W4KPA:

"Don't laugh to hard. I talked to a trucker who had a fully-rotatable, 3 element, two-meter beam mounted behind the fiberglass wind deflector on the cab for use on two-meter SSB."

Those antenna are more than likely not used too much while the trucker was driving, just when they were parked.  Please don't forget that some long distance truckers actually live out of their rigs and can legally only drive about 10 hours a day.  Just what do they do the other 14?  Watch TV, get onto their computers and the internet......pursue their ham radio hobby......get the picture?

The car heater is probably bad and you need more warmth in your mobile, no?  Doing VHF mobile contesting?  Just want the biggest signal mobile to talk over someone else?

I agree with two things I saw and will add a third.

1st, a quarter wave whip will probably be the best bet for that much power.  

2nd, I would worry about RF exposure with that much power, especially to people who may be near you and have no idea what they may be exposed to.  

3rd, the extra power you will put out transmitting may enable your signal to reach out further, but unless you have a receiver pre-amp to pull in the weak signal replies you may get, what good is the extra range to begin with?  If the person that answers you only has 40 or 50 watts out, you'll probably never hear them.  

I love it when people try to reinvent the wheel.  Square sides and all!  

Not trying to be funny, but an old saying comes to mind--If you have to ask, you probably can't afford (having) it (done right).  73.

Do you mean 2 meter mobile antenna plans or the actual information about the available antennas for 2 meter mobile operation?  There are several good manufactured 2 meter antennas, the most popular being the simple and cheap quarter wave whip.  The whip is simply a stiff piece of wire about 19 inches long.

The simple truth of the matter is that 2 meter mobile antennas are so low cost, it is not really worth making your own.  You can get a 2 meter whip with the mount and a length of co-ax for about $20 to $25 from just about any electronic supplier, or from a commercial radio installer.

BTW, that quarter wave 2 meter whip can also be used for local 70 cm (440 mhz) band as well.
 

Well, wadda ya know!  Sometimes it pays to be half asleep and misread.  

Glad you found your problem, Trevor.  73!

> And usually, the DOA guarantee means the honest
> sellers refund the price of the item if you
> return it because its doesn't work, but you still
> have to eat the shipping--both ways.

"Which is exactly the way most stores handle returns. Why should an eBay seller, an individual, be held to a higher standard than a big corporate store?"

Just to keep the air clear, a statement was made here, not a complaint.  But, (yes, there's always a 'but') if you buy from a reputable ham supplier, they most likely will pay the shipping charge for big ticket items from them to you, all you have to pay is the return shipping charges.  And sometimes even that isn't true, those suppliers will send out a call tag and pay the shipping both ways.  It depends who you deal with and how good a customer you are.

73 and take care,  K1CJS

Astron, Pyramid, Radio Shack (although you have to watch those) almost any power supply will work well for you.  The one major rule is don't overload it, that is don't ask it to supply more amperage than it is designed to.  Try not to draw more than about 80% of the rated capacity of the supply.  Its one of the ways to make sure the supply will always work properly.

The suggestion about getting a 35 or 50 amp supply is a good one--you can run your whole shack off of it.  Astron seems to be the choice of a larger number of hams because of service and ruggedness, but the other brand name supplies are good choices too.  

There are linear supplies and switching type supplies which are smaller and lighter than the linear types as well.  I would recommend a linear although it is heavier and more bulky, there is a chance of noise generation from some of the switching type supplies.

Good luck!

Sorry, I was still asleep--I see I answered to another topic.  Sorry!  :-)

Look in your shack for other RF producing items.  The touch light you mentioned, for example, is notorious for producing RF noise.  How about in the kitchen?  Any electronic (versus mechanical) timers?  Electric blanket controls sometime cause noise even though they may not be on at the time.  Newer TVs are never off even though you don't have them turned on.  Ditto with the VCRs and DVDs.  Also, flourescent lights.

Start by disconnecting everything, turning on the radio sets and seeing if the noise is still there.  If it is, you've either got noise originating outside your home or you missed unplugging something.  If not, reconnect things one by one while listening to the radio.  When the noise returns, you just plugged in the cause.  Keep in mind it may be more than one thing, so unplug the culprit and keep reconnecting things until you've gone through the whole house.

You'll then know what you've got to work on to eliminate the noise problem you have--or just unplug the items that cause the noise when you're on the radio!

73 and take care.

You want the right answer?  It is that there are quite a few opinions of where it did originate, nobody really knows.

Your want the cute answer?  Go to a hamfest and look at the porkers out there.  Ham anyone?  ;-)

Usually rigs from estates are taken down from the station and all the wiring is thrown into a box for disposal at yard sales or otherwise.  Non hams aren't so quick as to realize that the wiring harnesses should go with the radios since the plugs are the quickest way to disconnect them and the other ends are usually fastened down.

I bought a Pyramid supply from a 'estate sale' on E-bay and got about 4 different harnesses with it, the seller said he included them because they were attached to the supply.  

The mikes are similar, the things bounce around on the end of their coil cords and are taken off because they were 'getting in the way'.

And usually, the DOA guarantee means the honest sellers refund the price of the item if you return it because its doesn't work, but you still have to eat the shipping--both ways.

Oh, yes, as far as the storage of fuel, your best bet is to check with your local fire department--your locality may have some additional rules and clarifications for storage that aren't mentioned by your state fire marshall.  

Lastly, in most localities it is illegal to store gasoline in any residential structures unless the structure has an attached garage, and then as someone already stated, that garage has to have a fire rated wall and or ceiling between the garage and the rest of the house.

As far as keeping fuel, Sta-Bil is probably the best idea, even if you intend to use the fuel within 30 days--sometimes you won't!  Also, the stabilizer contains additives to keep the fuel systems in your small engines clean and rust free.

Anyway, if you don't want to use it, it is indeed a good idea to run the fuel system in your generator till it is out of fuel.  The oil fog is intended to stop rust from forming in the cylinder.

If you do keep fuel for your generator, keep it fresh by pouring that gas into your car tank and refilling the gas cans every 30 to 45 days.  The stabilizer does wonders for your car fuel system also, and no, it won't hurt the catalytic converter in your car.  

One of the purposes of AGC is to have a ham ask questions of their elmer--or on a site like this!  ;-)

(Sorry, just in one of those moods!)  73!

Engine oil that has additives (detergents) may not 'break down' the resistors in the cantenna dummy loads, but detergents are not the only additives in some oils.  There are also additives that promote the ability of the oil to penetrate--to ensure lubrication of smaller and tighter spaces of todays engines.  

In short, even though the additives may not break down resistors, it may change the actual resistance characteristics of the dummy load, causing a change of resistance.

The use of transformer oil or mineral oil is still the best way to go.