That was awesome... a paperclip 40m.. I bet the local office supply company loved him hahahah

oh that would be funny as heck around christmas time hahahaha. I know at work, we tuned a PRC-119 to a paperclip for grins and giggles just to prove a point. we managed to actually get good comms across the parking lot. Heck, the PRC-150's we have at work we tuned to pretty much anything we hooked up too. My old Gny used to use stupid stuff as antennas in the field with the milspec comms gear. made a satcom antenna out of a pizza box and some comms wire, used a dead power line that was disconnected as a long wire antenna for HF. that guy was crazy.

I would run a thruline wattmeter on it if I had one lol. And if I do burn something out, Im only out 50$, which yes, can get expensive, but for a test it works lol.
 really? a 100W lightbulb? hmmm. I would love to try that sometime, hook that up to one of my gov HF sets couplers at work and see if the bulb would turn on hahaha.... Hmmm now you have me thinking outside the box lol.. Great my wife is going to love me now haha

Well, as an experiment, just playing around tonight with my HT. heres the story
Recently picked up a double bazooka ten meter dipole for my PRC-104 HF set. Tonight, as an experiment (figured what could it hurt) I hooked it up with a bnc-sma adapter to my el-cheapo Baefong UV5R, and attempted to check into our repeater net. Mind you the antenna is ducktaped to the ceiling in my bedroom (in an apartment, space is a premium, and the neighbors dont appreciate guy lines running from the third story window to the lawn lol)
AND IT WORKED! The little el-cheapo chinese ht actually tuned to it! I usually have issues on the net even outside on my aftermarket comet 2m antenna, and everyone heard me loud and clear from inside the house. Im actually surprised, I figured that my VSWR would be through the roof using an antenna that wasnt made to 2m, but it works wonders!
Hey sometimes playing the devils advocate and trying something different actually works!

Ok, quick down and dirty class on cryptographic material. COMSEC aka communications security deals with military cryptographic systems. The RT-1523 is considered CCI (Controlled Cryptographic Item) which means its controlled and considered classified through the military EKMS (Electronic Key Managment System) program.
Thats what Im talking about.

Checked out this website, they run a large business out of CA. Multiple current issue milspec radios (Harris PRC-152's, PRC-119F/RT-1523E with comsec modules installed, plus some other interesting items...)
 My question is, this is current US Military issue equipment, current Comunications Security equipment, how in the name of god, allah, or whatever other deity you worship can they sell this equipment?
http://www.murphyjunk.bizland.com/index.html

Ok gents, heres the rig first.
AN/PRC-104 HF radio, two BB5590 LiON milspec batteries
Freq- 28.450
Antenna- 15Ft manpack Whip (didnt have my AT-984 wire reel)

The contact I heard was YV4CEA, apparently its a user from Venezuala! I was happy I could hear him! Clear as a bell. I didnt think I would talk to him, but I gave it a shot anyways. No luck, but Im hooked! Now I just need to get my wire rig out, and see if this old 20W manpack can talk to some people. I did talk to one of my local guys (Down in Quantico, Im outside of Belvoir) He had me earlier with an S5 strength, so I know it puts out power clearly lol.
Just wanted to throw my fun for the night out there. Next- Time to get my general!

Oh and one other thing, the biggest VSWR creating issues we had on ship were all due to bad weatherproofing! Every antenna on our ship was removed at least once every year or so for repairs/refurb, and they were cleaned and inspected at least once every six months. If you follow these guidlines, you should be ok (as long as your antenna is built correctly)
ALSO MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL YOUR ANTENNAS WITH NON-FERROUS HARDWARE!!! You dont even want to know how much of a pain it was to track down a high VSWR issues that was due to a handful of rusty bolts hidden underneath silicone sealant....

