My shack mess.. and new bench.

[BJ radionut]

You surely need a bench topper now with the extra gear!!!
See mine:

Old pic...bench still the same...but equipment has changed some.

 

[CB590]

Final top.. sound system sub and speakers on left..

Got a good 5' to play with.

Now to move radios and gear in..

 

[CB590]

Moved to bench.. waiting on shelf..

 

[CB590]

Found a 3 level shoe shelf. 27" wide by 9 1/2" deep.. shelves are spaced 5 1/2" in height.. all my rigs are just around 5".. back is open.. all my rigs are right at 9" in depth..

Should be able to lay out nicely the rigs and power supplies..

I like the supplies on bottom away from the rigs if possible to cut the RF if any..

Also snagged real Times LMR-240 for $7 each for 25'.. grabbed 2 of them.. came to $23 with shipping for 50'..

Will update soon.

 

[CB590]

Had to order 6 more Pl-259 with reducers.. I now have 3 runs of 25' of real Times LMR-240 coming. 1 for HF, 1 for my dual band, and 1 for the CB..

I have a good 30' of LMR-240 here that was on the HF. I may just use that for the CB setup to put my incoming CB antenna further away from the other antennas and power lines..

Don't know the bigger project the desk or the new coax setup.. ughh

 

[Dmans]

K3ACZ,
Either of those projects would be much better than painting the house, wall papering the kitchen (again), weeding the garden, doing the dishes, visiting the mother-in-law for the weekend, taking a 14 hour road trip with the mother-in-law……………………………….

Looks great. Can't wait to see the finished product!

73's
David

 

[MicroWave]

Should be able to lay out nicely the rigs and power supplies. I like the supplies on bottom away from the rigs if possible to cut the RF if any.

It's nice to see that now the more interesting part of the construction is running. Arranging the power supplies is almost always a question of space, as they usually end up somewhere in the lower part of the shack.

 

[CB590]

Getting closer..

Proposed layout.. Kenwood TM-v71a would be on top, not bottom left..

Still need mic hooks put up and coax figured out..

Coming along..

 

[CB590]

Changed a few.. the MegaWatt fits under.. and the shelves are vented.. can fit another it too.. top left CB is old 23 channel Sharp circa 1978.

Thinking Galaxy 949 with frequency counter or another McKinley..

 

[CB590]

Coax/PL259 day.. real Times LMR-240..

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

Coax/PL259 day.. real Times LMR-240..

View attachment 24752

That LMR is some nice cable, I run the 400 myself. I get them to put the ends on for me because it is such a critical part of the system, I don't want to take a chance. The LMR flex is good too and I have 10 foot 400 flex jumpers for the amps and the line into the shack. I am also going to use a 10 foot flex to wind an air choke at the antenna feed point. Your station is coming together nicely and you will no doubt enjoy it for years to come.
Chris

 

[CB590]

That LMR is some nice cable, I run the 400 myself. I get them to put the ends on for me because it is such a critical part of the system, I don't want to take a chance. The LMR flex is good too and I have 10 foot 400 flex jumpers for the amps and the line into the shack. I am also going to use a 10 foot flex to wind an air choke at the antenna feed point. Your station is coming together nicely and you will no doubt enjoy it for years to come.
Chris

The joke is I bought 2 Astatic PL-259 and 6 RF brand ones off EB.. the Astatic is recessed abit so the foil wrap don't hit the center pin and works fine. the RF brand wasn't recessed. so I had to order 6 more Astatic brand just now.. ughh

 

[loosecannon]

ShadeTree Mechanic, save yourself the trouble and inconvenience of winding that common mode choke.
get some ferrite to put around the coax at the feedpoint instead.

It is much easier to do, and it works better than the air wound choke.

the whole reason air wound chokes became popular was because of a misconception of a very famous chart that we have all seen online that shows the various turns and diameters of air chokes for different frequencies.
(its the one with all the red green and yellow on it)

the guy who made it only did so in order to show how much better ferrite worked, but only one of his charts made its way around the interwebs, so everyone treats it like a set of instructions for getting rid of common mode currents. It's true purpose was to show that this was not the ideal way to do that.

do yourself a favor and buy one of these kits, or order the same ferrite beads directly from Amidon and save some money.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Palomar-En....l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xpalomar+engineers.TRS0

If you had an extreme case of common mode currents at your station, you could run two of these kits at the feedpoint, but one should really be enough for most CB antenna situations.

LC

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

ShadeTree Mechanic, save yourself the trouble and inconvenience of winding that common mode choke.
get some ferrite to put around the coax at the feedpoint instead.

It is much easier to do, and it works better than the air wound choke.

the whole reason air wound chokes became popular was because of a misconception of a very famous chart that we have all seen online that shows the various turns and diameters of air chokes for different frequencies.
(its the one with all the red green and yellow on it)

the guy who made it only did so in order to show how much better ferrite worked, but only one of his charts made its way around the interwebs, so everyone treats it like a set of instructions for getting rid of common mode currents. It's true purpose was to show that this was not the ideal way to do that.

do yourself a favor and buy one of these kits, or order the same ferrite beads directly from Amidon and save some money.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Palomar-Engineers-Slip-On-Coax-Feed-Line-Choke-1-2-12-7mm-cable-1-8-300-MHz/192448617551?hash=item2cced4dc4f:m:mg7hwEr-TOFhBJxRfX-mNtw&var=492461290816&_sacat=0&_nkw=palomar+engineers&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2057872.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xpalomar+engineers.TRS0

If you had an extreme case of common mode currents at your station, you could run two of these kits at the feedpoint, but one should really be enough for most CB antenna situations.

LC

Wow thanks LC. So it goes at the amp output? I run different amps off of the same antenna, could I just put it on the coax where it leaves the shack? I am going to check this out right now. Sorry for the hijack OP,I will start a different thread for this.
Chris

 

[N0NB]

A caution on the LMR-240 as I use it as well. A few years ago I decided to go a bit cheaper route and use RF-Industries connectors--RFU-508-X--and found the center dielectric with the fused foil will slip into the end of the center pin inside the connector. I trimmed the foil off the dielectric for about a quarter inch back from the cut before crimping the connector. All have worked fine after looking after that detail.