CQ, CQ.

So, here's my home for amateur radio. And yes, those are train tracks in the ham shack. More on that hobby of mind in another part of my website.

As mentioned before, I was licensed back in June 1981. Since I retried from TV broadcasting in September 2017, I finally had the time to play radio. But first, there were upgrades to do. So last fall, that work began in earnest.

In order to have a radio shack, you need a radio:

The radio is an Icom America IC-7300 HF/6-Meter transceiver which I bought just after the new year. It replaced a 37 year-old Kenwood TS-530S originally purchased in September 1981.The IC-7300 is a very modern state-of-the-art rig and is a joy to operate. Thanks to Joe, K1JEK, for  ever so gently nudging towards that radio.

Now, there is other gear to make the shack run, like an Ameritron 1 Kilowatt RF amplifier to be heard when the bands are not doing so well.

Once the signal comes out of the amplifier, it goes into a high power antenna tuner complete with an antenna switch to select which antenna I plan to use.

And which antenna?? Well here is what I have to select:

So, let's break them down and what they are used for. In the picture below, the left side mast has a 2m/450 antenna with an FM Broadcast below it. On the right side mast is a discone antenna for my Uniden Home Patrol II scanner.

The next picture shows a big sprawling antenna in the middle known as a Mosley TA-33Jr tri-bander. Able to be turned with the rotor located in the roof tower, I can talk to hams on HF frequencies here in the US and around the world. On top of the mast is a 2/450 antenna used on my 450 repeater. and the one to the left is known as a Ringo Ranger AR-6 used for 6-meter FM.

 

For local HF stuff, I revert to dipole antennas which are long wire antennas. How long? On 40 meters at 7.0 to 7.3 MHz, the length works out to about 66 feet. On 75 meters at 3.7 to 4.0 MHz, the length works out to about 120 feet long. And if I want to go to the lowest band at 1.8 to 2.0 MHz, there is the monster that measures 260 feet long!! Suffice it to say that I have been blessed with a good size chunk of property that allows the antennas to get the signals out there. They are a bit hard to see but follow the black coax wires up to where they meet a balun to which the dipole wires are attached. And trust me when I say that I made these antennas fit!! 

 

The next picture shows my Acu Rite weather vane system, a small omni for railroad monitoring plus a 450 beam for cross-linking to a 450 repeater on the east end of Long Island, New York. And the one on top is a square halo antenna known as a Squalo, made of 1/2 inch copper tubing and based on a design by Dutch ham PA3HCM.

And BTW, it takes a number of coaxial cables to make this ham shack work. Thanks to my Dad who helped me make the wires holders way back when.

And I can't forget the radios that I use for 440 MHz, 6 meters and 2 meters.  And the Kenwood R-2000 General Coverage receiver. Lots of cool toys to talk to hams locally and around the world.

And one more item on ham radio; we have a patron saint. His name was Maximilian Kolbe who was born in Poland. In 1938, he started a radio station at Niepokalanów, the Radio Niepokalanów. He held an amateur radio license, with the call sign SP3RN. Enter his name into Wikipedia.Org to find out more on Saint Kolbe.

And for more information about ham radio, please visit the American Radio Relay League at:

http://www.arrl.net

73. See you on the radio.