[Collins] S-Line questions

[Jim Isbell]

I sent this post on the 30th of Oct but for some reason it never showed up on 
the list.  SOoooo, I am going to try again.

I have been operating the S-1 Line for just a few days now and made contacts on 
80 and 40 meters with good signal and audio reports so I guess I am doing 
something right.   But I have discovered that I need four questions answered.

1)  When tuning in a station on the 75S-1,  I sometimes find that the
station is more readable by tuning the preselector off to one side or
the other of the peak to eliminate the background noise.  Its a lot
easier to listen to, but since I am operating in Transceive mode, does
it affect the transmit adversely?

2) Right now I am using a Shure mike with a Heil HC-5 element.  But I have a 
D-104 amplified microphone that I would like to use with the
S-Line because it looks better than the Shure.  Can I just bypass the amplifier 
and use the stock D-104 element
straight into the 32S-1?  Is an Ohmmeter reading on a mike element a fair 
estimation of its impedance??

3) I am building a Linear to go with the S-Line and I want it to look
like Collins equipment.  Is there a source for any nice looking knobs
that look similar to the Collins knobs that might be a little less
expensive than genuine Collins?

4.) Has anyone any experience with using multiple dipoles from a single feed 
point on the theory that the non resonant dipoles will have a high impedance so 
not affect the resonant dipole's 50 ohm impedance.

I have a 40 meter dipole and would like to get on 20 meters but it wont load on 
20.  However it does load on 80 with an SWR of about 1.5 and on 40 with an SWR 
of 1.2

Thanks,

Jim W5JAI Isbell (only on 40 and 80 meters, so far)