WRYZ926

I agree that a good soldering iron comes in handy around the house. My suggestion is to make sure you can get different size tips. Sometimes you need the big chisel tip and other times you need a very fine point tip. Don't get discouraged that the Great Foam didn't work. It doesn't surprise me one bit that it was goo inside the pipe as any spray foam needs exposure to open air to cure.

I like your idea of using end caps. Though I would use some silicon sealer instead of JB Weld. You can always get some dense foam and cut it to fit inside of the PVC pipe. That is how most commercial vertical antennas are done. And if you don't want to glue the caps on, you can always use some self amalgamating tape with a wrap of UV resistant electrical tape over top of that to seal things up. As far as knowing when to cut or add lengths, this is where an antenna analyzer or NanoVNA comes in handy. Both will show you exactly where the resonant point (dip) is and you can see if you are long or short right away. Yes you can tune an antenna with a SWR/power meter. The problem is that it will only show what the SWR is on the frequency that you are transmitting on. A SWR meter will not show where the resonant point actually is so you are guessing if the antenna is long or short.

Here is a trick with 1/4 wave vertical telescoping whip antennas with adjustable coils. Tune as best as you can with the coil then fine tune by adjusting the whip. Here is where an antenna analyzer or NanoVNA comes in super handy.

Pine and cedar trees are the worse when it comes to blocking UHF. There are plenty of places where either pine or red cedar trees are growing next to the road here. I have no problem using the 2m repeater in those spots but I can forget about using the 70cm or GMRS repeaters as they are dead zones.

Exactly. That's why I always say that you won't know until you try. I have tried the 771G on all of my GMRS radios. The stock antenna did better on my Wouxun radios while the 771G did better on my Baofeng radios I also tried the 771 on my 2m/70cm radios. The stock antenna did better on my Icom and Wouxun radios while the 771 did better on my Baofeng, QRZ/TYT, and Quansheng radios.

I don't have the KG-Q10G but I do have the KG-935G+. I tried the Nagoya 771G on the 935 and the stock antenna actually performed better. Each radio and antenna will be a little different. You won't know unless you try.

I have to agree. I would leave well enough alone as those SWR numbers are good.

Your clock being off by 1.5 seconds or more will cause problems with decode. NetTime works well. There are also programs that you can manually set your computer time to match DX stations when their time is way off. I have not used any as I won't bother with stations who's time is off.

Most people running FT8 on a Windows computer use NetTime to sync their computer clocks. And yes being a few seconds off can cause you to not be able to decode other stations. You might be able to hear other stations when their clock is off but you wan't be able to complete the contact. FT8 runs on 15 second cycles and FT4 runs on 7 second cycles. So accurate time is important. Also double check that you have the correct settings on your radio and in WSJT-X. A sometimes overlooked setting is the baud rate. If you haven't done so, you will want to adjust your USB audio speaker and mic levels so that you can hear people and also transmit without over driving the radio. Turn off any sound enhancements within Windows for the USB sound devices. WSJT-X and FT8 can be it's own thread as it can get quite detailed.

Most general and amateur extra license holders really don't use 10m FM unless there are 10m repeaters in their ares. At least that is what I have seen in my area. SSB has more range than FM. The Icom IC-7300 is definitely one of the most popular HF base stations. It has an easy to use menu, especially when compared to Yaesu menus. You can usually pick up a used 7300 around $700 to $800 especially now that people are upgrading from the 7300 to the 7300 MkII. I know plenty of people even use the 7300 as a portable radio for POTA.

I have to agree that MURS or FRS would be a better solution unless everyone is willing to get their GMRS licenses.

I have a good Weller soldering station and I still have problems trying to solder PL-259 connectors to the coax shield. I can solder 30-32 gauge wires to tiny solder pads on my N Scale locomotive digital control boards without an issue. Plus I have welded for years as apart of my job as a machinist/tool and die maker. And I've sweated enough copper over the years. But coax cables gives me fits. I have switched over to crimp on connectors and have a Powerwerx crimper set that works well. Having a good crimper makes things easier. Also making sure the crimper uses a common style of crimp dies so that you can swap them out is important.

