Does anyone know if I can use my David Clark H10-40 aviation headset on my Kenwood TS2000X?  I suppose its possible, but I can't find the adapters to plug it in, etc.

Thanks for the input.  Sounds plausible.

KF7OAE

The term "Roger" as used in radio communications came up in the local daily net tonight and I can't find out much about it.  Its meaning is clear but not its origin.  Must date back to WWII or before, but there has to be a story behind it.  Who was "Roger", anyway?  How did it get started in the first place?

David
KF7OAE
davidcaldwell@gotsky.com

Does anyone know the origin of the radio communication term "Roger"?  I can find its meaning but not its history.  It almost certainly dates back to WWII or even before.  Who was Roger, anyway?  My daily net members want to know!

David
KF7OAE
davidcaldwell@gotsky.com

Thanks for your responses!  KA5N is correct that I assumed a non-metallic antenna may be spared the need to match physical size to wavelength, substituting a theoretical match achieved electronically.  Its way past me as I'm not an electronics expert or a computer engineer, but progress usually comes from thinking outside the box.

N3OX.....Wow!  I'm putting you on my Christmas card list.  That kind of knowledge combined with the willingness to take the time you must have spent in your response are what make being a ham a great thing.  The first two research efforts you cited are very interesting.  From this layman's perspective, it seems my concept is being worked on but only in a few very specific forms.  In the third, Ziolkowski and Erentok, 2007, regarding the permittivity of the plasm; do you know if 'plasma' is a standard commodity?  Do purity, ion concentration, and/or production source material make for differences that could affect the outcome of experiments?  Plasma nonlinearity when used for transmitting is also a huge subject.  I'll admit that my thoughts have been confined to uses as a receiver.  Anyway, it seems like there's room in this subject to keep MIT and JPL occupied for a couple of decades.  Maybe I should just get out a couple of toy lightning balls, a few fluorescent bulbs of different lengths, and a set of jumper cables and start fooling around with different combinations.  Wasting time on things that you find interesting is why its called a hobby, isn't it?

KF7OAE

  This is going to sound odd, but I'm looking for information on an antenna concept I can't get out of my head.  I'd like to know if anyone has considered using a non-metallic material instead of the old standard aluminum arrays that have to be  matched in physical size to the various wavelengths in order to work well.  I've been rolling this around in my head for several months, and have had a few thoughts about possibilities.

  Assume that anything that reacts with or responds to RF is, at least in theory, a receiver.  Our own bodies act as receivers when we touch an antenna, for instance.  I took this concept and ran with it for a while, trying to think of a fluid or gas substance that might work instead of metal.  After a few trips to Wikipedia I hit on something interesting.

  To most people, matter occurs in three states; solid, fluid, and gas.  There is a fourth, however, which has been given its own classification.  Plasma, which occurs naturally in large quantities, isn't a proper fluid or a proper gas, and so has been awarded its own special designation.  I discovered this on Wikipedia, where I also found that plasma (the kind you used to get in those glass lightning balls) is produced artificially by exposing certain materials to RF energy, and not just microwaves!  According to what I read, high output RF in the 135 mHz range can also produce plasma.
 
  This substance is obviously highly reactive to waveform energy.  What I'm curious about is whether or not studies have been done to find out if this reactivity can be interpreted for use in radio communications.  Wouldn't it be great to replace all that aluminum with a clean, round globe that has omnidirectional capabilities in all frequencies?

KF7OAE

 

I posted this question and want to thank those who responded.  As a result of a response posted on Tower Talk I tried some naval jell.  Here's what I've come up with so far.

Naval jelly is phosphoric acid based, as are a wide spectrum of other rust killing products commonly available at local hardware stores.  These products all have warnings on the label that sat they aren't to be used on aluminum.  Nevertheless, I did it and the results were visually positive.  The rust stains disappeared, but left a mottled patina.

Aluminum is a very porous metal, and leaving an acid based product embedded in the surface will almost certainly have destructive long term results.  So, after washing the treated part thoroughly with water and allowing it to dry, I went over it with Brasso and some 000 steel wool.  Brasso is ammonia based, which is alkaline and should at least help to neutralize the acid residue left by the rust killing acids.  In a very short time the Brasso produced a shine that would make you wonder if it wasn't plated.  Only time will tell, but I wouldn't mind if someone could recommend a protective coating of some kind.

KF7OAE

I posted this question and want to thank those who responded.  As a result of the comments I tried some naval jelly. Here's what I've come up with so far.

Naval jelly is phosphoric acid based, as are a wide spectrum of other rust killing products commonly available at local hardware stores.  These products all have warnings on the label that say they aren't to be used on aluminum.  Nevertheless, I did it and the results were visually positive.  The rust stains disappeared, but left a mottled patina.

Aluminum is a very porous metal, and leaving an acid based product embedded in the surface will almost certainly have destructive long term results.  So, after washing the treated part thoroughly with water and allowing it to dry, I went over it with Brasso and some 000 steel wool.  Brasso is ammonia based, which is alkaline and should at least help to neutralize the acid residue left by the rust killing acids.  In a very short time the Brasso produced a shine that would make you wonder if it wasn't plated.  Only time will tell, but I wouldn't mind if someone could recommend a protective coating of some kind.

KF7OAE

Does anybody know of a good aluminum parts cleaner for the many brackets and clamps on the old 6 beam Hygain I'm rebuilding?  The steel parts have rusted and stained the surrounding aluminum, and time has added a corrosion layer I'd like to see go.  I bought the manufacturer's rebuild kit with all the plastic replacement caps, etc., but the metal's ugly and there are too many parts to make steel wool practical!  All I can find are acid products that etch the aluminum for paint.  Thanks!  KF7OAE

Does anybody know of a good aluminum parts cleaner for the many brackets and clamps on the old 6 beam Hygain I'm rebuilding?  The steel parts have rusted and stained the surrounding aluminum, and time has added a corrosion layer I'd like to see go.  I bought the manufacturer's rebuild kit with all the plastic replacement caps, etc., but the metal's ugly and there are too many parts to make steel wool practical!  All I can find are acid products that etch the aluminum for paint.  Thanks! KF7OAE