Frank,

I just recently put an AlphaDelta DX-EE in my attic. It is a 40-20-15-10 "cat wisker" dipole that is ~40 ft end-to-end. I bought it from AES for $100. I feed it with an AH-4 tuner and ladder line. The tuner is mounted to the wall in the garage and the ladder line runs up to the antenna. My shack is in the basement. I mounted the tuner in the garage so I could easly detatch it and put go mobile with it and my IC706M2G.

This setup has worked great! I am currently working on my DXCC and have had all kinds of DX.

Before the Alpha Delta, I used a dual 10-20 homebrewed dipole in the same location and a Radio Shack HTX-10. Again, I did just fine. Busted two pile-ups on the Galapagos islands and went as far as S. Korea (from here in Michigan). The dipole was made from speakerwire and a SO-239 female bulkhead connector fed directly by the coax feed line. I constructed two of these and mounted them perpendicular and could switch between the two for better reception.

I hope this helped!

73
Derek, W7REX

I have acquired an old 400W USP and I want to know if anyone has converted one to DC for charging batteries and powering their shack.

I thought I'd ask around for some information before I pop the top and start digging around.

Thanks and 73
Derek, W7REX

I have acquired an old 400W USP and I want to know if anyone has converted one to DC for charging batteries and powering their shack.

I thought I'd ask around for some information before I pop the top and start digging around.

Thanks and 73
Derek, W7REX

I also live in a Covenent Restricted neighborhood.  Unfortunately for you and I, there is no coverage in the FCC PBR1 ruling.  This ruling only pertains to city, county and state ordinances that ban antenna installations.

We chose to purchase a home with the restrictions.  The FCC regards this as an agreement between two parties, not a "law".  In my neighborhood, it is up to the home owners assoc. to inforce the rules, not the law.  The court would be civil, not criminal.

So, since we chose to accept these conditions/restrictions when we purchased our homes, we're screwed.  You aren't going to get that tower.

The ARRL has some great facts and case studies on their homepage, www.arrl.org   I highly suggest that you check this out.

BTW, I have decided to spin my situation in a more positive light.  I view it as a challenge instead of a hinderance.  In that spirit, I purchased "Stealth Radio" from the ARRL and have erected two dipoles in the attic of my home.  On 10m I have snagged Argentina (5300 miles, 25 Watts, RadioShack HTX-10) with my homebrew attic dipole.

I have also seriously been looking into fractal antenna design.  These antennas are folded in specific fractal shapes and offer the same radiation parameters as a non-fractal at a fraction of the space.  Try www.fractenna.com

I have also been thinking of putting a vertical in a tree.  GAP makes a small multi-band vert that would easily fit in a medium tree and be practically invisible if cleverly painted (cammo)...

I hope this give you food for thought.

73

Derek
W7REX

does anyone out there have any good templates in Excel or Word that print out pages for making your own logbooks?

Or, what categories/columns would YOU have in your own personalized log book?

Thanks,

Derek W7REX