Thanks for your OPINION, but I'd like to get an answer to my 'Coil' questions not a hijacking alternative. 

The Cushcraft A3/A4 states/shows these HF Yagi beam antennas require a coaxial choke: 8-turns (close spaced) at 6" diameter using a non-foam coax (like RG-8U). 

What is does not say or show is if the coax coils can be placed so the boom goes through the center of the coils - allowing very good physical stability mounting location? Or must the Choke NOT be in the same plane as the RF element field?

It also does NOT state maximum pig-tail length between the driven element and choke coil. 

What should be consider when installing this HF choke?

RadioWorks.com has a Yagi-balun?
How about using an UglyBalun?

Gee whiz, my original posting has strayed off message/info-request.....
Let the eHAM hits counter keep toggling....

PB: Can you still ride a two wheel bike or roller skate? Will vehicle drivers once licensed ever loose their touch in driving? NO! Vehicles sure have changed, have a few driving laws changed, YUP! But you are still liable to follow the laws even if it is not on your drivers exam!

Heck, in 2007, I went on a business trip to Belgium, my first time in EU. Avis rent-a-car had no problem renting me a car. What a wake up call I got when trying to use my home-USA printed Google Maps, where in English and I soon found all the Belgium signs were in French..... I needed to head towards the city Liege to get to Welkenreadt, but unknown Liege signage in Belgium says 'Luke'. That is when dead reckoning took over. Not until I got within 10-clicks did I see a sign 'Leggie' - I did not know until that moment I was heading in the right direction (under cloudy skies) at wow speeds on really good conditioned freeways.   

Also that red triangle with an exclamation point is very serious sign as it changes the traffic law. I condemn Avis-Belgium for not having a signage sheet at the desk or in the vehicle and renting it to a USA person.

But I was still fully responsible for my actions in violating any of Belgium's laws - being an ignorant Yank might have got me out a small violation. But I was still allowed to drive first time in a foreign country with out testing!

 
So the logic of your premise is "the tests are so easy" MAKE them take 'em all again, with your implied motive to PENALIZE a person for falling from 'the HAMdom grace' no matter if it has been 3yrs or 50yrs? I hope they are near VE's, (ahhhh bet you never thought of this complication/burden or you don't care since it adds to the penalization). 

Again I state, how magnanimous of you hardliners.

Wow, you guys using math to create relevancy to your feeble argument is amazing, all you think of is the extremes of 12yrs, 50yrs, etc. Of course you totally discount my math showing how a lapse of less then 3yrs can put a lapsed HAM back to square zero.

Hypothetically: the x-HAM went into the military on year 9 of his license, he does four years overseas, he gets out, gets a job/wife/family. It is now 3yrs going on 4yrs since his ticket expired. Oops sorry all your HAM efforts are nil, you must start all over again as penitence. The Rules and electronics have hardly changed in those lapsed four years and the odds are a new rule will NOT be a your retest but you MUST do it all over again so we can insure you're a true believer. (I use military but it could be a college student too.) 

There is no money to be made by VE's or FCC. So why the vindictive attitude?

That lapsed HAM has proven he had the technical ability to obtain the license, true some Rules 'may' have changed (many not for good but for the busine$$). Can you truthfully tell me those NEW Rules will be on the retests? NO! Will this reinstated HAM be exempt from any Part 97 Rules, NO!

I wish we still had Code tests to filter out the lazies but it's not good for HAM busine$$, I don't like it but its the Rule. [I still say Extra should require 5wpm.] I still do not understand how the FCC could hold anyone accountable for proper use of Code ID'ing since they no longer test to confirm knowledge. Logic dictates that 97.119 is unenforceable if Code ID is used.

Oh, I'm a born-again HAM, now +40yrs. My ticket lapsed while in the Navy overseas - I did 10yrs active, got married, a child, then out, to an aerospace job, and began night school for my EE degrees (that took forever) and had to start all over - taking the tests, again. Does it make you feel good getting an extra pound of blood from me? Does it make me a better HAM? Simple answer is no, however, I've gained the ability to critically call out hypocrisies.

MM & EY:

The only reason to require a retest is "they broke the faith" and MUST be penalized for doing so - they must go through the pain/burden of retesting to prove to YOU their allegiance to HAMdom once again (even though they were a 'real' 20wpm Extra that got called to military duty and just plain forgot due to other life priorities) or they got married, started a family, building a new business or career (with other life priorities).

Sense they have fallen from the flock (possibly less than three years ago) they must start all over from scratch to get their license.

How magnanimous of you. 

A few months ago I read a call to eliminate retesting of expired licenses for renewal. Upon proof of original license the holder could just complete a 605 and obtain the renewal. Where is this Rule change? 

The logic is sound as those who have lapsed passed the tests to obtain their original class of license, so any retest of expired licenses is merely a penalty (for temporarily changing your life's priorities). Some Rules may have changed during the absence but what are the odds that a changed rule is on any retest? And a renewal is still repsonsible in following all current Part 97 Rules! 

Never heard of egg beaters or turnstiles? KISS method!

For a few years now I've asked Mirage/MFJ to create a sister to their very nice B310G FM/SSB [2m 3W in-100W out w/pre-amp for HT use]  it would be the D310G FM/SSB [70cm 2W in-100W out w/pre-amp for HT use]. To date no response. The new FM SATs (starting with FOX1) will be using 70cm for the ground uplink to SAT. 

I'm sure MFJ needs more requests to justify a new product. My request was to info and give MFJ plenty of R&D/testing time to be ready for a changing market when requests come after FOX1 hits orbit. The Mirage 70cm amp product line is very narrow/small today not accommodating the HT world very well! 