Ok gents,
 I dont know if anyone needs this information, but this is how we weatherproof antenna connectors on board ship. Ive pulled antennas down that have been weatherproofed this way 2 years later and the connectors have zero corrosion on them.
Required Materials
1 roll standard black 1" wide electrical tape (3m works bests, heat doesnt seem to affect it as much)
1 roll 1.5" wide self vulcanizing rubber tape (doesnt stick to anything but itself)
tube of dielectic grease, most auto parts stores and radio shack carry this, do yourself a favor, keep a tube in your toolbox.
1 bottle of scotchkote electrical insulating varnish
This method is called the three two three method, and is taught by MARMAC at the Antenna Maintanance School
Step 1-
 place a thin coating of grease around the threaded part of the antenna connection, and install your feed line

2- starting by the antenna (for this purpose, we will use the base of the antenna's connection as top, and the bottom of the feedline connection as bottom) apply a tight overlapping continuous wrapping of electrical tap until it is approx 2" below the bottom of the feed line connector. Ensure there are no wrinkles or open spaces in the wrapping.
3- Wrap again, this time from the bottom back to the top, then work your way back down to the bottom.
4- Using your Rubber self vulcanizing tape, repeat the same process, once down, and once back up (This is the 2 portion of the method)
5- SHAKE YOUR CAN OF SKOTCHKOTE!!!! This is important, the varnish likes to settle.
6- Apply a thin coating of skotchkote to the entire area, ensure any gaps in the tape get an extra heavy coating.
Wait thirty minutes between coatings, and apply two more coats.

As I said, not sure if anyone needed this, just paying some information I learned from work forward. This method work. We had antennas mounted right above our exhaust stack on my last ship, and they were in the worst enviroment you could imagine, salt water spray, high temperatures, corrosive exhaust vapors, and constant UV. We removed them over a year later, and the connections were as clean as the day I originally installed the antennas.
Hope this helps someone!
73
KK4LAK

oh, it was VMMV, the Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles.'
 Sorry typo.
 Thanks for those tech manuals!

As a current navy radio operator, who just came off a ship, I will say this. Every ship in the navy, ours, and others, have HF, and we use it ALOT. We use alot of data feeds using harris HF modems between Nato vessels. Most civilian ships have a mix of VHF and HF, and almost all the larger civilian ships use IMARSAT B/C satcom setups. If you look at every navy vessel, with exception of patrol boats, they have whats called an LWGA Fanwire (Light Weight Grid Array antenna)

The brushless ones usually dont generate RFI, UNLESS a chassis ground in the engine bay is corroded or loose. Also, the fuel pump on some vehicles will create a bit of noise, dont ask me why.

Does anyone have the tech manual for testing the PRC-77 and 25 series radios? the NMMV (google it) in Woodbridge has quite a few they and they need some of them repaired. Ive got the GRM's tester for that series of radio, but I need the tech manual to pull the adjustment specifications out of. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
KK4LAK
AKA
Mike

It is most likely the electric engine cooling fan. TEMPORARILY, for a very short time, disconnect the electric fan. As you accelerate, the fan pulls less amperage and voltage due to the outside airflow free-spinning the electric fan, at idle speeds, and at slow speeds the fan pulls more juice. That would be my first guess. Had the same issue with a CB radio on my old XJ. As soon as the electric fan kicked on I would get a whine on the CB. It was annoying, but the only solution I found was to re-locate the antenna, which helped somewhat, and I went over the chassis grounds for vehicle electrical with a fine tooth comb cleaning and tightening every one. It never went away totally, but it did quiet it down greatly. JMTC
good luck
kk4lak

Ive got a UV5R, and I have to say, for a beginner HAM, but a long time military radio operator, its a good starter radio to make sure its something youre interested in and want to continue. The battery life is great, Ive had mine on for almost five days during the daytime with no charge, and it just went dead tonight. The antenna on it sucks, go get yourself a Diamond SRJ77CA for it, you will be much happier. I was hitting repeaters tonight with mine when my friend standing next to me couldnt (he had a Yaesu ht)
The price is right, and its a fairly sturdy peice of kit. Plus, for a backup, its a really good deal.
IMHO

Mike
KK4JAK