Regarding the Type of antenna the requires a "tuned feedline", is there a general rule of thumb as to which types do require this? I could understand why you might want a tuned feed for a mono-band antenna. Please share.

I've had mine for almost 2 years and it's a great little genny. It is "cold natured" and seems to need a shot of ether to help start. I believe it could benefit from a primer bulb, the choke just doesn't enrich the mixture enough. I run Amsoil 100 a little on the greasy side just for insurance, probably around 60-70:1.
A real bargain!!!

I have a theory about the low shipping rates from Hong Kong. I think the postage they apply to the package is counterfeit. I've ordered $30 of small HT accessories (free shipping) and the amount of postage on the package totaled $28! There's no way they could be making anything on a transaction like that. They counterfeit software, perfumes and auto parts, why not phoney stamps?

I believe that's what UTP refers to. (Unshielded Twisted Pair) probably 95% of what you'll find in use. The twisted pair element provides its own shielding by what's known as Common Mode Rejection.

My father gave me a Halicrafters S-120 when I was six (1962) I used to listen to the RTTY thinking I was hearing Russian spies passing encoded messages. Ofcourse I would tune in any shortwave conversation I ran across and especially loved the static crashes when a summer storm was on the horizon.  good times for a little boy....

If you needed a specific version of FF to work with a particular pc you might look at  oldversion.com
Oddly, they also have some late issue beta versions.  Jeff

I used to be a "gun man" for most all medium to heavy work. Usually the Weller 8200 (100-140w) or it's big brother at 300w sufficed, but not always as hoped for. I then changed to a 150w iron for PL-259's and wished I had done that 30 years ago! I googled and found an iron meeting my needs for $20 shipped. Superior heat reserve and transfer to a gun. I'm still using my old stock of 60/40, lead/tin solder. Can you still buy that anymore?

The mindset here almost brings us to the conclusion; There is Honda and there is everything else.
 

I was just looking at their website and it would seem they have no idea what they are talking about on several levels. They made this statement regarding their NVIS antenna, "The frequency range of the antenna is 2.0 to 30.0 MHz and maximum rf power capacity is 1000 watts pep, or average. It’s tactical and practical !! (emphasis is mine)

It's still a bargain. The flyers in Virginia have it at $89 right now and I bought one a year ago for that price. I have about 20 hours of use on it and I'm quite impressed. Fairly quiet, good governor regulation, burns clean with synthetic oil, etc
Reminds me of the time we caught Vince (a died in the wool Ford man) driving a Chevrolet. When asked about it Vince exclaimed, "that ain't no chevrolet, that's a bargain, and I'll drive a bargain any day of the week"!

Be aware that Sanyo's claim of 85% charge remaining is in an "open circuit" condition. Some equipment is in a sleep state but not truly off.
Damn good battery though!

I was given some sage advice from an Ol' Timer many years ago. He said to close all doors in your home because lightning will hide behind an open door and jump out when you least expect it! Sadly he dies two weeks after a storm in which he'd left a door open and the lightning "got him".

I bought one of their little 800 watt 2 cycle generators about this time last year. I have used it about 10 hours and have zero complaints. Quieter than I had expected. Stabilizes quickly from no/full load conditions. Clean AC output.

You are correct sir! My friend Bobby, WV4B, came by with his antenna analyzer and a frequency counter. His MFJ-209 had the same trouble reading the antenna and same modulated needle. We then attached the freq counter to the antenna and it locked immediately to 1350 Kc, same as the local station! I used Google Earth to plot and measure the distance from the broadcast antenna to my home and it's only .36 miles. I've ordered the variable tuning capacitors I need to build the BCI filter that you can find at www.k9ew.us/bci_filter.htm
Thanks for every one's input. The 'cause' wasn't something that I would have ever considered.

 Here's a tool  you can use to calculate what the inductance of a home-made wire inductor should be:

http://hamwaves.com/antennas/inductance.html

You can also test on open circuited and short circuited coax stubs and compare against the expected impedance.  VK1OD's transmission line calculator can be used to predict the impedance of a stub of a certain length:

http://vk1od.net/calc/tl/tllc.php

Pick your type and length of coaxial cable and under "Mismatch" choose "Zload" and put something like 1e8  (100 megaohms) for an open circuit or 1e-8 (10 nanoohms) for a short.  Might help you make sure all is well with your '259B.  I think it's probably fine, but in the past when I've had detector diodes fail, sometimes mine will indicate just fine on a 50 ohm load while being off the mark at other impedances.
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GREAT resources! Thanks, I have them bookmarked. Jeff