HI, can I just take this opportunity to thank everyone who replied to my original question, all advice has been careflly read and noted !!

have almost 100 % decided to stick with the ic7400 / 746pro with the heil goldline pro michrophone and forgett about hooking up the behringer mx602a mixer.

 as pointed out, this particular  icom has so many tx tone, etc variations built in that using the outboard mixer will have very little overall effect and would like to think that my new goldline pro / pr20 michrophone will be enough to provide some very nice ragchew / dx style audio.

thanks also to those who replied personnaly offering additional advice, again it was much appreciatted folks.

have a great xmas and all the very best for 2005.

john " gm1zvj " scotland, uk

HI, as the owner off an icom ic7400 /746pro which is about to be used in conjunction with a lovely heil goldline pro michrophone fed into a behringer mx602a mixer,   wonder just how other amateurs get there tx audio set to exactly how they want it ??

if I were to set up a second hf receiver within the shack obviuosly tuned to my main rigs outgoing freq / audio would this give me a good enough chance to set things up properly with the rigs many tx audio settings ??

how do you audio guys do it ?? use a friend on air top give his / her thoughts on each setting tried ?? know there are computer software for analising your audio but would prefer to just go it alone !!

so question is ?? can listening to your own txaudio in a second shack receiver give an ideal set up off your rig/ michrophones audio controls ??

any help / advice would as always be much appreciatted.

regards,
        john      gm1zvj   scotland, uk  

HI, about to erect a cushcraft ma5v hf vertical , but before doing so would love to hear from anyone who owns one and could offer a bit off advice on various aspects off this antenna.

1/ want to use the ant within the ssb section off each band, being that the 20 mtr bandwidth off the ant is so narrow, any pointers on what exactly to set it to for the 20 mtr ssb section ??

2/ plan to mount the antenna on a pole about 5 feet above the ridge off the house, should there be any problems with this ??

3/ any long term weather effects that I could help try prevent ?? living in the nothern part off the uk, rain is somewhat off a common occurance !!!!!!!

4/ within the cushcraft m5v manual it states to use rg58 for runs up to 75` and to avoid using short runs off low loss cable, will be requiring about 10-15 mtrs off coax, would prefer to use rg-213 , what do you others use coax wise on this sort off length off coax ??

lastly !!  what is the chances off using the antenna on 40 mtrs with the aid off an auto atu ?? does anyone manage it and what sort off results are you getting ??

thats it , a few questions there but any help / advice on any off the above or indded anything I may have missed out that may be off some help would be most welcome.

regards,
        john  " gm1zvj   scotland , uk

Looking for suggestions on a nice voice keyer software programme, either freeware or otherwise, also a simple cw rx decode programme, to be used with w98 pc.

any help, advice much appreciatted,

john " gm1zvj "

Thanks for the link to this freeware site sir, will have a good look at it !!
still looking for icom ic7400 / 746pro specific control software, something with the actual rigs image on screen. know there is ones vailable for the yaesu ft920 / ft817 etc but yet to see one for the icom 7400 ??

also, anyone with the radio advise me on just what is exxactly needed regards interfacing the radio to the pc, seems not to just be an easy one lead rig to pc link ??!!

loking for control software, memory voice keyer etc software etc.

Having just purchased a new icom ic7400 /746pro radio have now been offered a set off heil proset 5 headphones at a very good price,know I know that heil sell icom specific michrophones now  , but would like to hear from anyone who uses the above radio with this particular headset with the hc5 insert, is it possible to obtain  some nice audio from this tcvr and headphone / michrophone set up ??

regards,
         john

Anyone able to point me in the right direction for control software for my new icom ic7400 hf radio ?? would ideally have one that has an image off the actual radio on the computer screen and to be able to operate the main controls off the radio from the computer.

are there any freware type programmes out there ?? failing freeware whats recommended for the ic746pro /7400 ?? operating with windows 98.

regards,
        john  gm1zvj

HI, just purchased a used but mint condition icom ic7400, think this is the same radio as the 746pro sold in the usa etc ?? couple off audio type questions if anyone can help me out ??

have purchased an sm20 base michrophone to go with this set after viewing the many fine user reports on this michrophone within this very site, question is regards getting my outgoing audio set up correctly given the fact the set has so many michrophone settings !!

looking for ideas on initial settings for both ragchew and dx audio settings ?? also the sm20 michrophone has a small slide switch underneath marked low cut on / off, whats dx and whats the ragchew seting ??

