Jerry Jerry
Good luck with the r8.  I have had one here for several years with
reasonable success.  I have been tempted to try a gap but its hard to get
antenna help.  I had a difficult time tuning the r8 for 40 meters. When they
say 150 khz band width they mean it.  I supposedly set mine up for the uper
part of the phone  band and after getting it up on my two story house, I
discovered the thing had a 1 to 1 swr at the very bottom of the cw band.
Trying to be careful I shortened it only about an inch and discovered I was
still well in the cw band.  After more tries than I care to mention, I
finally got it to the point that the swr was under 2/1 between 7125 and
7275.
The good (very good) news is no tvi, not a line.
Rich