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Showing posts from May, 2024

A G90 Handheld? Have You Lost It?

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Executive Summary Yes, I've lost it.  Again. But portable operation has taught me that if you can operate your radio while holding it, even if it's a bit heavy, you can operate places that you can't set up an antenna. The G90 is small enough, and if you set its bottom against a fence or a table, you CAN operate it for quite a while as a handheld, and get on and off the air quickly. As in before you get caught. So I'll outline the generic steps for making a G90 antenna bracket. Short and sweet for once. How to Make the G90 Antenna Bracket Yep, it's a wee bit bigger than a KX2.  But it's 20 watts, and with the great tuner in the G90, you can put out a very respectable signal on 20 through 10 with nothing more than an 8 foot tall 3/8-24 whip screwed into this bracket. If you have to operate handheld on 30, 40 and 60, you can try the MFJ-1889 pictured here, as it tunes through 60 meters.  It won't be very efficient, but I have made contacts. With the whip, just

A "Shock Box" for the Neurotic Icom 705 Owner

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Executive Summary Many thanks to Thomas, K4SWL, for posting this description of my IC-705 shock box in April 2022.   Most of this blog entry comes from that original writing, but this blog entry supplements that and shares a few learnings I picked up along the way. There's not much to summarize for you busy execs other than to say this provides a couple inexpensive options for hauling your IC-705 out in the wild. 😎   There are three versions of the box, differing in lid and height.  1) Rev.0 is a short, pretty version but not watertight. 2) Rev.1 is water-tight and uses the ammo box without modification, except to add the internal components. 3) Rev.2 is a shortened water-tight version of Rev. 1, that saves a couple inches of height. Why a Shock Box? Pictured above is the Shock Box Rev. 0., pretty but less functional, hence Revs 1 and 2.  And pictured below is Shock Box Rev. 2. Why not a padded bag or a cage? Not to throw shade on a cage or a bag. But what you need depends on your