thanks. i inspected the shifting carefully to see if the dr was jumpy, but that was not the case.
I ended up adjusting the b-tension screw. that helped a little but it was still very hard to hit the gear. there is a big jump between 2nd and 3rd cog teethcount wise. i decided to switch out the freewheel and now it shifts good (problem one was ancient). my new problem is blown tubes. cant seem to get the rear tire to stand much more than 50psi pressure before it pops off. tried two different types of tires.