On 14/10/2018 01:32, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

wrote:

Gareth once complained about a mobile CB set-up he installed in a 4x4
couldn’t reach further than a quarter mile. That’s all you need to know
about Gareth and radio.

He probably didn't need any antenna at 1/4 mile (400 meters).

snip interesting detection story

Stephen Thomas Cole, the PP, just after gaining his UK Full licence by
'acing' all three exams, appeared on a UK Amateur group asking which
sideband he should use on 40m. That’s all you need to know about him and
and his ability with radio.



--
Spike

"Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man's character,
give him an internet group to manage"

On Sun, 14 Oct 2018 08:50:13 +0000
Spike wrote:

On 14/10/2018 01:32, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

wrote:

Gareth once complained about a mobile CB set-up he installed in a
4x4 couldn’t reach further than a quarter mile. That’s all you
need to know about Gareth and radio.

He probably didn't need any antenna at 1/4 mile (400 meters).

snip interesting detection story

Stephen Thomas Cole, the PP, just after gaining his UK Full licence by
'acing' all three exams, appeared on a UK Amateur group asking which
sideband he should use on 40m. That’s all you need to know about him
and and his ability with radio.



That sounds interesting - can you provide a link to that post?

"Spike" wrote in message
...
On 14/10/2018 01:32, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

wrote:

Gareth once complained about a mobile CB set-up he installed in a 4x4
couldn't reach further than a quarter mile. That's all you need to know
about Gareth and radio.

He probably didn't need any antenna at 1/4 mile (400 meters).

snip interesting detection story

Stephen Thomas Cole, the PP, just after gaining his UK Full licence by
'acing' all three exams, appeared on a UK Amateur group asking which
sideband he should use on 40m. That's all you need to know about him and
and his ability with radio.



even I know that one .....

On Sun, 14 Oct 2018 08:50:13 +0000, Spike
wrote:
Stephen Thomas Cole, the PP, just after gaining his UK Full licence by
'acing' all three exams, appeared on a UK Amateur group asking which
sideband he should use on 40m. That’s all you need to know about him and
and his ability with radio.

For what it's worth, I don't know which sideband to use on 40m. That's
because I don't operate much on 40m and don't have such details
memorized. I use a wall chart with the appropriate modes,
frequencies, sub-bands, and dedicated frequencies listed. Oddly, I
was able to pass the US extra-class license without knowing or
studying any of this. I believe I posted the story previously, but
it's interesting enough to repeat again.

I don't recall what year, but at the time, the FCC decided to drop the
US Morse Code requirements. Since the technician class license
consisted of the exact same technical questions as the general class
license (element 3), it was decided that one could upgrade from
technician to general without taking any additional tests and by
simply paying a nominal processing fee.

I arrived at the scheduled VEC exam session and presented my
collection of expired licenses and forms as proof that I passed the
technician class exam. Since I didn't need to pass an exam, I hadn't
studied. I was then informed that I could take the extra class exam
(element 4). If I failed, I would still get the general class
license. Seemed like a reasonable thing to do. So, I took the extra
class exam, totally and completely unprepared. I didn't even bring a
calculator.

Except for some creative wording in many of the questions, the
technical parts were quite familiar and easy. However, element 4 also
included some questions that required operating experience, such as
band edges for the extra class only sub-bands, and similar questions.
I did my best by guessing and was certain that I had failed the exam.
Amazingly, I passed.

So, if anyone asks if it is possible to pass the US extra class exam
without knowing much about HF operating standards, I would answer that
it might be possible.

From my warped perspective, the ham license is NOT a demonstration of
competence. It's simply the minimum one is expected to know so that
they can operate a ham transmitter without breaking any rules,
becoming a nuisance, or otherwise making a mess of the frequencies.
One learns ham radio AFTER obtaining a license, not before.


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

On Sun, 14 Oct 2018 08:50:13 +0000
Spike wrote:



Stephen Thomas Cole, the PP, just after gaining his UK Full licence by
'acing' all three exams, appeared on a UK Amateur group asking which
sideband he should use on 40m. That’s all you need to know about him
and and his ability with radio.




Burt, I think that could've gone a bit better, Burt.


Burt, Thanks, Burt.

"Jeff" wrote in message news

I inspected the electrical system and found that fuse on the negative
lead had blown. Why manufacturers persist in providing a negative
wire fuse will remain a mystery as there are very few positive ground
vehicles still in service and even marine radios with floating grounds
are scarce. I have no idea where the radio was getting its ground
return for reasons that will soon be obvious. I replaced the fuse and
continued looking for problems.

The negative fuse is nothing to do with positive ground vehicles (and a
radio with the case connected to negative would not work in a positive
ground vehicle anyway without additional isolation).

I wired up a neg ground rev counter to my pos earth 1963 mini in 1969 by
insulating the live case of the rev counter and earthing the live
terminal...worked well .....

"Jeff" wrote in message news

I wired up a neg ground rev counter to my pos earth 1963 mini in 1969 by
insulating the live case of the rev counter and earthing the live
terminal...worked well .....



