Hamradio Making the W3DZZ Trapped Dipole HF Antenna.

Assembly Required: Heathkit Fans Recall Era of Do-It-Yourself Tech

Benton-C Bainbridge knows he is something of a misfit in the Heathkit community. He's almost certainly the only one who uses vintage kit-built Heath electronics to illuminate concerts by a hip hop group, The Beastie Boys. And in all probability he's the only one who can claim to be named for the city where Heathkits were manufactured for nearly half a century.

Fifteen years ago, the last kit left the Heath factory in Benton Harbor, Mich. Heath had held on longer than its competitors, but after a decade or more of declining sales, the company announced in March of 1992 that it was quitting the electronic kit business. Left behind was a generation of fans, many of whom remain loyal to the products and to the Heath name.

More at
http://www.kren.com/Global/story.asp?S=8061409&nav=menu616_2

VELOCITY FACTOR (VF) OF COMMON COAXIAL CABLES

This from Dennis Minnick, KA8TQR

CABLE VF

RG-8 .66
LMR-400 .85
RG-8X .84
RG-11 .75
RG-58 .66
LMR-195 .83
RG-59 .82
RG-62 .84
RG-174 .66
RG-213 .66
RG-214 .66
RG-217 .66
RG-218 .66
RG-316 .79
RG-400 .695
LMR-500 .85
LMR-600 .86
1/2 HARD .81
7/8 HARD .81
LDF all ver .88

A Beginner's Guide to Making CW Contacts

http://www.netwalk.com/~fsv/CWguide.htm

There are dozens of specialities or activities under the broad banner of Amateur Radio. Amateur radio is also known as ham radio, why, nobody knows for certain. From working DX, to building radios from scratch, to satellite communications, to slow-scan TV, to just plain rag chewing(or talking) with new and old friends all over the world; there is something for everybody.

As a true ham radio fanatic, my personal favorite ham activity is yakking with other hams in Morse Code, also called CW(for continuous waves). Morse Code has a mystique to it, it is an extremely cool method with which to communicate. In this Beginner's Guide to Making CW Contacts I am going to try and give those hams new to CW a better idea of how to start. How to find someone to talk with, what to talk about, how to deal with QRM, how to end a CW contact, how to get lots and lots of QSL cards, and much more useful and practical information.

I wrote this Guide from the perspective of hams in the United States. Many of my references, for example to frequencies and to radio propagation, pertain to amateur radio in North America, although most of the CW operating techniques I discuss apply to worldwide CW operation.

How to Call (and Answer) a CQ

If you're shy about getting on the air, this is a must read.

It seems impossible, but it's very true that most new hams don't know how to call CQ. And a lot don't know how to answer one, either!

We're all to blame for that. There just isn't as much “CQing” as there used to be, except during contests. One reason might be that we're mostly using transceivers with VFO control - as silly as that sounds. Here's the explanation: Back in the good old days (for me), we used mostly crystal controlled transmitters with separate, tunable receivers. The odds of having a crystal on exactly the same frequency as someone else who was on the band, and within range, at the same time was pretty slim. So, it was common to call CQ, then tune around, looking for answers.

Well, today, we needn't tune around looking for answers, any answers will be right there on the same frequency we're on. Experienced operators know it's easy to break into an ongoing QSO, if you know how and when it's appropriate to do so. I make a lot of my contacts like that: Just overhear an interesting conversation, wait for a pause, insert my callsign, and join the group. But many newbies, as well as some old-timers, are too shy to do this, or maybe just not very good at it. And it is frowned on by most to break into a conversation when you've absolutely nothing to add to it.

more at http://www.eham.net/articles/18195

Tigertail Counterpoise - Part II

The conclusion of a two part series on how to make a tigertail counterpoise for your HT.

Tigertail Counterpoise - Part I

Part one of a two part series on how to make a tigertail counterpoise for your HT.

WW2DX M2 Prop Pitch Controller Demo

Here is a short demo of the M2 RC2800PX Prop Pitch Controller.

http://www.cqtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=086079795c442636b55f