My shack and antennas

[Captain Kilowatt]

Well I finally got around to posting some pix of the gear that I use.See it here.

The photo of the operating position is as follows:

The computer can just barely be
seen off the left edge of the frame. Along the bottom from left to right
are: Mirage 2m amp, Yaesu FT-857 HF rig with Diamond SX-1000 SWR/power
meter on top with Brown Brothers CW paddles on top of the meter. Next is
the Heath HG-10 VFO and Heath DX-60B AM/CW transmitter with straight key
plugged in. Yes that is a Sennheiser MD-421 microphone on the desk that
I use for "broadcast quality" audio so I am told on the DX-60.It sure
beats the D104.I got it about four years ago with what I was told was a
broken element.It turned out to be a broken wire on the EQ switch.Since
I was given it as a write-off from a friend who did some band work (he
dropped it off the stage one night) I figured I was not out anything if
I wrecked it trying to see what was inside it.Yes I do consider myself
very lucky.On the file cabinet is my Tripp Lite PR-40a 40 amp 12 volt
power supply with homemade voltage and current meter bridge on top. On
top of the meters is my Icom IC-2000 2m mobile .In the middle on the far
left is my MFJ-1700 radio/antenna switch. I can switch any one of up to
six radios into any one of up to six antennas with it. Just behind it on
the shelf is my homebrew radio/computer interface for SSTV and other
digital modes, and my MFJ dummy load. Next is my Ten-Tec AT-227 antenna
tuner with homemade antenna relay switch control box with a Ranger
2950DX 10-12 meter radio. Next is my antenna rotor control box with two
external speakers and the homemade microphone/TX interface box for my
DX-60B transmitter. Next is the Heath HR-10 recever which is a piece of
shit right now. That is why I use the Kenwood R-1000 receiver on top of
it when I use the DX-60. On top of the R-1000 is a Radio Shack audio DSP
unit that is connected to the R-1000.The Yaesu has DSP built in. That is
my shack and I hope to keep it looking this clean.My wife does too! The
next acquisitions will be a homemade high power antenna tuner I have
just started and then a linear amp built into a 42 inch high floor model
equipment rack.I figure four 572B tubes should give my about 1200 watts
on SSB and be good for a 300 watt carrier on AM.Like I heard
before,front to back comes from antennas but forward gain comes from the
wall socket.

 

[DXman]

ORN I sure wish I had one them towers. It looks good. Enough money there that could by me a couple nice big Texas Steaks
-------------------
DXman

 

[Moleculo]

Man, that is a nice CLEAN station. That tower sure is nice, too. I've been looking for a switch like that. Now I know where to get one

 

[Drifter]

Now thats a station :!: :!: I wish I had space to put up a tower like that. I hope to have a nice Ham station like that someday.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Keep in mind that all this stuff was not acquired over night. I started in radio over 25 years ago and some other stuff has come and gone but this is what I have left.Not seen are two turner +3B mics and a D104SE as well as a scanner,small 2 pill amp that is not used,a one pill SD1446 amp not being used,a Ten-Tec 20-6m transverter,as well as a bunch of little homemade projects that just made radio life a bit easier through the years.I'll not even mention the audio stuff I have stashed in the basement. :roll:

DX Man: I only have one tower and it is a 40 foot freestanding model made by Delhi.It is the MDX model.I have another 48 foot Delhi HDX (heavy duty) model in storage.The two pictures are of the same tower taken from differant angles.I also have 63 feet of commercial guyed tower from an AM radio station I worked for.The 222 foot tower collapsed when a large tractor in the field snagged a guy wire and brought it down.The tower is galvanized steel with a 24 inch face.I also have all the guy wires,turnbuckles,and insulators as well as the huge ceramic base insulator the tower sits on and the static lightning arrestor balls.The plan in a few years is to erect the tower as a full sized 1/4 wave vertical antenna for 80m with a remote switched matching system to load it as a 1/2 wave on 40m and as a loaded 1/8 wave on 160m.That will require LOTS of buried radials.So many projects and so little time (and money).


Moleculo: The switch is an MFJ-1700B and is no longer available.It has been discontinued.There are better switches out there but the price was right at the time. Just make sure whatever you get will be usable on all freqs. you plan to run through it.The 1700B was just usable on 6m and a bust on 2m.I removed the connecting wires inside and substituted short lengths of coax to make it better on 6m.

 

[rfoverlord]

QRN
cool shack, ever notice that you seem to acquire more stuff than you can ever use at one time. i need to get/ make an audio box and get some of the mics of my desk top.
73

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Yeah I need to make a box up too so I can change mikes at the flip of a switch.I have one mike with an RJ-45 type plug that fits the Yaesu,one with a six wire plug and another with a three pin XLR audio type plug.Then there is the Heath tx that takes a two pin coaxial type connector.Jeese what a hookup nightmare.I can't change everything over to a common connector because of the differant radios so I will need to built a mulit-in-multi-out box.I need to do the same for the computer sound card in and out also.Radio and reel-reel need to feed the computer and the computer needs to feed the speakers,the radio,external stereo amp, and the reel-reel.Ahhhhh the projects never cease. :?

 

[Cheech]

Nice setup!!!! 8)