That is not quite correct. Channels 1, 2, 4, and 5 will still exist with the 100 watt ERP power limit. Nothing is changing there. We are still going to have those four channels to use. What is changing is that we are losing channel 3 and instead get 5.351 MHz to 5.366 MHz to use. The reason for the lower ERP limit of 9.15 watts to meet ITU standards. We still won't be able to use VFO mode except for the new small portion that is in the part of the band that channel 3 is currently.

Yes grants are available for non profit organizations. Our group is registered as a 503-C non profit. We get grants every year. Most grants are small but every bit helps. It is usually local foundations that give us the grants. Most foundations are more than happy to donate to non profits in the form of grants as that is a nice tax write off for them.

That should be fine. The only real way to know for sure is to try it.

What ever works to keep the radials neat. Remember that if you elevate the HF-009 on a tripod and also use elevated radials that you will need to tune the radials for each band.

Dang it, I ran out of reactions for the day Yes you are correct that it's nice to see the lower price on the 7300. I bet that only lasts until stock runs out. I don't see Icom producing both version for long.

It is definitely a lot of work to run and maintain repeaters. We are lucky that we are allowed to use the local radio station's 1,000 ft backup tower rent free. It is a tax write off for the station. I am really hoping it is the jumper of lightning arrestor. Otherwise we will have to get someone that is certified/licensed to climb commercial towers. If we do have to replace the coax then I will see if we can get a grant to go with 1 1/4 hardline instead of the 7/8 hardline.

The HF-009 is using 1/4 wave ground radials for 20m. A 1/4 wave at 14.250 is 16.98 feet or 5.17 meters. The length of ground radials is not critical so it is fine to round up or down to the nearest foot or meter, which is what Radioddity did. Here is a good wavelength calculator: ahsystems.com frequency wavelength calculator. That is how I came up with 8.6 feet for my 24 short ground radials as that length is a 1/8 wave for 20m. You should double the number of ground radials if you use 1/8 wavelength compared to 1/4 wavelength ground radials for good performance.

Yes the 7300 MkII is nice but for me it is not worth upgrading from the 7300 at this time. I'm not worried about connecting an external monitor to my radio and I don't need the ethernet connection since I do not run remote. While the G90 is a great little 20 watt radio, it will never compete with a 100 watt radio from Icom or Yaesu. I mostly use the 7300 at home. But I do use the G90 and X6200 at home when I get bored.

We have had good luck with the RC-210 and Motorola repeaters. We have been running them for about 18 months now. So far we only have our 2m and 70 cm repeaters connected to them. We also have a good battery backup system in place that is monitored constantly. I don't know what has happened with our GMRS repeater antenna/coax. I went out to sweep all of the antennas to include several that have been abandoned on the tower to see if any of them can be used for 2m Winlink and 2m APRS. When I checked the GMRS antenna I was getting a SWR of 4.0:1. We had replaced the PL259 connector on the end of the 7/8 hardline last fall with a N Type connector and the SWR at that time was 1.7:1. I didn't have all of the test equipment with me at that time to check the coax. The antennas are at 400-450 feet. I am hoping we can get to the site soon and do some more trouble shooting. It would be nice if it is a bad jumper cable or a bad lightning arrester. Otherwise we will have to get someone to climb the tower. I have shut the GMRS repeater down until we get the SWR problem fixed.

I meant four radials that are 33ft long. And how I came up with 8.6 feet is that is approximately a 1/8 wave on 20 meters.

That still gives you options. And yes common mode chokes do work and keep RF out of your radio.

@Northcutt114 I think you will like the 7300, it's a nice base station radio. The thing about 40m and 80 is that they are better for DX at night. 40m works better for closer contacts during the day. I haven't messed with 80m during the day.

I'm glad to hear that the 771G is working out for you. I have tested the Nagoya 771 and 771G on several different radios. They made on improvement on a few radios while the shorter stock antennas worked better on others. You never know until you try. The stock antennas worked best on my Icom and Wouxun radios while the 771 and 771G worked better on the Baofeng and TYT radios.