On 4/22/2012 7:29 PM, Irv Finkleman wrote:
1. Is there wire with camoflage insulation? (just kidding!)
I plan on using wire with beige or tan colored insulation. I
think sky blue or grey would provide the wrong contract.
Any ideas on this?

Dunno.. From what I notice, lighter colors may blend with the
sky at times, but they also reflect light more, which can cause
the wire to stand out more at certain times of the day.


2. The far end of the antenna will be hanging from and in
the branches of a tree. I will only be running 5W (if I'm lucky)
and wonder about the voltage at the end of the wire. Will some
heat shrink provide suitable insulation to prevent corona from
starting the bush on fire? Is there a better idea? I will be
using PTFE (Teflon) insulated wire.

No problem with that.. 5 watts is not enough power to start
anything on fire.. Even 100w will have trouble doing that in
most cases. Only when I was running high power have I noticed
arcing and burning of tree branches touching the ends of antennas.
You can use almost anything as an insulator and should have no
problems with QRP.


3. I'll be running the wire from inside my suite through
a 1/4 inch hole in the aluminum window frame. I was going
to feed it through a plastic straw to prevent chafing and
possible short circuiting. Any suggestions on the best way
through the hole to prevent any problems?

I suppose that would work ok.. or maybe run and melt some thin
heat shrink tubing at that point..


4. Is there a way to tell if the glass in my windows
has some property that greatly attenuates signals?
I'd ask the management but I don't want to trigger them
into realization that future QRM will probably be
emanating from my 'shack'! I plan to work the world
while remaining invisible to those around me. If asked,
I'll just explain that the wire is an antenna for my short wave
receiver!!!!

Glass is fairly RF invisible I think.. Should be no issue.


This is the first time I've had to use a store bought rig!
Until now I've either had modified surplus or burned out
rigs which I rebuilt. I've always been an advocate of
low power, but real QRP is new to me too -- and I equate
it to the difference between dynamiting ponds and fly fishing!
Time will tell! :-) When I became ill I gave away all my
50+ years accumulation of valuable ham radio equipment,
tools, test equipment, and books -- collectively A.K.A.
"Junk". It's fun starting from scratch -- at least my shack
is not a terrible mess -- YET!

Low power can do fine if the antenna is decent.


Do folks still mail QSL cards? Or can I settle for emailing
a graphic equivalent of my own design? I've been off the air
for a couple years now and think that things may have changed
while I was out of the picture. This is not a big problem as
printing and using the local buro shouldn't be too much of
a problem. The hundreds of rare QSL's coming into my
mailbox my invite unanticipated curiosity from the
management.

I don't do QSL cards myself.. In fact, I've never sent anyone a
QSL card ever.. And I don't need any to send me one, but of course
still many do.. The CW contacts are much more likely to generate
QSL cards than the typical phone jabber..
The way I look at it, is I know I worked the people.. I don't
need paper proof of it.. :/
Maybe you could get a PO box, and assign it as your new mail
address, and have someone check the mail every once in a while.