan
--
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Hi All,
I find myself needing a computer interface for my Icom 746 [ie: ct17/ civ].  Long ago I built one of the "$10 icom computer interfaces" from the article here on eham.  I was preparing to build another, but I would really like to have one that directly uses the usb port.  Has anyone designed one of these?

I am intending to get a usb to serial port adapter, but I will end up needing more than one, and I hear that many are "hit and miss" if they will work with some applications.  So an interface to work directly from usb would be nice.  [my new laptop doesn't have serial ports].

Anyway, I don't mind building my own but I'm not up to designing it myself.  If you know of a published article along this line I would appreciate the help!

Comments appreciated!

73
Dan
-
K9ZF /R no budget Rover ***QRP-l #1269
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List Administrator for: InHam+grid-loc+ham-books
 

Those are very good books.  I would also add "Reflections" by Walter Maxwell.

I certainly won't claim to be an expert, but here is how I understand the issue.  It is necessarily an over simplification, as there have been many books written on this subject.

To balun, or not to balun, that is the question...  I've actually done it both ways.  If you were planning to use the dipole as a single band antenna then I would agree, you could likely get by without the balun without much problem.  Using the antenna for multiple bands will complicate the problem.

The dipole is a balanced radiator, and you are planning to feed it with un-balanced line.  So you will likely end up with quite a bit of RF on the shield of your coax, and feed line radiation.  Which may, or may not cause problems.  Using a balun, however, will help keep the RF off the shield and minimize feed line radiation.  And normally, you want your antenna to do the radiating, not the feed line.

If I were planning to put up a multi band dipole like you are, here is what I would do:  I would put up as much wire as I could get, preferably a full half wave dipole for the lowest band I planned to operate on, I would then feed the antenna with ladder line to help reduce feed line losses.  Run the ladder line for as much of the run as possible, then use a 1:1 balun and run coax from there to the tuner.  This works well.

You can put the balun at the antenna feed point and use  coax for the entire run, but you will have considerably more loss in your feed line.  Ladder line is much lower loss, and cheaper as well!

I would use a 1:1 balun in this application since you are planning to use a tuner.  Let the tuner handle the impedance transformations, it's much more efficient.

Good luck with your project, and have fun!  Check out the books, they explain it much better than I can:-)  And here is another great resource:
http://www.cebik.com
W4RNL's web site is incredible!  I have spent hours browsing his pages.

73
Dan --

K9ZF /R no budget Rover ***QRP-l #1269
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Hang a dipole with as much wire as you can get, feed it with ladder line and use a good tuner...

There are also other stealth antennas worthy of trying.  Loading up flag poles or rain gutters is a good way of getting the signal outside without drawing attention.

73 & GL
Dan

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I've been pretty successful with a bow and arrow.  However, I usually use a fishing rod and reel.

I put 2 or 3 oz. of weight on the fishing line, cast over the tree, tie the line to the needed rope, then reel the line back in to raise the rope.  I have a 60' tree in the back yard that I have put several lines over this way.

If I needed much more height, or accuracy, I would get out the bow.  I used to have a 50' tower.  I used to use the bow to launch lines through the top rung of the tower and pull up wire dipoles and such. [I don't climb!]

Good luck,
Dan
Dan Evans K9ZF
Scottsburg, IN 47170
{EM78}
K9ZF /R no budget Rover
ex-N9RLA
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All of this has been great advice, from experts on the topic, but I would like to add one detail.

This has been some pretty scary stuff, 100' towers, 15' yagis, LMR 600, etc...  Don't let it scare you away!  Get on the air with what you have, and upgrade to better equipment as you can.  Even if you have to use the CC yagi, on a short mast, you can still make lots of QSO's.  Yes, you may not have a 300 mile radius, but you may be surprised just how far you can reach.  SSB will allow you to make contacts you wouldn't dream of on FM.  Activity is the key.  Finding other folks in your area that are active on 2m ssb, and listening.  You may also want to check out the VHF/UHF email reflectors for lots of good info.

The stations the other guys are recomending are awesome.  But you don't have to have a Ferrari to drive to work, hi hi.

The minimums:

Make sure you have a horizontal polarized antenna and good feedline.

As you can, upgrade your equipment as follows:
1.  Replace your feedline with the lowest loss line you can afford.
2. Antenna height, make it higher!
3.  Antenna gain, as long a yagi as you can get. [BTW, homebrewing 2m yagis is fun!]
4. Probably last on the list, after everything else is optimised,  would be raising transmitter power and adding rx preamps...


And most importantly, HAVE FUN!!

73
Dan
Dan Evans K9ZF
Scottsburg, IN 47170
{EM78}
K9ZF /R no budget Rover
ex-N9RLA
Check out the Rover Resource Page at:
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Central States VHF Society
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