I have a 2M squalo and a 70CM squalo that are unused. I would like to use them for LEO satellites. Has anyone used squallos for LEO? Has anyone added a reflector? What were the results? Thanks in advance.

73, Bob K2QPN

I have been a fan of verticals since the 1960's. I had been using a Super Antenna MP-1 vertical for years for portable QRP and QRO operating. I had replaced the 6 foot whip with a 12 foot whip. I added a sturdier tripod from Blue Star antennas. Always worked well.

While operating QRP portable his summer I needed to make a quickie antenna. I went to RadioShack and bought 50 feet of speaker wire. I built a NorCal doublet - cheap, easy, quick. Fortunately, my PFR-3 has a built in tuner. 

While doing an ham radio demo for some Boy Scouts, I had the opportunity to compare the MP-1 vs the doublet. The doublet won hands down. I compared them on 40, 20 and 15 meters and the doublet's signals were a good S unit stronger. I was impressed. I bought a 20 foot crappie pole to support the doublet center in an inverted V configuration. I am going to do another comparison but right now a Norcal doublet is my new portable of choice.

73, Bob K2QPN

Never heard them in NJ. They are about 12 hours away from me. They seemed to be working 20M and up when it was dark here and the lower bands when it was light here. I need S2. Oh well, next time.

73, Bob K2QPN

My club (Burlington County (NJ) Radio Club) has been active with the scouts. We setup a couple of stations at Scout council HQ for JOTA. We had an HF station for voice, digital, and CW. PSK is always a hit with the scouts. I try to stress computers with radio. Most of the technically savvy kids are into computers. The VHF station is 2M FM. We have a dedicated club member at home to guarantee a contact. We have displays of QSLs and merit badge requirements. We also have a code practice oscillator and handouts on radio and Morse code. We do a similar thing for the scout's yearly Big Event. Last year, we held Field Day at Scout HQ. A couple of our members are Radio Merit Badge councilors. We provide a sign up sheet to collect email's for notification of technician classes. The scouts do a good job of publicizing the events. All of these activities really took off when we made a solid contact with the scout council commissioner. Believe me, the scouts will be glad to utilize as much of your time as you are willing to give.


73, Bob K2QPN

I had the occasion to replace a switch wafer in my SB-220. My own fault - I grabbed the wrong knob when tuning the amp. I got the wafer from harbachelectronics.com. Good quality wafer.

I am surprised that you are having so much trouble. I have a an SB-200 that I built in 1968 and it is still going strong with the original tubes.

73, Bob K2QPN

I have a broadband Hexx Beam (20-6 meters) at 25 feet. It is surrounded by trees that are at least 10 feet taller. Some branch are fairly close. I had to trim some to put up the antenna. Bottom line - works great. Trim what you can and go for it.

73, Bob K2QPN

I am running WinXP SP3. I have used 2 sound cards for years. One card is the windows default sound card and I use it to listen to the FM radio and Echolink. The other (non-default) sound card is used for PSK and RTTY. I have used the onboard sound card plus a PCI sound blaster. Presently, I am using a USB sound card as the default and the onboard sound card for digital modes. When you adjust the input or output sound card levels thru the digital software you have to manually select the second sound card. The default card is automatically selected. My interface has input/output volume controls - saves a lot of clicking.

Have fun - 73, Bob K2QPN

I would not adjust the traps unless you cannot adjust the antenna normally. I bought a brand new 6BTV and I could not reach resonance without adjusting the traps. I marked current trap position and moved the adjustment one quarter inch at a time. I got the antenna adjusted and all is well. DXEngineering.com has the trap adjustment procedure in their installation manual - http://www.dxengineering.com/pdf/BTV-INSTALL-GUIDE-Rev0.pdf. 

Good luck and 73, Bob K2QPN

I have an SB-200 that I built in 1968. Still working. My SB-200 has pretty good input SWR on all bands. It does not require a tuner. The SB-200 even works on 12 (10M position) and 17 (15 meter position) meters. It should work.

Is the SWR bad on all bands? Is the band switch knob pointing to the correct band? A close inspection of the rear band switch might be useful. You could check the input coil resonance with a grid dip meter. If you need a soft copy of the manual....I have one. Keep in mind that that this was a kit and may never have worked properly. Keep plugging - it is worth fixing.

Good luck and 73, Bob K2QPN

I have used ground mounted Hustler verticals for years. I like them. I have worked 260 countries with the Hustler so they sure work. Currently I have a 5BTV with the 30 meter trap, the 17 meter add on and a 12 meter wire element. My experience shows the vertical is OK on 80M, good on 40M and 30M, OK on 20M, fair on 17M and 15M, and poor on 12M and 10M. I think the reason is that the antenna becomes electrically shorter as the frequency goes up.  A short vertical is shielded by trees and buildings. I also suspect the vertical is helped on 30 and 40 by being ground mounted. A second antenna might be the answer. Currently, I use the vertical for 80, 40 and 30 meters and a Broadband Hexx Beam for 20 to 6 meters.

73, Bob K2QPN

I am using a modified Fox Delta SC-2 interface. Works fine for PSK. I added an optical isolator to key the FSKK line. I found that the PTTP line would not key the 7000 in RTTY mode - RATS. I added another optical isolator to isolate and simultaneously key both PTTP and the RTTY Send. Now everything works except the amp won't key in RTTY mode.

I am told that the mic is muted only if you use the Data connector. I could move everything to the OPC-599 ACC1 connector but that wouldn't mute the mike for PSK.

It really seems that ICOM could have thought this out better.

73, Bob K2QPN

I have an IC-7000 that is keying an amplifier (SB-200 with a relay driver) using the HSEND line from ACC2 connector of an OPC-599 cable. The amp keys OK in CW and SSB mode. The amp will not key in RTTY mode. I am doing RTTY using the RTTY jack for FSK and rig keying. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Bob Nelson K2QPN

I would be interested in a kit amp. I have built an SB-200 back in the day - it still works. I build QRP kits so soldering is OK.

I too have a Pro3. Please post info on the module when you get it.

Thanks, Bob K2QPN

I would advise you not to use a chimney mount for your antenna. I had an 8 foot long 2M and 70cm vertical mounted atop a 5 foot mast on my chimney. I used a normal chimney antenna mount.  My neighbor informed me that the chimney had fallen over. Sure enough, the top foot on the chimney was laying on the roof. It broke between the antenna mount straps. Fortunately the chimney guy was able to patch things up. No more chimney mount antennas for me.

73, Bob K2QPN