[Elecraft] More antenna problems

[Wingkeel at aol.com]

Hi all,

     I am having a ball with my new K2, (S/N 4275).  I finally busted through 
the 15 WPM barrier and am on my way to 20 WPM.  Now to my problem...

My antenna is a 100' length of wire fed by 50' of RG8X Mini.  The feed point 
is at 10' off the ground through a balun.  The wire arches up to about 25' in 
the tallest tree on our lot and the wire points roughly south.  The backside 
is a 60' length of 12 GA insulated wire thrown over the roof, (my property line 
is less than 10' behind the feed point).  There is a power line at the same 
height as the balun just over the property line, (about 12' away).  The noise 
blanker has no appreciable effect on noise, so I doubt if power line noise is 
having much effect.  My K2 also has the KAT2 which matches up at 1.3:1 on 
40-meters.  My power supply is an Anstron SS30 which is about 4' away from the 
radio.  The power supply has no effect on a computer about the same distance away. 
 The noise seems to be white in nature and not the 60-cycle hum.  
Periodically, the noise will fluctuate about 2 s-units which I attribute to scatter 
effect.

Several people have indicated that I have busted through pileups with 
10-watts out.  Others have indicated that I had the strongest signal out there at 
times...Usually in Utah and Texas.  I live in Boulder, CO.

My problem is that I cannot hear the incoming signals very well through the 
5-7 S-units of noise between 1830-2100 when I can get on the radio.  I just 
completed realigning my receiver with the Spectrogram software.  

I have not been able to work anything outside of the US since I finished my 
K2 and got my General license about 4-weeks ago.  I also cannot work anything 
or anybody between 0500-1830.  Sometimes I can find a weak signal but I can 
never get back to them on 5-10 Watts.  Is this the norm for this cycle?

I'm seriously thinking about buying as 5-band Hustler to ground mount behind 
my shack.  I've been told that my signal to noise ratio would improve 
considerably by a salesman at a local store.  He suggested either the Cushman or the 
Hustler and indicated that for the $350 difference, the Hustler receives almost 
as good as the Cushman.  Any thoughts?  I'm getting pretty desperate.  I can 
use all the Morse Code programs in the world but it all gets boring after 
about 5-minutes, otherwise, I can talk for hours to real people!  For a newcomer, 
its kind of like fishing...you never know what you've got till you bring it 
in.  One of the most fun aspects is looking them up in the ARRL database to get 
an address to send a QSL card to.  At 54, I thought I'd done it all...LIFE IS 
GOOD!

                                       Thanks all

                                73 de Terry - KC0QZX