I don't know about the rest . I don't see the problem that seems to going on . I do know this .....

Laura Smith from the FCC recently attended the Orlando Convention and the Georgia Section Manager spoke with her and wrote this later in his section newsletter.  “Laura Smith, FCC Council for Enforcement spoke at the ARRL Forum. She talked about the necessity of self-enforcement for hams and that it takes two to get into a confrontation. You treat me and I treat you as we wish ourselves to be treated; and take a breath, relax, and don’t take yourself so seriously. She used her ten-year old daughter who was present. Question: “What do you do when you meet someone for the first time?” Answer: “Say ‘Hello’ and tell my name. “ (We must identify every 10 minutes.) “What do you do when someone is mean or says bad things to you?” Answer: “Leave and go tell an adult”. Etc. So from “out of the mouths of the babes” we should already know the answers. When the topic came to the Amateur Auxiliary (Official Observers) she became even more emphatic about her reliance and the FCC’s reliance on them. They are extremely important and she has an ear for them. Someone mentioned the occasional abuse that the “OO” receives which she acknowledged and forcefully said that (underline) if you ever, ever threaten an “OO” she will literally put you on her list and will monitor you in detail for the rest of her career. “You really would much rather get a note from an OO than from me”, she says. The OO is there to help you prevent that note

I belive this is the same antenna as the antron 99. I have one up right now and all i did is cut one inch off of the top for ten mtrs.

Go to shenware.com and download Amateur radio test software. My wife just took her tech and general test and passed them both after 2 months of study.

I would check out the filter board very carefully.

Turn your PL Tone off!!  (on the receiver)