[ARC5] First contact

[J Mcvey]

I have been tinkering with these ARC5 sets for a while, but wanted to see if I could make a  contact with  a very short antenna and the power supply not exactly ready for "prime time". ( it's got serious droop, causing "whoop"). The antenna was not short enough, however, because I had to use a series cap to bring into range where I could use 50%of the  inductor. The resulting impedance was a bit high too, resulting in lower antenna current.
None the less it happened today with a station about 150 miles away. I got a 559 rst. Unfortunately he was very close to 7.125 and he was getting clobbered by a very loud SSB station from VK land of all places!  Propagation is a very strange animal.The unmodified receivers just cant get the separation needed. An internal  fet Q multiplier is on the agenda.
I see that Dave uses a frequency counter to find out where he is on the bands too. I know the calibration is a bit off on both my TX and RX so I'm never sure where exactly I am.  I have to spot the transmitter on the receiver while the guy is calling CQ. Then I answer. Is this acceptable procedure? I have no idea how you old timers made so many contacts with equipment like this. It was fun challenge which made the contact all the more exciting.  
A transceiver is Soooooo easy compared to separate  rx, tx .