AC2EU was right, the tuner settings needed to be recalibrated. I did that and everything's fine now. I didn't realize that moving the antenna would change the tuner settings. Go easy on me, I've only been a General since Oct 2012. 

I just got my antenna up, and while running tests on 40m I noticed that I was only putting out 10-12 watts. The antenna is a Radiowavz G5RV Lite (67 feet) with 65 feet of coax and this particular antenna has a 32 ft lead line, which means I have nearly 100 ft of lead. The rig is a Kenwood TS130S. My SWR seems to be acceptable, as when I had this antenna stapled to the side of my house I ran tests and determined the correct tuner settings. I noted at that time that I was putting out around 45 watts, but I only had 40 feet of coax. I wonder if my coax configuration might be the problem, as I have a 25 ft line running from my tx, which is then hooked to a 15 ft line via a coupler, and then that is hooked into another 25 ft line with another coupler. When I use the dummy load I'm getting 110 watts, so the tx isn't the issue, I have a feeling I have a real lossy antenna or coax setup. Should I take out the 15 ft coax section, since 65 feet is more than I need, and I was forced to bundle up the extra at the end of the line? The antenna is mounted on three 10 ft metal poles that are cemented in the ground.

Engraving ID #s on stuff was popular in the 70s. I have a cheap mantle clock from about 1982 that has my late grandfather's California driver's license # engraved on the front. I briefly had a Heathkit SB-102 that had the call of some guy from San Jose engraved on several places on the chassis. All of my grandfather's tools had "VX" engraved on them for easy ID (his name was Vern). Gramps lived in a high crime area in the 70s and 80s and always had a gun by his side. When he died we found an old engraving tool that he had bought used. I've got it now.

I've ordered cables from ARS, I've always gotten my stuff, albeit a couple-three weeks after ordering. Every time it's the same thing, some sort of random delay. I have to believe that it's some guy running a business out of his garage whose inventory is "just-in-time". IOW, he doesn't keep inventory on hand. If you wanna do business with ARS, be patient, and cool your jets until he finally gets your stuff in. If you're not the patient type, avoid ARS.

It would also explain the way out of band broadcasts that the FCC seems to have no interest in stopping.

Anybody remember the Yosemite Sam signal back in 2004? It was so weird that hams set to work DFing it. I wonder if that was a test to see what they could get away with. They couldn't, so they fell back on the cover of religious stations.

I think that after a while the only stuff that will be left will be the spooks/preachers and the Chinese and Russian domestics. I've heard Chinese broadcasts that sound like a Chinese version of 1930s American radio, complete with "radio plays". China and Russia are too large to cover with TV, and many people even in the cities can't afford TV sets, so radio still plays an important part in popular culture. South America used to be that way, but people have been gradually moving into cities, and general prosperity in places like Brazil mean it's TV time. China still has 800 million peasant farmers, most of them living in a level of poverty that simply doesn't exist in the US. Chinese radios come with rechargeable batteries because alkaline batteries are hard to get in much of China, and what is available is cheap and tends to leak and cause damage. But most people have AC mains power.

Not totally shocking, as Canadian administrations had tried for years to shut down RCI, only to bow to letter writing campaigns. Voice of America has been gutted too, courtesy of a bureaucrat who believed that "MTV won the Cold War" and who thus turned VoA into a pop music station.  Winning hearts and minds is not America's strong suit any longer.

Whoops. I get the two mixed up all the time. 

The ARRL Regulatory and Advocacy page can be hilarious at times. But this month, I'm scratching my head. Apparently a guy in Florida was fined because his WELL PUMP, not him but the pump, was putting out emissions on 1800 khz, in 160m.

http://www.arrl.org/news/florida-man-cited-for-causing-harmful-interference-to-radio-amateurs

In addition, several people were issued warnings for interference from, among other things, plasma TVs and "unknown electronic devices", contained here:

http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-announces-enforcement-actions-for-january-march-2013

Note that somebody's marijuana grow lights were causing QRM. BUSTED!

