GN,

 Did you ever get the MO from Fred? Before I include him in my list of "Ham Scammers and Bad Actors" I would like to know if he failed to pay or was late in sending the payment. Your post has a lot of information about the transaction, but it doesn't mention whether the MO was ever received.  Congrats on the full price transaction! Thanks.

73,
Jim
K9JCS

A big Thank You to all who have taken the time to reply. Each post provided me with some info I hadn't considered or just flat out did not know. I will re-read the KL7A article and let this all settle in. I think I have found the answer to my question.

73 to all,
Jim
K9JCS

I have been a long time reader of the "Antennas and Towers, Coax and More" forum.  I have learned a great deal over the years from the responses of all of the contributors.  Thanks for taking the time to share your expertise and knowledge.

While thinking about SWR recently a question came up that I haven't seen addressed in the many articles that I have read. I understand that SWR is basically a measurement and calculation of reflected and forward power. My understanding of currents existing in transmission line coax consists of three basic components, current on the center conductor, current on the inside of the braid (differential mode) and current on the outside of the braid (common mode). Common mode current is undesirable and is the result of mismatches. We use baluns and other matching devices to limit common mode current. This all leads me to the question. What exactly is the SWR meter in the rig showing me? Is it measuring forward and reflected current in the differential elements of the feedline or is it actually measuring forward current on the center conductor and common mode reflected current on the outer surface of the feedline braid? Theory says that differential current is "balanced" and I have drawn the conclusion that SWR is a measurement of forward current on the center conductor and common mode reflected current on the outer surface. Am I right or wrong? I have never seen the "source" of the reflections, other than mismatch,  identified in any discussions. They always seem to discuss only the the mathematical relations between forward and reflections, not the pathways.

Thanks, I look forward to comments
73,
K9JCS

Here is what I would do if I were you. See if you can find a ham in the area who could loan you 75 ft of known good coax. Decide which antenna you want and buy it. Hook the antenna and HT to the borrowed coax. Take your antenna and HT to various locations where you might install it. Try it and see how it works. You don't need to be in the basement to try this out as long as the HT is connected to the coax. Try some different spots, including the basement. Since you aren't using the rubber dummy load now (HT Ducky) what you get by moving everything around will be pretty close to what you get when you finally route the cable and go through the process of snaking it to your antenna. The antenna may be affected by nearby objects, metal and otherwise, but with 5 Watts that won't be a problem while you are testing locations.  Have access to an extension ladder or extendable painter pole? Temporarily mount your antenna to the pole or ladder and run it up. You should be able to experience the improvement that higher elevation brings if your initial received signal is iffy at the ground level. If you get a location that works, note what kind of coax you have borrowed. If it works, and it probably will, it's good enough.  Buy that type or better when you are ready to do your installation. If you do something like this I guarantee that you will learn something about antenna placement. I love learning by doing.

Have fun, but make sure you have a cover story when your neighbors ask what you are doing waving that stick around.

73,
Jim
K9JCS

Kuby, N6JSX,

       Have any pictures of your jig set ups to drill PVC?  I'm not a machinist, but your jig sounds fairly simple and easy. It also sounds like something I could use for antenna projects. I just can't visualize it

73,
Jim
K9JCS

Learn from my mistake!

A long time ago in a galaxy far away... I was trying to set up for psk31 on an older, not very capable laptop. The waterfall display was very noisy and the copy of signals wasn't very good. I rechecked the cabling and discovered that I had not plugged the audio input into the correct jack on the laptop. The laptop's built in microphone was picking up PSK audio from the radio's speaker as well as every other noise in the room. I plugged it into the proper jack and the noise on the waterfall disappeared and I started to get 100 per cent copy.

Jim
K9JCS

Thanks, Larry. The manual makes sense now!

73
Jim
K9JCS

Can you tell us a little bit more about this transaction?  Was it on EBAY, EHAM, QRZ or something else?

Sounds like you lost a nice rig and other gear. I would be mad, too.

Over the years I have developed a collection of cheap Chinese USB to serial converters that just didn't work. I kept buying them in the hopes that the next one would work. I've bought a lot of 1.99 and 2.99 USB Serial converters from EBAY. All of the warnings I've seen have said that the cheap ones have been knockoffs of legitimate Prolific or other manufacturers chipsets. That may or may not be true, I have no way of knowing. I would diligently download the recommended driver or load the included drivers on the mini CD and attempt to install my brand new El cheapo USB/Ser converter. I would routinely get the response that the device was not properly installed and might not work.  No truer words were ever written. I then thought to myself, "Maybe if I download the most current driver package from the manufacturer it will work."  Every time it did not work.

I was trying to get my latest batch of converters working and accidentally plugged one into to one of my older machines.  Surprise, Surprise!  It loaded correctly and actually keyed the radio just like it was supposed to in FLDIGI. Actually each one of the previously non working converters in my collection now worked in the old machine. I then wondered, "What is different about this machine that makes it work." It has to be the driver. I went into System-Hardware-Device Manager-Ports-USB Serial-Driver-Driver Details and finally selected the ser2pl.sys file which gave me the the version of the file. It was a much earlier version of that file than the same file on the machines where the converter wouldn't load or work. Ser2pl.sys is apparently the driver file for converters. I put a copy of the older file in the Windows\System32\Drivers directory of the newer machines and all of the old collection of converters worked in each of the machines. (I replaced the newer version with the older version) The lesson here is that the newest driver does not necessarily fix all your problems.  Sometimes going backwards is helpful.

BTW, I have learned that FTDI chipsets are pretty reliable for USB Serial converters above the 10 dollar level on EBay.

73   Jim   K9JCS

Just remember "Heat kills electronics."  More heat beyond the designed output will surely reduce the remaining life of your finals.

Take a look at the "N2VZ of Turbo Tuner Rip Off" thread on the Company Reviews forum.

Jim
K9JCS

A VHF marine radio hand held might be fun for you. Make sure it has both US and international channels. You could listen to docking  and port operations. It also might be quite handy if you unfortunately end up in a life boat. Otherwise, it would be for your listening pleasure only.

Jim
K9JCS

Jaime--Brilliant answer. Sometimes the simplest answer is right in front of us!

73
Jim
K9JCS

Try something like this website.  http://www.levinecentral.com/repeaters/google_mapping.php?State=MN Click a location balloon to see the owner callsign. Once you have the callsign you can go to the FCC website, the QRZ.com website or a number of others to get the owners mailing address. Sometimes you can simply google the callsign and find the address. You may have to use snailmail. If the ham is registered at QRZ.com or even here at EHAM you may be able to get the email address or send an email through the EHAM system.

The ARRL offers a repeater guide that lists repeaters nation wide. It's about 9 or 10 bucks.

If you are going to be travelling google something like "ham repeaters state" or "repeater coordinator state." That should return something to get you going.

Remember, though, that none of the listings you will find, even the ARRL guide is 100 per cent accurate. There are many repeaters listed that don't appear to be on air and there are also many repeaters that are not listed.

Have fun and good luck!

Jim
K9JCS

If it were me I would go with the window line j pole solution. You may not need to climb if you can get a line over the top of the tree and haul your much lighter window line j pole into the tree. You might be able to get the window line j pole higher than the copper j pole. With a window line antenna you won't need to loosen your  j pole straps when the tree trunk gains girth as it grows. Finally if the antenna were to come loose and fall, which would you rather have hit you in the head? The flexible window line or the copper spear, oops, I meant copper antenna. Google Slim Jim j pole and window line j pole for several sites that have cheap and easy designs.

Good luck and have some fun with this project!

Jim
K9JCS