Overview
April 13th, 2024 Update
My workspace is an odd 10 x 15 space with 4 doors, steps, and a closet to work around. We have been here seven years and the shoffice has been in several configurations. It is always going through changes in setup, equipment shifts, and the usual changes you might expect in an area that has to meet the rather fluid needs of someone with diverse interests and little space to explore them.
The radio station portion of the shop has been affected dramatically since shedding my volunteer responsibilities. The actively operating equipment in the shack includes a packet node on VHF and AREDN, the AREDN node, and an Icom ID-4100 all set up in a hanging network rack that also supports my home network router, switch, PoE injector, and several Raspberry Pi computers running other services including a PBX. I also have an Icom IC-2730 in the truck.
For the last six years, a vast majority of my operating has been emcomm-related, with no DX or contesting. The requirements of life are dictating my operations for the foreseeable future. Radio is taking a back seat. This is not a permanent break, just a break in the action.
Ham Radios
- Yaesu FT-817ND All-band all-mode primary HF
- Icom IC-2730E VHF/UHF FM primary VHF/UHF mobile
- Icom ID-4100 VHF/UHF FM/D-Star primary VHF/UHF base voice
- Alinco DR-135 Mk II VHF FM primary VHF base packet
- Alinco DR-435 Mk II UHF FM
- Alinco DR-06 VHF FM
- Baofeng UV-5R VHF/UHF FM 2m and 70cm HT
- Baofeng UV-5RE+ VHF/UHF FM 2m and 70cm HT
- Sawdust 40 meter RX SSB/CW (Breadboard Radios kit)
- Splinter II 40 meter CW RX/TX, SSB RX (Breadboard Radios kit)
- RX40.1 homebrew 40-meter SSB/CW RX EMRFD Direct Conversion RX
- Beach 40 Homebrew DSB 40m Transceiver variant scratch built (In progress. I hope to get back to this radio once the shoffice is back in order)
- BitX 20 meter SSB Transceiver kit (on the back burner for a while)
- A bunch of old HTs and other assorted radios
Other Radio Services
- Vertex Standard ProV VHF AM Aviation Band handheld
- Cobra FRS120 UHF FM FRS handheld
- Garmin Rino120 UHF FM FRS/GMRS handheld
- NooElec R820T SDR VHF/UHF RX-only 30MHz – 1.8GHz
- Uniden BEARCAT 980SSB Single Sideband CB mobile
- Midland MXT400 GMRS mobile
Antennas
- Diamond X-50A (2) primary VHF/UHF primary for voice & data radios
- 80-meter center-fed dipole
- 2-meter twin-lead J-Pole roll-up configuration in the FT-817 go-kit
- 6-meter wire dipole in a go-kit
- 10-meter wire dipole in a go-kit
- 20-meter wire dipole in a go-kit
- MFJ-1982LP EndFed 1/2 Wave 30W 80M-10M in the FT-817 go-kit
- EMCOMMII EndFed primary HF
- Miscellaneous magnetic multi-band mobile whips
- Miscellaneous aftermarket rubber-ducks for HTs
TNCs
- Kantronics KPC-3
- Kantronics KPC-3+ USB
- Kantronics KAM+ XL
- Raspberry Pi / Raspbian / Direwolf
- And a few old ones I haven’t checked out yet
Updated 13 April, 2024