[W5SFA] General License

[Dan White]

Yes, I posted your call on the club site this afternoon.

I prefer Yaesu for HF.  Just like the layout of the controls better.  Get a radio big enough to see all of the buttons, knobs and switches.

Astron is a good power supply.  Switchers are lighter and draw less power (heat).

G5RV is good but I like a plain dipole the best.  If you slope it, one end at 5' and the other at 20' or so you will cover the band quite well.  With a dipole you will need more than one as they are tuned for a specific center frequency.  I have a 5 band remote switch box.  You feed it with one coax and then a coax to each antenna.  I use an 80m and 40m antenna for the low bands and a beam for the rest.

Austin ARS is a good supplier as you can go look at the equipment and take it home.  AES and Texas Radio (Dallas) are the second best.

Please use the club reflector for questions to the group.  You will get all kinds of opinions.  You are welcome to come see what I have as well as Cameron's.

If you want to make a road trip to Austin I am sure someone would go along for the ride.

Dan, W5AOV


From: Roger Klein 
Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2013 17:51
To: 'Dan White' 
Subject: General License


Dan,

 

My license got posted on the ULA today, my new call sign is KF5WUA.  Thanks again to you, Bruce and Ron for taking the time as volunteer examiners!  I don't have Bruce's or Ron's email, so please pass on my thanks to them.

 

I have a few "newbie" questions if you don't mind.  

 

·         I would like to get into the HF bands on SSB, and have been researching models online.  I'm interested mainly in a base station setup, so portability isn't that important to me.  There's quite a lot to choose from, but the model I'm leaning toward is the Kenwood TS-590S model.  It's got good reviews on eham.net, and is in the price range I'm looking at (around $1,500).  I've also looked at the Yaesu FT-950, the Icom 7410 and the Kenwood TS-2000, which are all in this range and have good reviews.  But the TS-590 seems a little newer model.  Do you have any experience with any of these, or any tidbits of wisdom you could share?

 

·         For power supply, it looks like I can save a few dollars by buying a third party supply.  The  Astron RS-35 models look good.  These are transformer, rather than switching supplies, which from what I gathered are a bit better - is this true?.  Any opinions or info about power supplies? 

 

·         For a starter antenna, I've been looking at the G5RV type dipole, which are supposed to be somewhat wideband.  Do you think this is a good choice for getting started?  We've got 5 acres, so space isn't too much of a problem (though there is an overhead electrical easement that bisects our property so have to stay clear of that).  We've got lots of trees, though getting an antenna higher than 25-30 ft will be a challenge.  My shack will be inside a steel building, so I suspect I don't want an antenna too close to it?

 

·         Finally, who is a good equipment supplier in your experience?  I know of Austin Amateur Radio Supply, who have pretty competitive prices, as well as several internet companies like hamradio.com. But, would it be better to buy in a store?

 

Regards,

 

Roger Klein
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