Shack Rebuild

 2022!

I never imagined getting here, especially under the surreal conditions of “work from home” and “Covid” that most in the world are experiencing.

After “operating”, limited as it was, for so long with my “shack” such that it is, I found a creep of cables, radios, computers, Walmarts, and much else that started to cramp my ability to be flexible and really know what I had, what I wanted to do, and change from one mode to the other.

My layout or a while consisted of several radio that really need work, as well as a TNC that needs configuration and cabling to be useful.  Pictured are my Ten-Tec Mighty Mite 3, as well as a Clegg “Two-er” both of which need to be checked out before possibly going on the air.

The TNC is an MFJ multi-controller which operates via putty-connection from an unpictured computer but otherwise was not connected to a current radio setup for use.

In addition to that already pictured, I have a new Ten-Tec century 21 to check out and use, a TH-D72A laying around which I was using for occasional ISS packet and a pi-noelec SDR combo for downloading satellite images.

No mention of the FT-736R which is (shudder) still up in the attic, a vintage National Radio speaker cabinet to pair with the century 21 (or whatever) and cabling for an Elk log periodic 2/70 antenna for satellite use, with corresponding az/el controllers, nor my Butternut 6BTV vertical for HF. Also not pictured was a new Ambient weather console.

All things considered, I decided it was time to “rebuild”, label and organize. Hopefully the end result will be a bit more asthetic, flexible and ergonomic.

One goal was to allow more visibility of the Redone table.

In the process, I am going to label coax and other cables for ease of use down the road:

For my own sanity and to help document this for my own enjoyment, I hope to keep this blog somewhat updated. Been very lax in posting over the years, perhaps this will be a fresh start to blogging as well!

73, KA2CZU

Rotor Control - The next step

ok, so my steal of a buy U-100 has started to act up, along with the manual controller.

Thus, I finally decided to bite the bullet and get a new rotor, for the sake of sanity and time, a Yaesu G-450A

 

The goal is to finally get around to building the NOS TAPR trakbox kit I bought a couple of years ago and see if that will work to control my KR-500 el rotor and this new AZ rotor together. Should be doable.

If not, then need to get another controller to finally allow some automation in the shack.

Working Full Duplex

Gary Pierce of Hamradionow.tv published a nice show
on Amateur Satellites. From his youtube link:


The bulk of this episode is an on-location interview with two Raleigh NC area hams who gave a couple of live demonstrations of operating through satellites at the Raleigh Hamfest in April 2017. ...

One aspect of the demo that I really appreciated was the use of two radios to allow full-duplex operation. At 28:03 you will notice Tucker W4FS get "interrupted" by another ham while he is speaking. He quickly hears the other ham and is able to stop talking briefly to allow them both to sync up their conversation. While half-duplex "can work", it is imperative to be able to listen to others while you work on a satellite to allow for smoother QSO's, without stepping on others. This is especially true on the FM, single channel, satellites: SO-50 and AO-85

STEM and Space

A Nashua club has undertaken a series of STEM projects to get young people interested in Ham Radio, using space as a medium:

A STEM Learning Project for Young People

February 15, 2017 by fkemmerer

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Vote

High Altitude Balloon At The Edge Of Space

As some of you may already know, Anita and I have been working with our local Radio Club on a project to promote STEM learning and interest in Amateur Radio among young people in our area. The idea is to work with kids grades 7-12 to plan, build, launch and recover a High-Altitude Balloon carrying Amateur Radio. Our balloon should be able to reach an altitude of about 100,000 ft before it bursts and the payload returns to earth via a parachute system. The payload will include a computer, GPS and a 2 meter APRS transmitter to record the balloon’s flight track, atmospheric data and altitude throughout the flight. The balloon will also carry a video camera and will capture a video record of the entire flight. You can learn more about our project here.

Beyond... way beyond

ok, I'll fess up. I look at drudge daily. Really shocking, eh?

at any rate, noticed an article about a "strange place" where cellphones and wifi are not allowed!

EEK, really?

yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause.

I won't plagiarize Drudge, or the local station... if you want, you can read about it here

United States National Radio Quiet Zone

The National Radio Quiet Zone is a large area of land in the United States in which radio transmissions are strictly restricted by law to facilitate scientific research and military intelligence. It is located in the states of Wes…

Rotation - Option 5

Just wanted to correct something with respect to portable, outdoor (or even indoor) operation.

I had listed 4 options for my shack:

1. to go outside and manually position the antenna, that is go semi-portable with the FT-736R, which I've done... 
2. get a second FT-817 to work full duplex, and then go outside
3. only try to work FM satellites using my FT-817 plus a handheld, OR
4. get some kind of antenna rotor/positioning system in place

In fact, I was overlooking using my SDRPlay SDR receiver... so, in the spirit of "completeness"
there is option:

     5. use SDRPlay with HDSDR as a satellite downlink receiver. For uplink, the FT-817