is the inbuilt monitor in the ic7400 a true indication off how outgoing audio actualy sounds ??

finally !! also have a behringer mx602a michrophone line mixer within the shack, is it worth using this with this radio or does the radio have enough settings to gain some excellant sounding dx / ragchew audio ??

thats it !! any help advice would certainly be appreciatted.

kind regards,
              john

Here in the uk we have a licence free family radio type systmn operating on 8 channels within the 446 mhz freq range, operating at 500mw output power, these type approved sets are normally good for giving an effective operating range off betwen 1 and two miles under most operating conditions.

have recently started seeing sets available here in the uk that are advertised as having 22 channels on the frs / gmrs freq`s and having outputs off 500mw on the frs freq`s and between 2 / 3 and even up to 4 watts on these gmrs freq`s.

so bascially just really looking for more info as to what yous folks over there have in the way off this particular systmn ?? ie is this systmn a licence free thing ?? what is the max legally available power available ?? is it the 4 watt output sets ??

lastly !! would be very interested to hear what operating range these particular sets are normally reliable for ?? the adverts appearing here in the uk are normally listing the sets as giving anything off between 3 and 10 miles operating range - is this normally achievable ?? also anyone able to give me a list off the exact freq`s that the frs and gmrs systmn works on ??

thats it !! unfortunately these sets, although available in the uk normally via e-bay auctions etc at normally vastly inflated prices as to what you folks are probably paying over there in the likes off wallmart etc !! are illegal to use here in the uk, so it is just with interests sake that I am asking the above !!

kind regards,
              john
 

Having just viewed a lovely colour advertsment for the new icom ic-7800 here in the uk today, was amazed to see that the price being quoted by one off the main uk dealers, but to include a lovely heil classic pro michrophone in with the price !! was a whopping £6589 GBP.

now that is a lot off money in anyones book !! and more than three times the cost off the other two top off the range hf base sets- the ft1000 mkv ( £2349 GBP ) and the icom ic-756 pro11 ( £1899 GBP ) which has led me to think about just how many off these super rigs icom are expecting to sell ??!!

now I am sure that in the few years that these radios have been in development the sales and marketing team from icom have all being doing there homework and would not have spent millions ?? in designing / developing this particular expensive radio if they did not feel there was a market for it.

what do others think on the subject off this particular radio selling at this sort off price ?? will it sell in any numbers or just be for the very few off us who are willing / can afford ??!! such a radio ?? and at the end off the day, is it actually worth nearly three times the price off the other two main contenders from yaesu and icom which are mighty fine radios for a lot less money !!

regards,
         john " gm1zvj " scotland, uk  

HI folks, turns out its an Tokyo hy pwr HL-100b,mentioned broadband in its description but its for 21/28 mhz as supplied, and with the relavant optional filters is capable off operation on 80//40/20 etc.

anyone have any actual operating knowledge off this particular linear ?? intend to use it in conjunction with my little yaesu ft817 tcvr.

quick question regards solid state amps ?? notice that a lot off folk twist the positive / negative dc cables around each other when leading to the power supply, how important is this ??

thanks again,
              john..

Thank you for your quick reply !! yes planning to mount both antennas horizontaly so glad to here I will be okay with the support pole.

just wondering if to just go ahead and use a fibreglass type support pole now ?? as there would be a good bit weight saving there.

thanks again,
             john...  

Have read the many reviews off the cushcraft ma5v vertical antenna on here but would love to read a ham radio journal review off this particular antenna, unfortunately this particular antenna has never been reviewd within the very limited amount off uk ham radio related magazines !!

anyone able to help me out ??  

regards,
        john gm1zvj
        scotland, uk    

Okay have a 30 foot mast and want to mount a 5el 6mtr beam and also a 10 ele 2 mtr yagi on top off a 6 foot pole which will sit atop the mast.

have always been advised that any metalic pole passing thru the two antennas will have an effect on the swr, etc off antennas, if so what do I use ??!! will a fiberglass pole be as strong to use and be okay for the same   purpose ??  or will an aluminium pole be okay ??

any help as always much appreciatted,

john...

HI, have recently been offered a tokyo hy power 100 watt hf linear stated as giving around 100-120 watts output for 10 watts input, 80-10 mtrs, solid state, cant seem to find anything on the net relating to this particular hf amp, plenty off info regarding this companies other linears, v/uhf & valve hf, but nothing about this 100watt+ hf one ??!!

anyone offer any more info on it ?? anyone actually use one within there set up ?? any good ??!!

regards,
         john...