I was just thinking that a special tool might be handy here. In the aviation world, whatever bolts aren't held with locking fasteners or cotter pins are safety wired. To make safety wire installation
I have a couple of these fixtures in my basement, in the office next to my shack. I also have a three free-hanging flourescent fixtures above clear tiles in my shack. None of them is an RFI source. B
An R7000 isn't a bad antenna, but if you are really interested in working DX, you're better off with a beam of some kind. Even a low tribander will beat out an R7000 in most instances. The R7000 does
In the aviation world, when you want to clean junk off a piece of aluminum without harming the softer alloys deposited on the surface of the aluminum sheet (a process that goes by various names), you
Use whatever length of coax you need to get from the balun to the tuner. Don't worry about it. I would suggest you use only solid-dielectric coax, as on some frequencies there may be voltage nodes in
I hope you didn't spend much on it. Yes. QST did a "review" several years ago. They published an X-ray photograph, as they couldn't get the unit open, either. Turns out, this thing is just a big dumm
I had a 6 foot roof tower up for 8 years, and other than a few leaks, I didn't experience any problem with either support strain or wind noise. My installation consisted of four six foot 2x6s. Two on
Just so happens.... 4130 chromemoly steel has been an aircraft building material since shortly after the Wright brothers perfected their all wood and wire designs. Typical tubing sizes are around 3/8
Here's one of those really radical ideas that strikes from time to time. The biggest problem with beam slippage on the mast is you simply don't know which way you are pointing. What if you had a way
Except that pilots don't call it that, and will give you funny looks (even over the telephone) if you ask for magnetic declination. Call the airport and ask for the magnetic variation. If they don't
Great idea, Lee. Someone else also suggested this in private e-mail. You'll need TWO GPS antennas, since a typical GPS receiver is only accurate to around 300 feet. Having two antennas allows you to
This topic is much debated in aviation homebuilding circles: if you MIG or TIG weld, do you need to stress relieve the joints after welding? The high temperature transients leave minute stresses in t
Not if he's taking off or landing. The proposed 130 foot tower apparently lies along the approach/departure route for the airport, that's the problem. Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr@radio.o
You've obviously never been in an airplane LOOKING for those lights on the towers. They can be darned hard to see even if you KNOW they are there. Bottom line, if your tower installation requires lig
On 6/13/97 9:57 AM, Charles H. Harpole at harpole@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu wrote: The NBS (now NIST) studies of a couple of decades ago decisively showed that the BOOM LENGTH was the primary factor in dete
In talking with Chris, KD4DTS on a local UHF repeater, he related an interesting tower installation: Apparently an enterprising ham decided that it was easier and cheaper to dispense with all that fu
WARNING! Even the $20 ultrasonic stud finder can lead you astray. The stud finder merely finds the densest part of the wall. Here's a story: I was putting up a quilt hanger for my wife. I had these g
Hmm. My back of the envelope computation says something isn't right. If you double the diameter, that quadruples the volume per foot of height. If 5.76 feet is right for a 1 foot hole, then a two foo
I managed to separate sections of an un-Penetroxed A3S boom by applying heat from a Berz-O-Matic torch. I heated the joint up thoroughly, waited for it to cool completely, then worked it apart. Took
Years ago, I saw the most impressive demonstration of a 25 watt soldering station. The tip was heated with RF energy, so the pigtail was small and light (being miniature coax with a teflon jacket). T