The Station
Primary HF radio is the Kenwood TS-2000 100 watts with a Heil Headset for contesting.
Secondary HF radio is the Kenwood TS-450sat 100 watts.
The Collins S-Line consisting of the 32S-1 Transmitter, 75S-1 Receiver, and the 312B-4 Station Control Console with the Wattmeter, speaker, and phone patch. These are very low serial number, built in 1958 and still function perfectly.
There is also the Heathkit
HW-8 qrp CW transceiver, and below it is a homebrew 40 meter CW transmitter
that my Dad built before I was even born. To the side of that is the
Halicrafters S-77 Receiver. we have the Kenwood TM-241A for
local 2-meter operation with the Kantronics KAM. Additional Kenwood TM-231A,
TM-221A, and TM-211A 2-meter radios are sitting in the closet not being used at
this time. In my car I have a Yaesu FT-8900r Quad-band mobile, running on 10
meters, 6 meters, 2 meters, and 70 centimeters FM. Here are some pictures of
the shack.
My bedroom Mini-Shack
I’m running the Yaesu FT-100D HF/VHF/UHF 100watt Mobile, with the Yaesu FC-20 Auto Tuner, powered by a Sammex SEC-1223 25amp Solid State supply, and a Uniden BC-785D Digital Trunking Scanner. I also keep my Yaesu FT-60r handy so when an AMSAT satellite is in range I can run outside and work satellite on it. I keep the mini-shack on a nightstand next to my bed. I plan on having a G5RV connected to the FT-100D in the near future. For 2/440 I’m using a homemade roll-up J-Pole from 450-ohm ladder line, which is just hanging from my ceiling.
I also have various other radios, Motorola MTS-8000, Spectra B7 both for 800mhz Trunking, and other older rigs like the Kenwood TH-28A, Yaesu VX-1R, Uniden BCD-396T Digital Trunking scanner, Yupiteru MVT-7100 Handheld wideband receiver.
This is my AMSAT Antenna. Arrow II 145-437 mounted onto a camera tripod. I use this in conjunction with my Yaesu FT-60r handheld with 2 watts of power; I am able to efficiently communicate with earth stations all over the entire North and South America continent any time one of our satellites passes within range. The “birds” are about 480 miles above the earth’s surface, and orbit the earth every 90 minutes, traveling at 17,000 MPH. Most operating windows will last anywhere from 8 minutes to 20 minutes. This depends on the “bird’s” location to me. I record my QSO’s with a Creative Zen Vision:M mp3 player. You can find these audio recordings linked on the main page.
