Jeff,

Last night was horrendous.  Tonight was so-so.  Good xhexk is to listen to the award nets on 40m.  Like OMISS on 7.2635 @ 01:00 UTC, or the 3905 Club.

73,

---* Ken

My simple translation. For Nicaragua, it is too late...

"NATIONAL DIRRECION OF RADIO And MANAGUA TELEVISION, D.N., NICARAGUA, C.A.

INSTRUCTIONS: The form (at the ARRL website - WI7B) must used by a Radio ham of the United States or Canada to obtain permission  for amateur radio activities in Nicaragua as per the reciprocity agreement:

To send to a letter request with two photos and photocopy of Amateur Radio License of his country (the USA or Canada), sending its (60) sixty day before the date that the Radio ham wishes to visit Nicaragua.

To answer the Questionnaire for this class of permission, in Spanish, typing or by hand in legible black ink. On the day of arrival in Nicaragua, the Radio ham must appear at the National Direction of Radio and Television (Department of Frequencies), for registration and to obtain its Permission."

Also for Costa Rico please note the following corrections at the bottom of the webpage cited above...

"Addition From: "ROBERT A VOSS" <TELEGRAPHY@prodigy.net>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 18:56:05 -0500

The information for Costa Rica is not correct. To get a TI license (other than TI9) you go to the Ministry and you bring:
 
Letter (preferably in Spanish), asking for permission, giving your in-country address(es), period of operation.

you provide:
one copy of passport,
one copy of license, and they keep both.

you bring along:
original of license,
original passport (they did not even look at mine)

15 minutes later, no fee, you have license.

I did this April 2001. (N4CD/TI2, April 4-17, 2001) see < http://www.qsl.net/ti2hmg > www.qsl.net/ti2hmg for my story and that of German ham who found things the exact same way. Bob Voss, N4CD"

"...changed adress in mid 2003 to:

Control Nacional de Radio (CNR)
Ministerio de Gobernación y Policía
75 m Norte del la Antigua Pulperia La Luz
Barrio Escalante
a mano derecha casa blanca

about 2 kilometers east of the center of San Jose."
 

73,

---* Ken

Patrick,

The "on-glass" cellular look-a-like antennas are the worst performing antenna you can install on your vehicle. This I know from personal experience in operating a 2m 1/2 wave "on-glass" antenna compared to the comparable 2m 1/2 lip-mounted antenna I now operate.

The Radio Shack SWR Meter you are using probably only allows measurement with a single needle. Flipping a switch goes from "SWR" to "POWER".  The power that is read is advertised as both "Peak Envelope Power" and "average power" by Radio Shack. So, take your pick.  I believe this is probably just the output fed directly into a 50 ohm termination in the SWR meter itself and has nothing to do with the antenna system.  In other words, it only is there to measure the output power of the radio, not the radio/antenna system.

The variation you are observing in SWR may derive from:

(1) poor placement of the antenna.

(2) poorly manufactured tuning capacitor (that's the brass screw you turn to tune the coupler device on the inside).

(3) stripped tuning capacitor (this is easy to do since its only thin sheets of mica/plastic). This tuning capacitor on Radio Shack "on-glass" antennae is EXTREMELY sensitive.  Nearby electrical or magnetic fields, or conducting surfaces can and will affect it.

(4) mounting on "shaded" or "tinted" glass.  "Tinting" is actually accomplished by adding mylar or mylar-type metallic film to the interior window surface. What do you think happens when you put a conducting surface between two plates of a capacitor?

Solution: Take the antenna back to Radfio Shack and buy a real 11 meter lip- or mag-mounted variety.

73,

---* Ken

Paul,

Depending on your budget, you might be better off just acquiring a 2m HT for $100.  Both the Yaesu VX-150 and Icom IC-T2H Sport receive over the entire Marine VHF band.  That way you'll have squelch and scanning capabilities. You have ~40 memories to program in the Marine channels.  Since the use of Marine channels varies from one port to another, you ight wnat that extra variability.

I'm a member of the USCGAux and I use my VX-150 for monitoring bridge-ot-bridge, port, and lock traffic, as well as channel 16 (Int'l distress).  While we're on the subject, I know when you say pilots use the Marine bands in Alaska, you're talking about seabound ship pilots.

73,

---* Ken

It's not in the Bay area, but they are as pictured and very good...

=> http://members.aol.com/k5gna/

Actually, I just did a quick search on your Novice license.  It expired on 19JUNE, 2005.  You still have a grace period to renew it (desireable if you wish to upgrade).  But remember, no operating until its renewed!

73,

---* Ken

ThanX guys! You've help me understand better what I am
experiencing by viewing the rig, antenna, and ground
as a whole system.  

Indeed, K5DVW, I have  a vertical with 40m counterpoise(see http://WI7B.org/), but it has been supremely effective in rountine contact to Japan, Asiatic Russia, and the South Pacific.  The difference is my skips west are to the "bright side",
and begin and end over the Pacific. My transmissions
and first skip to the "dark side" east begin on dry,
rocky, high desert (bad ground).  Now I am thinking
incoming RF is little impacted by the high desert
topography. However, low-angle transmissions must be
greatly affected by poor reflection over dry, rocky
ground for a few wavelengths?

73,

---* Ken

Dear Elmer,

After working numerous contacts from the East Coast on 40m, I've noticed in the early evening that propagation seems to favor East Coast signals to the West.  I can constantly read NY stations 59, while they hear me only 22 or 33.  What's up with that?

---* a poor West Coast OM