Charles, we just successfully completed our ARISS contact on March 25th.  We have equipment that we are selling to fund future projects.  If you want to contact me offline, I will be happy to share our experiences and equipment details. We are selling everything at a reasonable discount so if you are interested in  purchasing or just exchanging information please contact me at maxwell at aol dot com.

73,

Tom/AE5QB

The proper methodology according to uncle Sam is to tape the component in place, trim the leads using flush cutters that give a nice flat cut without a ridge in the middle, and then solder.  The solder should flow over the end of the lead.   At least that is what I learned in the U.S.N. microminiature repair class.

Yes you are correct!  If every ham in the world purchased new gear every year it wouldn't add up to the number of microwaves or cell phone or PCs sold in a much shorter time period.  Research and development is the real cost and it has to be recovered over the number of units sold.

On the other hand, IMO the value of the equipment ie what you get for what you pay has gone up.  People still like the old stuff, I have no quibble with that, but the new stuff is pretty darn good.

73,

+1 for Fabreeze.  Smoke is a very hard smell to get out of anything.  I bought a Radio Shack HTX-202 and forgot to ask about smoking.  As soon as I opened the box I said, "Oh crap,"  the smell was terrible.  I took it all apart and scrubbed it down inside and out with Windex and that helped but didn't take it all out.  I then soaked the cabinet parts in a tray of Fabreeze for two days.  That helped even more.  The last issue was the rubber ducky antenna.  The smell was so set into the rubber I thought I would never get rid of it.  I ended up soaking the antenna (less BNC connector) in Fabreeze for 5 full days.  Even today if I hold it right under my nose I can still smell the smoke but it is tolerable in everyday use.  Be careful about what electronic components if any you submerge.  I would just wipe them with a rag or use the sealed bag methods recommended above. It is a tough issue and I no longer buy anything from smokers.  I am not mean spirited, I just cannot tolerate the smell and don't want it in my house.  Good luck on your project.
 

Say what?  I am talking about learning.  A totally different issue than "Who would you rather have..."  But along those lines, a very very high percentage of everything done in this world is performed by those who are not the tops in their fields. 

Some people say it takes about 10,000 hours of focused practice to become an expert in anything.  I don't know if this number is true or not, but I think we can all agree that it does take a long long time to become an expert at anything.  Some would reserve the ham ranks to only those who already have 1,000's of hours of practice.  Many others (I am one of them) will say, get the new folks in as easily as possible and help them get through that 1,000's of hours more quickly.

Get real, OK?  Having brain surgery or flying across the Atlantic and landing in 0/0 conditions is not quite the same as watching a biker go by and calling in a position report.  To my knowledge, nobody has died as a result of an unknowing ham interfering with a QSO about the latest gastric issues or from the result of a no-code ham hooking up a battery backwards on his code practice oscillator.

I often wonder what the real issue is behind this whole argument.  All I can come up with is a number of bitter ole men who are close to dying and trying to hold onto their youth through something they did decades ago.  I guess by denying the accomplishments of others that somehow makes their own life more relevant. I see this in many places. I find it quite sad that life has been relegated to trying to prove I am better than you.  The day that ham radio is reserved to the elite few is the day it will cease to exist.  The fact that anyone had to do more work 50 years ago to get a ticket is OK.  I acknowledge that.  Great job folks!  You should be proud of yourselves.  But putting down or diminishing the accomplishments of no code hams is not going to make the hobby better nor increase your accomplishment any further.

Have fun, encourage new folks to get into the hobby any way they can and enjoy life.  I think many of us are taking all of this way to seriously.  When it comes to ham radio, the only time I need the best of the best beside me is when the Apocalypse comes and I need to make sure that last birthday greeting absolutely/positively gets through to my great great niece on time.  It is a hobby, it is fun, there is plenty of room for people of all skill levels.  Enjoy!