Most of us just reversed the battery etc. and flashed the dynamo.

Jeff

I didn't ....

On Sun, 14 Oct 2018 10:26:55 +0100, Jeff wrote:


I inspected the electrical system and found that fuse on the negative
lead had blown. Why manufacturers persist in providing a negative
wire fuse will remain a mystery as there are very few positive ground
vehicles still in service and even marine radios with floating grounds
are scarce. I have no idea where the radio was getting its ground
return for reasons that will soon be obvious. I replaced the fuse and
continued looking for problems.

The negative fuse is nothing to do with positive ground vehicles (and a
radio with the case connected to negative would not work in a positive
ground vehicle anyway without additional isolation).

The negative fuse is there to stop high currents, such as the starter
motor, being drawn through the radio wiring and coax should the battery
to chassis connection be high resistance or open circuit, and prevent a
possible fire.

This is at greatest risk if the radio negative is wired directly to the
battery.

Jeff

That seems reasonable. However, I've never seen that happen.

More common was blowing or removing the negative power cable fuse to
the radio. That makes the DC ground return for the radio go through
either the car frame, which will produce alternator noise on the
transmit signal, or through the coax cable, which will produce a
smoking coax cable in transmit. I've seen both about 5 times each in
the last 50 years. I would consider these faults to be a greater risk
than a disconnected battery to chassis (or engine) ground cable.

"Wiring and Grounding"
http://www.k0bg.com/wiring.html
And as shown, the negative lead fuse should not be removed.
The reason is, if the grounding point should lose its integrity,
excessive current could flow through the transceiver's
negative lead. It also prevents a minor ground loop between
the leads.

Most vehicles have a ground strap between the engine block and frame
and another ground cable between the frame and negative battery
terminal. I sometimes see a third cable from battery to engine block.
In this arrangement, any one of the three wires could be disconnected
and one would still have a tolerable grounding system. Fiberglass
body automobiles have duplicate ground wiring since there is no frame
ground.

"How To Properly Ground An Automotive Electrical System"
https://www.hotrodwires.com/how-to-ground-automotive-electrical-system.html

"Is it necessary to have two ground wires (1 to engine and 1 to"
car-frame)?
https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/5903/is-it-necessary-to-have-two-ground-wires-1-to-engine-and-1-to-car-frame

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

In article ,
says...

The negative fuse is nothing to do with positive ground vehicles (and a
radio with the case connected to negative would not work in a positive
ground vehicle anyway without additional isolation).

The negative fuse is there to stop high currents, such as the starter
motor, being drawn through the radio wiring and coax should the battery
to chassis connection be high resistance or open circuit, and prevent a
possible fire.

This is at greatest risk if the radio negative is wired directly to the
battery.

Jeff

That seems reasonable. However, I've never seen that happen.

More common was blowing or removing the negative power cable fuse to
the radio. That makes the DC ground return for the radio go through
either the car frame, which will produce alternator noise on the
transmit signal, or through the coax cable, which will produce a
smoking coax cable in transmit. I've seen both about 5 times each in
the last 50 years. I would consider these faults to be a greater risk
than a disconnected battery to chassis (or engine) ground cable.



I don't know anything about the tractor trailer wiring, but around 1972
I picked up extra money repairing the CB radios. Several truckers
brought in rigs that were blown up when switching from the car to the
truck. None of them had a fuse in the negative power lead. By blown
up, most had a diode across the poer wires inside the transceiver and
that diode had shorted and blew the fuse. I seem to remember then they
talked about the tractor haveing a positive ground. Probably ran on 24
volts also.

I have only ran FM ham rigs in a car. I used to ground the rig to the
frame and run the positive to a relay that comes on when the car is
started. Never had any alternator whine or problems. For about the
last 10 or more years I just plug into the lighter or accessory socket
in the car. My Toyota power on those sockets only come on when the car
is started.

On 13/10/2018 20:43, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

I understand how antenna work and how to predict performance. I can
even do it without 4NEC2 or other antenna modeling program. For
example, the uglier the antenna, the better it works. Antennas that
are more expensive, bigger, and in violation of local building
ordinances, work the best. Experimental prototype antennas always
work while the production versions never seem to work as well. If
there are two ways to assemble an antenna, the wrong way will have
higher gain, lower VSWR, or both. High gain, small size, or wide
bandwidth; pick any two. Using these rules of thumb and others,
anyone can predict how well an antenna will perform by inspection and
without using computer models, Smith charts, or tedious calculations.

WHS

There has been much talk on UKRA in the recent past about the merits or
otherwise of various makes and models of VNAs. It's my view that the
point of having an Amateur licence is to be able to transmit signals
intended to be received by another station. One of the alleged virtues
of a VNA is to be able to set up one's aerial system. However, I
maintain that using cheap torch bulbs is an equally valid indicator of
the state of tune of one's station, and that a distant station cannot
tell the difference between a system set up with the aid of a VNA and
one set up with the aid of a torch bulb or two.


--
Spike

"Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man's character,
give him an internet group to manage"