Anyway, aren't devices such as well pumps, electric fences, plasma TVs, and even grow lights SUPPOSED to be Part 15 Certified, meaning that the manufacturer has to swear under penalty of perjury that they won't interfere with amateur radio? Given that all this stuff is now made in China, is this another case of the Chinese lying through their teeth, like the CFL bulbs that weren't really UL listed and that caused fires?

Furthermore, isn't it unreasonable to expect Joe Schmoe, who has likely never heard of amateur radio or even the FCC, to procure unknown equipment from unknown sources to remedy interference that should not be there, according to the lying Chinese? And, if he fails, he will be fined $25k and/or his second born child, courtesy of the govt? If Schmoe wasn't a member of a sovereign citizen group already, he'll join one after Uncle Sam gets through with him!

Really now, siccing the full weight of FedGov on some poor sap who just wants to watch his Steelers game doesn't reflect well on us as amateurs IMO. Yes, it's illegal, but that shiny new Mitsubishi TV is SUPPOSED to be free from interference! Of course it's not, and good luck tracking down the maker, which is likely Shenzhen Longyap Dingdong Electronics Fabrication Plant #4 in China making TVs for a dozen names.

The G5RV Lite has special coils that enable it to be used on 80m. That's what Radiowavz' documentation says anyway. It has a coil in each wire "arm" of the antenna. Google G5RV Lite to see. Somebody here suggested it to me.

When I was putting up my new G5RV Lite, I had wanted to put it on poles. My dad, however, insisted on stapling it to the side of my house. Immediately I noticed that I had a hard time getting my signal out, as opposed to the old G5RV Jr. I had which hung freely. (I wanted 80m capability, so I switched.) I remember reading something in my test study materials about how doing something like stapling an antenna to a wall will attenuate your signal. Can anybody educate me? Do I need to take it down and put it up on poles?

Somebody suggested that such signals could be a new form of digital over the horizon radar. This was suggested in the Eham Propagation forum. OTH radar is useful for detecting such things as missile launches. Many of us remember the Soviet Woodpecker that was a OTH radar system meant to keep an eye on America. It's possible that the USA has deployed an advanced OTH radar system as part of what's sometimes called Iron Dome or Star Wars, namely the missile interception system we all know about. It would make sense that to intercept a missile, we would have to detect it first, and that's where OTH radar comes in. OTH radar tends to emit signals on the HF spectrum, and it's possible that American military engineers have found a way to make it less obtrusive than the old woodpecker which got into landline telephones and various other stuff.

I use a Lloytron clock made for sale in the UK to tell me what time it is in UTC. The clock isn't that accurate, but I can figure out the exact time via my atomic clock that's set to Pacific time. I used to have an atomic clock that would show two times, US and UTC, but I got rid of it when I got out of the hobby for a couple years. That clock wouldn't set the second time accurately anyway. You can buy 24 hour digital battery operated clocks on Ebay, I got mine from Ebay UK (a long time ago) but Ebay USA has some clocks too. If you need to know just the general time in UTC, a battery operated clock will do, then use the atomic clock for the exact time.

Try 13760 khz at 0400. It comes in pretty well.

Yeah, there's a lot of military buildup going on in the Pacific because of El Fatso and his temper tantrums. The good news is that he doesn't seem to be massing troops on the border, as he would for an invasion. I think the biggest risk to him is actually China-eventually Beijing is gonna get sick of him, if he keeps up, and replace him. The Chinese could have his head on a platter tomorrow if they so desired.

300's are rare and expensive. They aren't being made anymore, by anybody, so that has an impact on prices. I remember a dozen years ago when a WE 300B could fetch a couple hundred bucks. If you look at Tube Depot's prices for common tubes, they are reasonable.

The radio isn't meant to be run off AC anyway. The AC is there to charge the nicads. If you take the batteries out at the end of each day they'll last longer, Chinese portables are notorious energy vampires and drain batteries fast. I'm using a Degen 1102 with the supplied nicads, and it seems to charge fine. The Tecsuns are half the radio of the old Degens for twice the price.