http://www.totalradioservice.com/
They list a Dual Band HT for $129.00. The charger uses 12 volts and it is computer programmable. Sounds like a good deal for someone who has a limited budget.
GOOGLE "n3jt station grounding" to read one of the very best articles I have ever seen on station grounding. He unhooked ALL this antennas and still had major lightning damage.
GOOGLE "The Portable Omni Box WB8VGE" A fascinating little utility. A more complete article on this is in the July issue of QST magazine.
GOOGLE "KH6TY sound card interface"
http://kh6ty.home.comcast.net/~kh6ty/JuneQST.pdf
(Above is June 2009 article)
An expanded article is in the July 2010 issue of QST magazine. If you EVER get into digital modes, this article contains the BEST info I have ever seen on what settings to use on your PC to get it to work right. The 2009 article referenced above mentions using digital modes with your HT on 2 meters for EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS. This gets a cleaner signal, improves your range at any given power setting, and keeps a complete log of all message traffic during the session. WOW! I think this is the perfect way to handle emergency communications in areas where HT traffic has trouble getting through or covering the entire affected area.
Go to www.powerwerx.com to see some of the neat accessory cables, connectors, and adaptors that are available. You can buy the parts and build these yourself for less money, or you can let somebody else do the work and pay just a little more.
The previous post was about lightning. Here are some excellent notes and links sent in by Scott, W7OXZ.
It may be interesting to note that the National Lightning Safety Institute does not consider the current involved in a lightning strike to be DC but rather high frequency AC, making it true that skin effect plays an important role in lightning projection. it is the reason that people in a car are protected. It is not the insulation provided by the tires. I saw what happened to the tires of a small rubber tired tractor when it came in contact with a 12 KV power line - small piles of smoking carbon under scorched metal rims. The operator tried to climb off the tractor and never made it. What is a few inches of rubber to the mega voltage of a lightning bolt!
"Electrically speaking, at lightning's higher frequencies, currents are carried mostly on the outside of conducting objects. A thick copper wire or a hollow-wall metal pipe will carry most of the lightning on outer surfaces. This phenomenon is called "skin effect." The same holds true for lightning when it strikes metal vehicles: the outer surface carries most of the electricity."
"Rubber tires provide zero safety from lightning. After all, lightning has traveled for miles through the sky: four or five inches of rubber is no insulation whatsoever."
The URL for the page on vehicles is http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/vehicle_strike.html or click HERE.
Scott / W7OXZ
73 until next time -N7OZH-
