Tom,

I know there has been a lot of talk about  the RFI problems you and Junior 
have been having recently.  This may not be practical for  75 or 80 meters, 
where you both seemed to have problems, but  may be worth a try for 17.

Cut a quarter wave counterpoise for 17 meters (about 12 feet, 11 inches) and 
attach it to the ground lug on the amp.   Use insulated wire and tape the 
far end, since it will be RF hot.   14, 16,  18 gauge, or whatever you have. 
Lay it around the perimeter of the room, and if it works, tuck it under the 
carpet or under the baseboard or whatever.

May not work, or may even make things worse, but it's a 5 minute,  no cost 
project that just may help.

Also, just curious:  I know you don't have a real ground system, but do you 
have the rig, tuner, and amp grounded together, or to a common point, or  no 
connections other than the coax between the gear?  Also wonder if you have 
the same RF problems while transmitting high power into a dummy load?


BTW, I did work a few Europeans on 40 last night, but the  band was jammed 
and deafening.  Hope to get on the higher bands sometime today.  Have fun.

73, Steve KW3A

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "tom behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 9:05 PM
Subject: Net controls needed for Sunday's Cross-country Blind Ops Net


> Hi, all.
>
> As you may remember, we have decided to move the cross-country blind ops 
> net
> for just this Sunday to 17 meters, on or near 18.160 MHZ.
>
> This is because of the ARRL International DX SSB contest, which will be
> running all week-end, and creating a real mad house on 20 meters.
>
> Due to my apparent RFI problems on 17 meters with the amplifier, I'd 
> better
> not serve as net control this time, because if I have too many problems, I
> may have to run bare foot.  Besides, 17 meters tends to be a bit longer 
> than
> 20 meters at 2100 Z, so we may need net controls more on either end of the
> country, or maybe in various corners of the country.
>
> So, if several folks could agree to co-operatively take the helm on Sunday
> afternoon, that'd be appreciated.
>
> I'll be happy to help with relays, but I'd better stay away from net 
> control
> on 17 meters.
>
> Thanks, and 73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ, Louisville, CO
>