You would think with all the negative information on PayPal from soooo many users and former users that they would get their act together and cleanup heir reputation. But I guess P.T Barnum was right in his statement "...a sucker is born every minute." Or the I like is "a fool and his money is soon parted."  Caveat emptor always! 73

I purchased a 50 foot length of ABR industries cable at Dayton. Very high quality as good if not better than Belden. I am so impressed with the quality I just ordered a 100 foot roll for my new Zero-Five 24 foot stealth vertical. If you order the cable, you won't be disappointed. You can check out the web site at www. abind.com   Hope this helps.

Thank for your opinion. I agree. Hara needs to be torn down, it's long past it's prime. Have you been to The Airport Expo center? Now that would revive Hamvention. It has 100,000 square feet under it's roof. Even Bill Goodman's gun and knife shows have moved from Hara to The Expo Center. I wonder when DARA Hamvention committee will see the light and change the venue.

Hi all, I was wondering what are some impressions from those that attended the 2011 Hamvention. I for one, noticed the smaller yet again--lots of empty spaces, of the flea market participants. No Radio Shack, no industrial overstock vendors, Mendolsons tent was a little sparse and not as good as years past. I think there were more cars parked in the flea market area that actual vendors. Inside, not too bad. Still a lot of empty vendor spaces. Good to see new faces such as Chameleon Antennas. I actually purchased one from the vendor.
Boy do I miss some of the inside exhibitors like GM, Ford, the American Red Cross' emergency communications vehicle.
Well, what does the assembled multitude say? How was the Hamvention this year?

I just arrived home from the Ft.Wayne Swapfest. It was my first time attending. The first difference between Ft.Wayne's and the Hamvention is the venue. What a difference! Hara Arena can't even come close to the Allen County Memorial Coliseum. I can't post a photo of the coliseum, so I will post photo's on my blog at http://fredspointofview.wordpress.com . Also the acres of parking! Yes, the coliseum does charge for parking, it was $4.00. I will also post photos of the interior and the exhibition hall. The bathrooms were excellent and conveniently located. Talking to some of the club members, they say that the attendance has been down the past couple of years. The hall would have been wall to wall. There wasn't a trunk sales, instead everything was inside. I think Hara Arena is on it's last legs. If weren't for the Hamvention, I think the facility would close down. There is a nice Airport Expo center in Vandalia, Ohio that would be a better venue. Spaced through out the exhibition hall, were chairs for us old timers to rest our weary bones. Both Icom and Yaesu had small displays. There was one major retailer, R and L from Hamilton, Ohio. There was a Ringling Brothers circus also going on in the area. Traffic was not a problem either going in or exiting the venue. Finally, the coliseum had two other exhibition halls that could handle 5,000 people each. Sooo, with three halls open they could conceivably handle 15,000 people. Anyway, I was very much impressed and pleased. Lord willing, I will attend next year's swapfest.

I sure would like to pickup a used Motorola Saber etc. The audio is outstanding but unfortunately, I don't know how to program it. I know I need a rib/ribless connection and proprietary software. I saw a very nice units while down at Dayton, but the guy wanted quite a bit for the radio. It had a spare battery and charger with a microphone. He wanted $900. I know these units are quite expensive new. In the range of $3500. Oh well. I will stick with my Icom W32. Thanks all for your responses. 73

I see in the new ARRL repeater directory listings for APCO 25. I thought that was radio for police and fire. Can anyone fill me in as to what is APCO 25 for ham radio is?  Thanks

I temporarily hooked up the vhf radio using 10 gauge wire to a 20 amp plug and plugged it into the power plug. The radio switched on on gave a reading of 14.1/14.2 volts. In my old vehicle, it was 14.2/14.3  Now this was measured by the radio a Yaesu FT2800M. I think this voltage drop is insignificant when operating the radio. Am I wrong?

Thanks Alan. I forgot about the gauge of the power plug wire! These German cars just don't leave too many gaps to put wires through.

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has a VW Jetta and successfully found an easy way to penetrate the firewall of the vehicle to hookup to the battery. There are two 12 volt, 20 amp power plugs in the vehicle. I don't think voltage drop would be an issue here, I rarely use more 50 watts to transmit on vhf. I have even thought about getting a gel-cell battery and hooking the radio up to the battery. My last resort will be to got to the dealer and see what they can do for me but I wanted to see if the assembled multitude has any constructive suggestions for this installation. The mobile antenna will not be an installation issue, just hooking up the radio. 73

Hi all, I have a new Cushcraft 5 element 6 meter beam that I thought would get used more than it is. It might sound crazy, has anyone converted such a beam for 2 meter use? With all the antenna experimenters out there, I thought I would give it a try.

73, Fred

Thank you for all the responses. I did find a link to a Pfieffer Vertical cage antenna but no directions on how to build it. The web site hasn't been updated since 2004 so I don't know if the owner is still around.
In conclusion, I really couldn't build the discone antenna because of the small size of my lot. I just wanted to see what was out there. 73

I was wondering if there is anyone in the vast multitude of ham radio that has made or attempted to make, a discone antenna for the low bands? I have done a simple preliminary search and couldn't find any plans for a backyard discone antenna. 73

I am having trouble updating my FT950. Yaseu tech support stated to use a db9 to db9 straight cable from my computer's serial port to the radio. Trouble is, my computer doesn't have a com port. I purchased a usb to serial converter but it still doesn't work. Short of purchasing a used computer with a serial port--if I can find one--what else can I try to update my radio?

I am having trouble updating my FT950. Yaseu tech support stated to use a db9 to db9 straight cable from my computer's serial port to the radio. Trouble is, my computer doesn't have a com port. I purchased a usb to serial converter but it still doesn't work. Short of purchasing a used computer with a serial port--if I can find one--what else can I try to update my radio?