(John Sandin) wrote in message ...
I am a new technician with code privileges. I built the following CW
transmitter for 40 meters:

http://cs.okanagan.bc.ca/ve7ouc/eng/...nsmitter2.html

It's a solid state 3-watter, based on an article in QST in June 1967.
I used a printed circuit board instead of wiring everything together
directly, as the QST article suggests. So, there are many wires
running from various parts mounted on the chassis to the circuit
board.

I think all those wires, and the stray L and C they introduce, is the
heart of your problem with getting it to work right.

I'd try building it as close to the way the original article showed as
possible. An inexpensive bread or cake pan can be a good chassis, and
easy to wrok.

I am
running this into a dipole cut for 40 meters, which is 7 feet off the
ground. I'm using fundamental frequency HC6/U crystals for 7110 and
7125 kHz. I've been trying for 2 weeks, at all hours of the day and
night, and have had no indication that anyone hears me. I've called
CQ, and I've attempted to answer CQ's. Nothing, after about 100
tries.

7 feet off the ground is less than 1/16 wavelength on 40 meters.
That's just too low.

One of the transistors (Q2) is supposed to be heat sinked. I have put
a large homemeade heat sink on this, using plenty of heat sink grease,
and it gets so hot I can barely touch it.

That's not right. You may have cooked that transistor.

73 es GL de Jim, N2EY