'Just finished building my 38 Special a couple of days ago.
I have added the Tick keyer but not made the 5-watt mod, since I
somehow lost the toroid core necessary for this. ('Anyone know
where I can get a replacement without paying an arm and a leg for
shipping and handling?) I soon discovered that the receiver on
this little rig is remarkably good, the Tick keyer works like a
gem, and that a couple of friends within five miles from me could
hear my signal, but what about a "real" QSO? Could 350
milliwatts be heard beyond the county line?
This morning I found out when I caught W1FZY in Athol, MA,
at the tail end of his QSO. I was "just above the noise" at his
end, but at least he could tell that I was there and copy my call
sign correctly! (I've just now calmed down enough to write
this.) :-) I guess my antenna tuner/center-fed Zepp combination
doesn't just soak up *all* the RF sent to it, after all. When
the snow melts (we're still waist-deep here), I'll be putting up
a 30-meter dipole (or maybe even a full-wave loop) to see what
this little rig can really do.
Is anyone else out there using the 38S in its original
configuration and, if so, what kind of results are you getting?
72
Bruce, KG8YT
Marquette, MI
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