WC4E / WPX - TIC Rings

[N2NU at aol.com]

Another opinion on TIC rings.....
Not that they are perfect, certainly quality control has not been the best,
the instructions suck and I have had my share of problems.
Also, I might be accused of having what I call "Rydberg's syndrome" named for
someone I know who has difficulty criticizing any products that he has
purchased (I guess because that would reflect poorly on the purchaser)

BUT

I have found that once you get past the instructions, the missing parts (Todd
has always been very responsive to me, at least) and
the other oddities these things work pretty well.  Yeah, the directional 
indication is approximate, but I'm not using them to turn 15 element beams.
 What I have found is critical is that they are constructed meticulously,
leveled on the towers, and that a lot of care is taken.  The flexibility of
turning the lower antennas is extremely important here and I find that the
extra 60 degrees gained over a sidemount is very useful.  Once I have gotten
these things together right, they have worked flawlessly.  (only 1 year on
them so far).  Who knows, I may change my mind over time. 

I do wish the company would get its act together.  By the way a bit of TIC
trivia>>>>

Can anyone out there tell me what TIC stands for?  Barry (W2UP) I know that
you know the answer, you're disqualified from this competition.  Please post
your serious (and frivilous) answers here.  All decisions by the judges are
final.

Enyoo



>From Jeff Tucker <jefft at atlanta.com>  Mon May 29 19:19:00 1995
From: Jeff Tucker <jefft at atlanta.com> (Jeff Tucker)
Date: Mon, 29 May 1995 18:19:00
Subject: Computer interfaces for FT-1000
Message-ID: <199510232235.SAA20210 at atlanta.com>

Has anyone had any luck building their own computer interface
for the Yaesu FT-1000?  I have a commercial board I modified,
which had a MAX-232 already on it, but I can't make it talk with
my radio.  I tried a Yaesu brand level convertor and it worked fine,
so I know the radio works and I understand the data to send to it.

I can see TTL data on pin 3 of the CAT connector I'm plugging
into the radio.  This is supposed to be the serial input to the radio.
The MAX-232 is going straight out, through
a 470 ohm resistor, to this pin.  My level convertor is normally
sitting high on pin 3 (+5V) and pulses down to gnd with the
data.  When I output data to the radio, the CAT light doesn't flash
and the radio doesn't respond.  This all worked fine with the Yaesu
interface, and I'm using the same baud rate, commands, etc.

Any hints would be appreciated.  I'm trying to build up a few of
these for the upcoming CQWW CONTEST.

Thanks es 73
Jeff N9HZQ


 --
Jeff Tucker, N9HZQ
jefft at atlanta.com



>From wme at austin.ibm.com (Will Edwards)  Wed Nov  1 00:06:24 1995
From: wme at austin.ibm.com (Will Edwards) (Will Edwards)
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 18:06:24 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Native OS/2 Sweepstakes Logger
Message-ID: <9511010006.AA19239 at prism.austin.ibm.com>

Hi,

I just learned about this contest forum from another subscriber and am now
subscribed too.

If you're an OS/2 user and like operating in the ARRL November Sweepstakes
contest, you might like the native OS/2 logger I put out on the Boston ARC
ftp server.  If you have a TS-940 with the computer control option, the
logger can perform some transceiver control for you.  The zip file can be
ftp'ed from oak.oakland.edu under /pub/hamradio/os2/logging/sslogger.zip.

Due to my inexperience in PM programming, I fell into a PM "gotcha" and I
thus don't recommend it yet for screen resolutions under 1024x768.  Greater
than 1024x768 is ok but not perfect.

It's freeware.  Hope you enjoy it!

-- 
73,
Will, WA5WZA
wme at austin.ibm.com