Regardless of what you use for a ground screen, make sure you follow a procedure for bonding disimilar metals together.  Use an anti-oxident such as Penatrox on your connections before you wrap them with silicone tape.

try it with the power supply and if the radio blows up simply toss it in the garbage can.  in all honesty it will probably work ok.  if it were a tube radio you would not be so lucky.

I hear a lot of that too, but it's usually of short duration...such as someone in a pileup with all the knobs cranked wide open.  I bear with the situation.

they're not supposed to, but i hear them down there all the time.  they simply do not know any better.

sounds to me like rf in the shack.  btw, i also use a 7600 and pw1, and my antennas are far removed from the shack.

The only thing the FCC cares about are out of band emissions so you do not interfere with other services, and of course power limits.  The manufacturers, however, go one step further and design their equipment so hams don't interfere with each other within each band of operation.  Manufacturers generally make equipment that complies with ITU emission standards because they sell their equipment worldwide.

I've been using Cabela's olive drab 550 paracord for at least 12 years to support my wire beams on 40 and 17.  I never had to change the cords.  I've taken those antennas down over the years and the cord looks like brand new except for a little stiffness probably caused by the sun.  For longer span antennas, such as 80 and 160, I use the 1/4-inch dacron cord.  Most of my antennas are in the woods so the paracord gets limited sun.  One thing I do like about the paracord is that it will stretch under high wind conditions but will spring back to it's original length (I suppose that's why they use it in parachutes).  Also, it seems to be more resilient than Dacron when it rubs on a tree crotch or branch.

Good advice Wayne!  His antenna would have be approved by a licensed Professional Engineer in CO, and I don't believe he necessarily has to be a civil or structural engineer by education.  All the town wants is that PE stamp of approval.  The burden is on the PE to make sure the tower complies with local laws.  I have PE licenses in VA and ME and the licenses do not state in which discipline I'm licensed to practice.  When I took the exam I solved problems involving several engineering disciplines, not just electrical.

If you use a pulley, make sure you buy one of the marine ones where the rope can't go off the track.  The other option you should consider is a big eye bolt; this way you're assured that your rope does not get tangled up or off track.

I had all three of them, PRO, PROII, PROIII.  The II and III have a screen saver that increases longevity of the display.  The II had better preamps, while the III had even better low-noise preamps.  If you don't want to spend too much money you could get the PRO, but keep in mind the problems some people have had with the display; and those radios are now 12 years old.  I never had a single problem with the PRO or PROIII, but the PROII did give me some problems...bad driver transistors and a PLL locking issue which meant I had to send the radio back to Icom for repair.  I've been using a 7600 for about 3 years I love the radio.

I have one of those X-dipoles for 40 and 80.  They work fine with minimal interaction.  I had them closer together and the 80 affected the 40 meter one...so I moved them further apart.

There are several ways to do this, but if you have a good lawn with healthy grass, the simplest method is to mow that strip of grass real short and lay the cable on the ground and staple it if you wish...after a few weeks the cable will be entrenched in the grass.  That's what I do with a healthy lawn, otherwise I make a 2-3 inch slit in the ground with a spade and lay the cable in there...then step on the dirt/grass to cover the slit. 

Most folks use coax inside the house, connect to a remote balun outside, and then use open wire line from that point to the antenna.  However, the coax portion can't be too long of a run. 

Should not be a problem, however if there is any doubt check with the manufacturer of the device.

It will work just fine...go for it...but if you can afford a larger gauge you would be better off!  Many blue moons ago I had a 300-foot longwire made of #8 gauge solid aluminum.  It did the job for me running 1 kilowatt.  I just bought some LMR 400 that has a solid center conductor made of copper clad aluminum.  In order to keep the cost of wire to a minimum I'm seeing more and more coax and antenna material made of aluminum.  I remember years ago when electricians were using aluminum wire in new home construction...they had problems with this down the road when the connections would oxidize and cause house fires.