On Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:12:01 -0600, "Irv Finkleman"
wrote:

It is good though that they are getting smart on energy
efficient construction and other things -- hopefully we will
leave our kids and grandkids with a world pointed in the
right direction.

Yep. It's happening, but very slowly and painfully. Ecology is
expensive in the short term, but worth the cost and effort.
Unfortunately, I've seen some abuse of power precipitated in the name
of the environment. Like all good things, environmental correctness
does attract a few flies.

I'm on the air but not sure just how well I am getting
out, I don't want to measure it, I don't even care to
know since it is a whole different matter on QRP.

Oh rubbish. There are plenty of ways to test your setup that doesn't
involve calling CQ and getting a subjective signal report:
1. You can login to one of the remote radios or receivers on the
internet, tune to an empty frequency, and listen to yourself.
http://beta.remotehams.com
http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Internet_and_Radio/Online_Receivers/
2. You can join one of the internet QRP clubs.
3. Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Network
http://wsprnet.org
4. Reverse Beacon Network:
http://www.reversebeacon.net
5. You can listen for beacons to check your receiver and antenna:
http://www.ac6v.com/beacons.htm
Our local radio club also has a remote HF station controllable over
the internet (using HRD) but it's only for club members.

From those lovely boxes of variable caps and
assorted inductors (some roller-inductors) and
a cheap 2nd hand 50ua meter I am going to build
up an artificial ground which is about as simple
a circuit as one can get -- the L&C in series and
make a sniffer out of the meter and a diode!.

All an artificial ground does is tune out the ground lead inductance
so that it's series resonant at the operating frequency. In effect,
you're building a counterpoise. You could user your MFJ-259B or a
grid dip meter to resonate the ground lead, and forget about the meter
and detector. However, if you must use a meter, I suggest a
thermocouple RF ammeter. Getting it to heat up the series resistor at
5 watts might be a challenge, but it can be done. Otherwise, it's a
current transfomer, ferrite core, diode detector, and 50ua meter.
http://www.w1tag.com/RFA.htm

I'm a master of procrastination

I have a PHD in procrastination. Never do today what you get someone
else to do for you tomorrow.

Is that a lot, I ask?

Yes, if you try to do it all at once.
No, if you take your time, grind the numbers, do a little planning,
and invite all your friends to help.

Thanks on the tips re the MFJ diodes. I'm aware
of them and can test and change them if need be.

I could only test the diodes after they were removed. The 50 ohm
resistors in the circuit prevented easy checking with an ohms guesser.

So far, so good! I guess it wouldn't hurt to have
some on hand -- it's pretty inevitable that with
the experimentation etc, that I'll be doing some
or all will get blown before you can say poof!

Yep. My experience is that certain users tend to blow up diodes no
matter what they do, while others don't have any problems. I'm sure
it's the user, not the analyzer. Possibly static build-up or
ungrounded antennas. Dunno.

I've been fairly lucky replacing all 4 diodes without needed to
calibrate the device. However, if you find the readings off after
replacement, see:
http://www.w8ji.com/mfj-259b_calibration.htm
The procedure took me 2 full days on an MFJ-269B. It went much
quicker after I read and followed the instructions.

Do you think that if I were to ask the management
here If I could have an aluminum ladder outside my
second floor window -- just to easy my mind about
the dangers of fire, they might agree?

No. Someone will probably try to steal the ladder. 20ft ladders are
not cheap. I ran two u-bolts through the ladder base, and permanently
attached the u-bolts to two foundation blocks with half a bag of
concrete mix in the hole. Various attempts were made to steal it, but
nobody got very far with 30 kg of buried excess weight attached. The
connecting antenna wire also acts as a capacitive alarm when the HF
radio is not being used. All this was only possible because each
condo had its own private back yard.

Another problem with a 2nd floor ladder is that you will be feeding
the ladder from the top, rather than from the bottom. That will
possibly work, but probably not as good as feeding the ladder from the
bottom.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558