[SixClub] MY NEW AMPLIFIER

[K8RI on Six]

Too many years of loud noises... If I hear voices I better either have a 
head set on  or find some one standing in front of me. Otherwise the 
ringing in my ears drowns out  most noises.

Starting as a kid I drove a lot of big tractors, some without mufflers. 
I started driving tractors when I had to stand on the clutch pedal with 
both feet to get it to go in.  Then I started competitive target 
shooting. Went through a couple hundred thousand 12 ga shotgun shells. 
Man is the action on the old model 12 really smooth. <:-))  Did right 
well with that sport/hobby!

I do run QRO, but it's the legal limit. Yes I do have some good YC156's 
and 4CX3000s as well as 4-1000A's, GU81's, Chinese FU728F's, and 
4CX1500B's. I might even get them on the air ... some day... but I do 
not want to have to replace all my coax connectors. The 4-1000A's have 
taken quite a jump in price over the last month.

With SO2R operation having one station in the house/Den and the other 
out in the shop, plus two towers, remote antenna switches, and all the 
feed throughs in the junction boxs at the base of the towers, I'm 
running very close to a 100 coax connectors that have to fit LMR-600.  
Best I've seen 7-16 DIN connectors has been in the $20 range. I've been 
using UHF connectors (PL-259's) that I've modified to handle the high 
voltage with high SWR on 160 and 75.  OTOH the system works really well 
with a center fed, half wave sloping dipole with the top end at 90 feet 
or so and running the legal limit.  Twice now I've worked Trinidad in 
the last month with the band in not the best of shape, but I gave him a 
20 over while he gave me a 60 over. There are a few out there that 
appear to think I am running real QRO.  I do have some overhead, but at 
best, if I ran the amp all the way to "tilt" I'd only gain about 1 db 
and it's not worth the wear and tear on the equipment.

As to the fluorescent lights on the antennas, a friend (long gone) used 
to have a very tall, inverted V with a tube on each end.  He was running 
a pair of 304TLs modulated by a bunch of 813's (Twas back in the AM 
days). He did have one exciter that was a home brew phasing rig with 
very good sounding SSB.  I don't remember what he had for finals behind 
that.  I think it might have been a pair of 813's.  We could get new 
ones for about $5.  I used to get 6C21's and 450 TH's for around $5.00 
also.    He used to go out and draw a 6" arc off the end of the antenna 
with a pencil. I don't know how he managed not to get burnt.  That 
antenna or rather the mast that held it up darn near killed me.

We had the base set for a large fold over pole. The idea was to hinge it 
at the base and pull it into a clevis at the top.  There after we'd 
hinge it over at the top of the base pole.  Good in theory, but put into 
practice needing a bit more thought. Bout time the mast was maybe 15 or 
so feet off the ground the whole thing decided to rotate. It was about 
chest high on me and headed right toward me. I certainly didn't want to 
go under it so I basically ended up riding it. Unfortunately there was a 
shed coming up fast behind me. Fortunately I missed the shed by a foot 
or two. Unfortunately it took the top 2/3rds of the shed off as clean as 
if we'd run it through a saw.  Not too straight though as the rope was 
losing tension as the thing rotated. Fortunately I managed to keep my 
body out from under it, but that was quite a ride.  Good thing I was 
really agile.

BTW looking at the propagation projections for this cycle we better get 
those antennas working and right soon.  The peak is projected for some 
time in 2013 and it's only a bit over half of the previous peak.  OTOH 
this far ahead they could be wayyyy off.  It has been getting pretty 
active with CME's.

BTW as long as I'm full of good news, there are at least 30 coal fired 
power plants slated to close in the next year or two due to the new EPA 
regulations which do not give them time to comply so it's shut down with 
Texas being hit particularly hard.  It'd cost a  fortune even if they 
had been given enough time to comply.  That means electric rates are 
going to soar and we are going to have to hope for cool summers and warm 
winters which is unlikely, but there are likely to be many brown outs 
and black outs.  The one saving grace is natural gas should get really 
cheap unless they do something to it as well.

73

Roger (K8RI)