Jim,

This is about the best offer I've heard in a long time (and quite
generous on your part)! You're on. It will take me a few months
(minimum) to get my act together and finish off some of these
designs (assuming that I can 8-).... and then I'd be glad to dig
some holes, schlep lumber, whatever.....

"RST Engineering" wrote:

If you wanted to do the grunt work, I could show you how to do it. It is,
so far as I know, still in the FCC database as an approved pattern range.
You have a couple of holes to dig, some plastic pipe and woodwork to do,
and a couple of tables to build.

It's a deal..............

The thermal chamber was also discarded...along with the temperature
measuring setup. That would need to be rebuilt. Depending on the size of
your device, it can be trivial or a pain. We used a Coleman cooler with a
light bulb as the thermal source, dry ice as the cooling source, and a
computer fan to keep the chamber at a constant temperature. The
"thermometer" was a diode calibrated at the freezing point of water, the
boiling point of water, and extrapolated to the temperatures we needed.
The
reality check was with a real thermometer borrowed from the local
college's
chemistry lab.

I can handle this.... just need to get the beer out of the cooler long
enough
to make it happen. Hmmmmm......might require more than one cooler.

The answer is that if you want to spend a couple of hard weeks at it, you
are welcome to use it. The calibration curves are still accurate and I
have
the exact locations of the antenna masts marked...just not dug and sleeved
for the antenna mast. There are better ways of doing it than 4x4 lumber,
and I might like to explore that.

Agreed. Given the choice of sending some units off into the ether to be
tested at some "regular lab" - or camping out in Grass Valley for a 'couple
weeks doing some grunt work - it's a no-brainer... Additional bonus - the
wife can head off to spend some time with her friends in Napa (so it's
an easy sell 8-).....

I'll get in touch as soon as it looks like there's something worth testing.

Thanks again! I'll put you in for an "Elmer Award" with the ARRL and
the EAA...8-)

Bill