I had the opportunity to give a radio away to a great friend. I was kinda happy this RX so well. I have a really close family friend that is in a personal care home. It is a rural setting. He is now blind. His 100th birthday is coming up. He can still walk and get around with assistance. About 90% mentally still with us. He enjoys listening to his base station scanner and AM talk radio. He lost his CB a few years back. TX with shorted coax. I am giving him a Pearce Simpson Pussycat 23 for his room. I rigged the antenna with a 2 1/2 inch mag mount with a Radio Shack 60 inch base load SS whip I had. I set the magnet on the case directly above the power supply just to test the SWR for the heck of it. I attached a note to the top to please do not key the mic. I am just writing this update, because I was surprised that the setup received as well as it did with local traffic. I was expecting excessive noise. I did not get any more noise than normal usage. I was also surprised that I got an SWR below 3.0 on channel 20. It was 2.9, but still without a gound plane, with a mag mount on a 14 X 10 metal box. The old base station was peaked and tunes and had a cap replaced by Bob's CB. I had called it my a dead key, no swing radio. I remember sending this to Bob. It was sticking in transmit after heavy usage. I attached a note saying, "If it is not worth it, don't fix it." I got it back- Cap replaced. Peak and Tune 24.00. Happy to see the old crystal radio going to a good home. The "Grousehunter" alway enjoyed listening to truck drivers. He lives about 2 miles line of sight from I-70 about 10 miles from Exit 11, Dallas Pike, WV.