Now if we want to make a logical big wish (snowballs chance in hell) request of Mirage/MFJ - how about a dual 2m/70cm  AMP (combining a B310G & D310G all-in-one w/internal Duplexer) to support the growing dual band HT market and  accommodating HT SAT OPs. However, I suspect the price tag for this AMP would take it out of reach for most of HAMdom.     

FYI,  I sent my findings (at the time I started this topic) with concerns to ARROW, addressing the Duplexer issue - to date no response. No answer as to how many ARROW's were sold with a too short 2m gamma match.

As a technical challenge I'm now looking at how to improve/build my own Duplexer using tunable trimmer capacitors with a secondary desire to increase the power from 10W max to >45W and still retaining a small size.

Some have solved this Duplexer concern in buying Diamond/Comet HAM 2m/70cm Duplexer but the size, weight, and cost are significant. And they do not come with the BNC option (only SO-239/PL-259 or N).

With the new U1 FM SATs using 70cm as the uplink, and FOX1 going to orbit this year, I want my Duplexer optimized for SAT uplink freq to couple maximum power up with minimal internal heating/waste. But we really need the Duplexer to be capable of passing 100W.   

The modulation mode needs to be picked smartly as well as required ERP-Power/band. Here is where digital FM using Manchester (self correcting) type code is needed to minimize solar interference to obtain the best clarity in the smallest bandwidth yielding the most power out.

Mars HAM comm's will take some serious ground equipment to allow the space craft to keep the size/weight down/reasonable to add HAM OPs!

Here is where I suggest parroting established NASA Comm methods and pick near HAM bands for the distance and power required for reliable comm's.

Next question is of NASA big RX dishes - can/will add a HAM RX antenna interfaced to the internet so all on Earth could listen into Mars HAMComm's (and as an emergency comm alternate backup). This would cut half our personal HAM station costs if we can tap into NASA. 

What ever you buy, pay the lil extra to get "IF DSP", you'll love it. "IF DSP" is built into the radio, it cannot be an external or after market add on.

I first got my taste of DSP with a W9GR DSP II external audio box that was far better than the newer IC-706mk2g audio DSP (that sounded more like an audio attenuator). However, comparing Audio DSP's to IF DSP's is not really fair or possible - audio DSP's  going ot maximum capability all seem to make the audio sounded like a garbling waterfall w/step-down attenuation. IF DSP's have very very little of that affect.
 
Then I came across REAL "IF" DSP in a TT Pegasus - nice and far far better than the plug-in audio DSPs.
Now I have a IC-746P w/built-in IF DSP and its my prime HF base rig - here is what HF OPs should sound like.
Since then I upgraded the 706 to a IC-7000 in my mobile, THEE best upgrade I ever made!!! My BU/spare/go-box/FD rig is another IC-7000.... The 706 will eventually go to my repeater as a remote base.

I doubt more improvements can be made to "IF DSP" other than increasing processing speed/bit counts (16 to 32 to 64), and then I doubt you will hear much real audio difference (other than your bill-fold screaming at the newest 64 bit price). I'm sure the Flex-radios have a better IF DSP but at what price - ouch?

If I ever upgrade I'll not only want IF DSP for my OPs but a non-filtered full-time pan-adapter to spot those signals. I'm considering making my own Notebook USB SDR Dongle tapping into the radios non-DSP filtered 1st IF to make a band pan-adapter. Issue I have now is the 746P 1st IF is 64mhz, higher than most dongles and very few radios, any more, pass the IF signals out to the rear of the radios for us old time radio/gadget builders to utilize. 

FYI, if FOX-#'s do not get free rides it can cost ~$250K for each 1U package for rocket space to orbit. 
I'm watching the private space vehicle companies who may be our ticket to get these small U1 LEO SATs to orbit for very cheap &/or tax write offs. One thing about PE3 is it is BIG, it will take lots of rocket room hence the high costs to orbit (much like AO-40). And I'm still unsure if PE3 will be semi-geosynchronous (like GPS) orbit or a full geosynchronous and PE3 details?

Hmmmm, repeater on the moon....

Interesting idea (sure do not need full duplex with a ~15sec delay in RX-TX). Would like it to be FM but the power required for the full carrier would require some serious solar energy to support any normal repeater duty-cycle. However, there is plenty of solar energy for a large array of solar panels. 

Need to do some math to determine how much ERP/Watts to get a usable signal to the moon and then the ERP/Watts it will require for the moon-based repeater to send back a reasonable signal to Earth.

There needs to be some serious technical earth staton requirments to keep the number of users low/under control or it will become a serious world wide jam-athon, with only the big guns (1KW EME arrays) dominating the moon station until earth's rotation takes them out of moon LOS. 

When AO-40 FM flopped it took a lot of wind out of HAMdoms SAT sails. Recently, AO-51 FM SAT gave up the ghost but had a decent life span. AO-27 FM is still hanging in there but on a reduced usage schedule and failing batteries. ISS repeater never got put on the air and talking to the crew is a very hit-n-miss. But the old work horse AO-7 (not-FM) is still plodding along nearing 40yrs operation.  

SO-50 is the only reliable FM bird flying, today.   FOX-1 is in test and hopes to fly the end of 2013.

FOX-1 will have the new Zombie Mode providing the solar cells keep going when/if battery/IHU go down. Zombie Mode will keep the FM comms going providing solar energy is present and RX/TX remain operational - this is a significant new mode giving us the most life out of a failing bird with minimum of circuits. FOX-1 orbit has about a 10-12yr life span.  Something new to FM SATs --- FOX-1 will be 430 up to the bird and 2m down to earth. 

FOX-2 and FOX-3 are proceeding with a goal of getting a bird a year into orbit. I personally applaud AMSAT in creating this new Zombie Mode as it insures we get the most bang for our buck$!