I used to be really envious of those who had college degrees until I got one.  The day I graduated I looked back and said, "This is it? This what the last 10 years leads up to?"  When I got my first job in my college discipline, I realized I didn't know crap.  I used to think being a pilot would be the bomb.  After soloing in 25 hours I thought, this isn't so tough.  When I got my license I said, "Ok I did that, now what.  I really still don't know much about flying compared to the military pilots and 1200 hour commercials."  When I took and passed my Novell and MS certification exams I was proud, but that didn't make me an expert network administrator/engineer.  So where am I going with this?  The point is that most education is designed to prove you have the persistence to stick with it, can endure the sacrifice and effort needed to get through the material, play the school game, and then make you think you are someone you are really not in order to keep you interested in the field.  A diploma in anything is simply a minimum starting point.  I don't care if it is a medical degree, an engineering degree, or a PHD.  When you reach a new level you are starting over.  A new extra, no matter what you did to get it, is still a little fish in a big pond.  You did not wake up one day and take a test and move from general to extra and all of sudden become infused with all knowing divine knowledge.  You just became an ignorant person at a little higher level than another guy.  So however you get your ticket.  Know you still know nothing.  It is a ticket to ride and not a ticket to brag.  Have fun, encourage others to get into it and never stop learning.  When you do, you die!

For those who want the old tests back as they were, you better brush up on your tube knowledge.  Just silly in my opinion.

73,   

Personally, I think you are doing the right thing but starting out a little on the high side.  I don't want to put a damp blanket on things but if I were you I would not go out and spend $1,000+ on an all band all mode rig.  Nor would I spend $400 or $500 on a VHF/UHF radio.  I would find a good used 2m handi-talkie and put up a cheap homemade vertical dipole, get on the repeaters, talk up a storm, go to meetings and a field day, find out what HF is about, use others' equipment, upgrade to general, then start thinking about full-blown rigs.  Even then there thousands of hams who have been operating for decades and have never purchased a new wizbang radio.  You don't have too if you don't want to and can have just as much fun as the guy with the $10,000 DX rig.  Ok I admit, I'd like to try one of those out.  Who knows, you may decide you don't even like the hobby and want to get out of it in 6 months.  Would you rather have $1200 worth of gear to get rid of at that point or $150 worth?  Watch the classifieds and sooner or later you will see a Radio Shack HTX202 on sale for under a hundred bucks.  Or if you want to buy new look at the Wouxon 2 band handhelds for right at $100.  They work great and you can throw them away if you have too and not feel too badly about it.  Jump in with both feet if you want but I recommend easing into it and learning more about it before you leap.  I think you will have fewer regrets and probably less "stuff" lying around that doesn't get used if you learn a bit more before committing whole hog.  On the other hand, if you have lots of money to burn, go for it.

Remember, the April issue traditionally has an April Fools day joke it.  If I recall it even states that there is a practical joke in the issue and challenges readers to find it.  Perhaps that is it.  Anyone have knowledge of a 20 meter beam working well when mounted 3 feet off the ground?  I suspect not but I could be wrong.

Joining any club or organization is like a marriage if you expect it to be a 50/50 proposition you will be disappointed.  If you expect to put more into it than you ever get out of it, you should be satisfied.  So the comment about the jerks who show up last minute and expect to use the station that they had no part in setting up is a bit negative.  But so be it.

There are all kinds of people in these clubs. I have seen people hog "their" radios and I have seen those who set up their equipment and let others use it most of the time.  As club officers and FD organizers, I feel, it is neither our job to dictate to others nor cow to the bullies.  Our job is to pull together the club to make sure the FD runs smoothly - not necessarily perfectly as we see it.  I'll tell you, a board of directors or FD committee that is draconian in "their" way is more destructive to a club than a few bad members.

I really don't see an issue in changing out a station once in a while.  Really what is the big deal?  Unplug the antenna and PS and plug in a new one.  It isn't like everyone wants to use "their" rig so it isn't something that is going to be happening every 30 minutes.  Some will want to, some will be happy to sit down at anyone's rig.  This can all be handled in many ways.  Find those who are willing to let others use their rigs and set them up.  Designate a number of positions as the swap-a-ble positions. 

