In-wall or on-wall beam antennas.

I went to a presentation for the NUTS Cubesat ( http://nuts.cubesat.no ) where one of the presentations was about implementing UHF phasing networks and transmission lines on printed circuit boards, and I've also seen Yagi-Uda beams implemented on PCB style boards ( http://www.wa5vjb.com/products2.html )

This reminded me of an idea I had this summer: What if I hang some wires in a beam antenna pattern, on a wood wall that is perpendicular to a hard-to hit repeater, would it make a workable stealth vertical beam? The house in question has only wood sidings, the downspouts are PVC and I'd stay away from wiring. Has anyone tried this out? I tried searching online, but I can't seem to have found the right keywords.

Hiding a beam antenna in the attic is complicated by the presence of protected bats, and the metal roof material.

Stealth isn't really a requirement at my location - it's easy to get permission for antennas if needed - but it struck me as an obvious solution that I haven't found any examples of online. You'd just hang some wires next to each other on a wall, be it on the exterior or interior wall.

What is even a ZS6BKW jr? Wouldn't that mean taking a G5RVjr, and taking it through a computer modelling process to improve its match over a G5RVjr, presumably adding 12 or 17 meters to the G5RVjr? After, all the idea of the ZS6BKW is to improve the G5RV so it matches 50 ohm coax on more than one band, and is easily tuned on others - unlike a G5RV which is supposed to connected to a balanaced line tuner on all bands?

Hey the FCC agrees, they said HOAs have taught hams to build clandestine antennas. Tune up the the inlaw's bed.
'Ello Nighthawk, this is London calling.

We should get K0MOS in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsvPOyn0LeQ

Gil, a kW QRO station can be portable, perhaps not pedestrian portable though.

You're welcome.
The new ARRL website is a bit too "web 2.7" for me too - it's not trivial to link to a particular news item for example.

There is a QRP DXCC award actually: http://www.arrl.org/qrp-dxcc
They take your word for it.

I have a variable voltage switch mode power supply for a netbook, that I use to charge a 7 Ah AGM battery through a self-built trickle charger, and also run my QRP radio at the same time. The PSU is rated at about 4.5 A at 14 volts, and 5 A on 12 volts, which is more than enough for this. This particular power supply generates quite a bit of hash on 17 meters and below, so when using an indoor antenna it tends to wipe out the bands 80 through 17.

The obvious solution is to use the outdoor antenna, or to just run from the battery, but it seems if I take this power supply and rubber band it to the battery itself, keeping the battery between the antenna and the PSU, all the mass of the battery - or perhaps coupling of the magnetic field into the battery - brings down the noise several S-units and makes 17 and 20 meters usable while charging.

I already knew that the battery helps filter any cable conducted DC voltage ripple, but that it would also help shield air-conducted RFI so effectively was a bit of a surprise to me. The PSU already had ferrite beads on its leads, and adding more doesn't seem to make a difference, so it appears that the hash is being transmitted by the PSU box itself and not by the wires.

Anyone else use their battery (banks) as RFI shielding?

You'd definitely want to stay away from radios like the FT-857, IC-7000 - they are meant as mobile rigs, and although they work well as base stations too, you have to dive into a menu for everything. (Don't get me wrong, the IC-7000 is a great radio for example, but it was infuriating trying to find ones way through the various menus without a manual just to set the TX power.)
 
Have you looked at the Kendwood TS-2000 or Yaesu FT-2000? These are current models, but with a fairly old school look and I especially like the user friendliness of the TS-2000. Although some settings require pushing the function key, almost everything is clearly labeled on the front panel.

Maybe consider the IC-9100 or IC-756 pro too; although they're a bit more complicated than the TS-2000 I like that they have dedicated rotary controls for stuff like RF power and CW speed.

Have you actually tried any weak signal digimode or CW?

Live bait and bottom fishing with a rod is actually QRP CW or QRP digimode in that analogy. QRO would be going out to sea and setting some nets out - but even then you're not guaranteed a big catch. If that is what you want, the supermarket freezer is for you.
It seems I can work west and central Europe any day on  QRP SSB with the current solar cycle and I'm half way to DXCC with just a few casual weekends, so if a couple fish each day is enough for you why get a speedsjark?

Does it get as good a stand-by time as an HT though? I'd like to see some numbers on this if anyone has them. The W4RT battery should help (I'm considering getting one), but does it help enough? The FT-817 has more "blue smoke to keep warm" than an HT has.
Neat. I'm looking forward to it. I usually operate outdoors, but on my so far only SOTA activation it was snowing horizontally at times so I'd like to mount my FT-817 in this way too.

SSB QRP is like fly fishing - it's fun, and takes skill, luck and knowledge of the river, the fish, and insects, to be successful most of the time. If you just throw something in the water at a random place and time you're not likely to catch anything, but if you have some know-how you can raise your chances considerably. Even so one should not rely on fly fishing to feed ones family.

It is just as silly for an ocean going trawler deck hand to come in and declare that "life's too short for fly fishing" as it is for a fly fisher to say that "a 20 foot pole is all you need for effective fishing" in a forum where most people are happy with their 10 foot fly poles and are less concerned with catching a ton of fish per day as enjoying the act of fishing.

QRO has its annoyances too, like when the power goes out, when you get RFI issues, etc. Then there's portability - I wouldn't carry a net hauler from a commercial fishing boat with me up into the river to relax and catch a few trout. A trawler and a fly pole may both be meant for catching fish, but they are meant for different situations.

Each niche has its attractions, challenges and annoyances - that's what makes it fun.

I've taken apart my MacBook Pro several times, and the AirPort card has two tiny coax connectors on it for the main and auxilliary antenna. The iPad's AirPort card has one coax connector on it. It's easy to disconnect this coax and connect your own, but it's very thin (maybe 1.32mm?) and any substantial length will be very lossy; it's designed for a short run from where the card is placed inside, to an area at the top of the screen near the surface.

Note that Ten Tec has a policy of cutting off customers who criticize their radios, so look for anonymous reviews too when that comes out.
On the other hand, on the negative side, your FT-817 is now a single point of failure. If you went out with a KX-3 and an HT, if one fails you still have the other. Also if the HT remains on and beaconing on the whole hike, you can be tracked while in digipeater range, and you can also monitor the repeaters and simplex calling frequencies while underway - not just when you've set up the station. How many hours scanning time do you get out of the 817s internal battery versus the Li-ion battery in an HT?

There are indeed some areas with repeater coverage that lack cell phone coverage, but in a life-threatening wilderness emergency I'd try my cell phone and my Personal Locator Beacon before turning to my amateur radio; the exception might be areas where I'm likely to raise somebody who's closer to me than the rescue services. Back on the first hand, though, that's arguably more items that might be forgotten at home, and if you're out on a radio expedition you probably wouldn't forget the main rig.

Do you walk around with the FT-817 in manpack form with both a tuned HF vertical and VHF/UHF antenna connected at all times? I think there's going to be some messing around with antennas, tuner and microphone anyhow. What if it rains sideways? Is it water proof?

The same is true for a KX-3 and an HT, for less weight. (We've discussed full duplex and satellites earlier in the thread.)