[Lowfer] Comments, Questions, Ideas...

[Eric Smith]

Hi, Kurt,

As a beginner I don't have much to offer you in the way of suggestions.  
I'm waiting for others more seasoned to respond -- I'm interested in what 
they have to say in response to your good questions.  I do have a couple 
of comments:

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003, KD7JYK wrote:

> Printed out HiFER info this morning, will get parts within the month...

Doh!  This is the hardest part.  I know the XYL hates it -- I think I'm a 
little antsy when waiting for parts.

> Mulled over antenna connection ideas, problems here with snow, and concerned
> with sealing coax ....

Sounds like you already have a good fix for this.  Just fyi, mine is 
inside a metal shed, and I used a short (8"?) piece of 174 through a tiny 
hold in the side.  I soldered a piece of hook-up wire to the braid outside 
and connected that wire to one of the screws that holds the bldg 
together.  The bldg is grounded.

Where the hook-up wire is soldered to the braid, I used this method for 
sealing...I've used this method in severe conditions offshore with 
connections towed under 30' of water for weeks at a time in oceans all 
over the world:  I wrapped the connection with rubber tape, going from the 
coax outer insulation all the way to the hook-up wire insulation (a couple 
of inches).  I coated this with 3M skotch-kote (available from plumbing 
and electrical supply houses -- do NOT touch this stuff).  Then I wrapped 
that with electrical tape (tight with no gaps or creases).  The rubber 
tape will NOT stand up to the open air (I don't know if it is ultraviolet 
or ozone that gets it) so the black electrical tape protects it from this.  
Coat the electrical tape then with the skotch-kote.

A hint:  if you stretch the electrical tape until it turns grey then you 
are getting it tight.  This is easier to do with 2" tape, but is do-able 
with the 3/4" tape you'll want for this.  But it is more of a challenge to 
stretch without breaking. 

This will last a very long time.

I'm sure there are easier ways, but I tend to be extreme.  They used to 
call me "Schedule-80 Eric" :)  Anyway, I also have this stuff on-hand.

> Has anyone noticed severe frequency drift problems with the epson
> oscillators due to temperature?  The temp here ranges from -22 a couple
> winters back to +122 last summer.  Any stability ideas?

Those who have copied my HiFER certainly have noticed frequency drift 
associated with temp.  At first I thought it a problem, but now I think it 
is a feature :)  Very distinctive, at least heh heh.  Your stability ideas 
are as good as any I've considered.  Hope to hear something from others on 
the reflector about this.

I too am using solar power.  I like this -- no batteries to replace (well, 
not often, anyway :) and no power supply to waste or worry about catching 
on fire while you are gone (I'm a worrier, too).  Plus, your beacon keeps 
running through power outages.  One thing I do not like is for my beacon 
to be unavailable.

Good luck and have fun.  I should have rx gear soon suitable for watching 
for your signal.

73
Eric, KD5UWL