Make FD something for everyone and most importantly, don't take yourself or FD too seriously. Have fun, laugh at the gaffs, and make it a friendly activity for old and new hams and even more importantly for non-hams.

Good luck!

Yes I think it would but you can give them a call and I am sure they can give you the temp characteristics of it.  The issue I might see is terribly terribly cold temps such as -30 F causing it to get brittle.  And if it flops around in the wind that might cause it to break, but I have no experience with that.  About as cold as it gets here is in the teens once or twice a year.  On the other hand, the 300 ohm ladder line is much smaller than the 450 ohm line so it has less wind load.  Either 300 or 450 is not exactly what you could call cheap.  If you can make your own that would be cheaper for sure.

It should work really well.  For some informational reading, go here and open up the PDF file.  Lots of good info that applies to any such installation, not just DX Engineering.

http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-wa-135/media/instructions

I use power poles on everything and I mean everything.  I like to tinker, and after 30 years of coming up time and after time with incompatible connectors I decided to convert everything. They are a little pricey, I will admit.  But bite the bullet and buy a good crimper and a good assortment of shells and all 3 sizes of pins and you will be fine.

To me the "being prepared" issue is none existent.  If things are really bad, ie a Katrina type disaster, do you really think you will be able to walk into an auto parts store?  In my mind it is not wise to count on being able to procure anything in an emergency.  With that thought in mind, you should have a good supply of whatever you plan to need and whatever you think you may need.

I have a bag of 200 PP shells and 100 each of the 15, 30, and 45 amp pins in my tool bag as well as the tri-crimping tool.  If I come across an emergency situation that I can't mate, I'll just cut off the other connector and put on power poles.  It takes about 2 minutes to put on a pair of power poles.

My only exception to this are the connectors on equipment.  It would be equally silly to take a chassis connector out of a radio or accessory to install power poles.  All of this equipment comes with an OEM connector and pig-tail so just attach PP to the other end and you are good to go.

I use PP on my rotator cables, speaker cables in my car, you name it.  They are simple to install, quick to install, reliable, and worth the cost.  They are so much better than molex connectors it isn't even funny.  I hate molex!

Crimp only and you will not have a failure unless the connection is seriously abused.

New radio?  Used but new to you?  Has it ever worked before?  Are you seeing anything on the meter?  Check menu item 80 to see if RF Gain or Squelch is selected.  If Squelch, turn the Squelch knob all the way counter-clockwise.  If RF Gain is selected turn the rf gain knob (same as squelch knob) all the way clockwise.  

Sorry, I don't mean to insult your intelligence, I just don't know where you have been and where you are at in terms of knowing the radio and operating it before now.    If you don't have any static noise, something very basic is wrong.  I don't suspect a problem with the audio circuits in the radio.  It is probably an operational problem.

This is clearly an example of a craftsman at work.  Many of us grew up in the days of discrete components and true "field engineering" as was demonstrated here.  I was a data communications field engineer during the 80's and 90's and was quite sad when the industry (understandably) went to a board-swap or whole unit swap philosophy. I just felt like something was lost at that time. 

I worked on radar systems in the Navy and had a few opportunities to make a few Macgyver mods on them, but that equipment belonged to Uncle Sam and we had no choices at the time. I don't think I would have the nerve to try something like this on a relative stranger's equipment.  So my hats off to you and kudos for a job well done.  You obviously know what you are talking about.

I am curious though.  Do any of you with the contacts have any idea what it would have cost to have the transformer rewound.  I am not trying to second guess anyone, it is purely a curiosity question.  I have no idea what something like that would cost.   

My goodness, what did you pay for it?  I think the going price is $55.  That is a pretty good price for what it does.  Or you could write your own program and sell it for say $10 a copy and get rich?   By the way, you probably spend $55 for a night at the movies with the wife and/or family.

Oh yeah, as has already been said, double click on the G- in the upper lefthand corner of your screen.