At the Help Desk Repository
This is a collection of published articles describing responses given to actual questions from Club members or other amateur operators…
All articles are copyrighted material as stated thereon; photo credits are given as appropriate and are also stated thereon. If no specific photo credit is given, the photo is the intellectual property of and is copyrighted by CMS in Pitman, NJ USA.
As you read these articles, please feel free to drop me an e-mail with any questions that you may have. I will be happy to provide an explanation for any of the material that you may find to be confusing.
A new feature, effective 23 March 2024, is that the article titles in the listings below will from this point on also be live links to those articles!
| Rain Gutter Stealth Antenna – July 2026 | |
| This month, we look at one procedure for creating stealth antennas from the rain gutters on your house… | |
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| LED Terminal Lead Identification – June 2026 | Antenna Tuner Operation – May 2026 |
| In this article, we explore the different methods of identifying the terminal leads of a standard through-hole LED, which may not be simple a task as one might expect… | This month, we take on a question regarding the “proper” operation of a manual antenna tuner… |
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| Used Radio Checkout – April 2026 | Balun/Unun Confusion – March 2026 |
| This time around, we answer a question regarding how to evaluate a used radio before purchasing it, if possible… | In this column, we look at a question regarding the turns ratio versus the impedance ratio in matching transformers… |
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| Route Plan Programming – February 2026 | Antenna Cutting Dividends- January 2026 |
| This month we have the sixth Help Desk article, in which we discuss some possibilities for highway route planning and programming that route into a radio for use along that route… | In this fifth article in the Help Desk series, we talk about why so many different numbers are thrown around when calculating wire cut lengths for dipoles… |
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| NanoVNA Calibration – December 2025 | Cable Impedance – November 2025 |
| In the fourth installment of this series, we talk about the process of calibrating a NanoVNA… when and why it is done as well as how to do it… | In this third Held Desk article, we talk about using the NanoVNA to measure the impedance of an unknown cable length, or for that matter, any feedline-inserted structure… |
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| NanoVNA Cable Length – October 2025 | Florida Road Trip – September 2025 |
| In this second Help Desk article, we discuss measuring the length of a section of cable using the ubiquitous NanoVNA as the measurement tool. | In this inaugural article of the series, I answer a Club member’s questions regarding equipping an automobile with a programmed radio for a road trip down I-95 and back… |
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