The house that contains the KE1FO shack in Milton, VT - notice that the antennas are
hardly noticable from the street, even in the dead of winter with no leaves on the trees.
The shack setup for ARRL CW SSB 2004. The rigs are 2 TS-940s, the amp on the left is a Heathkit
SB-230 and the amp on the right is an Ameritron AL-80. Between the two rigs is a modified
Ameritron RCS-8V control box that does the SO2R antenna switching. The rotor control for the
MA5B is on top of the SB-230. The logging computer uses the monitor on the left and is an AMD
K6 with 32meg of ram running Windows 98 and Writelog. My "everything else" computer
uses the monitor on the right. The audio switching is handled by a W5XD Multi Keyer that interfaces with
WriteLog.
Since taking this picture I have remodeled the shack and have not yet taken a picture. I am in the process of rebuilding my station in Baldwinville, MA and will operate DX contests from there and Domestic contests from Milton, VT. I have removed the two amplifiers since I only operate low power in the domestic contests, they will go to Baldwinville to be used during DX contests. The rigs are now spread further apart, separated by a monitor stand, and the monitor is supported on the stand. Under the stand are two ICE 419A bandpass filters, rig control hardware, band decoders and the MultiKeyer. This monitor stand can be removed as a unit, with all the hardware inside, and taken to another QTH. I now use the "everything else" computer for logging as well as everything else. I use DXLab for my daily logging, award tracking, and maintining QSL accounts on eqsl.cc and Logbook of the World.
Here is the MA5B mounted to the rear
of my house. Because it is so low to the shed dormer roof, the
antenna is invisable
from the
street. Only 5 houses in the development can see the
antenna. The antenna is currently turned by a Yaesu G-800 rotor,
but this will be replaced by an old Alliance rotor soon so the Yaesu
rotor can go to the Baldwinville station. Just to the left of the
MA5B mast you can see the vertical dipole for 10/20M. This
antenna was made from the 12/17M element on the MA5B and serves as a
2nd antenna in SO2R contest situations. In the tree to the left of the
mast you can see my homebrew 80M vertical. It uses 2 sections of
10 foot Radio Shack mast and a World Radio SD-20 fiberglass pole with a
14 guage wire attached as the radiator. The total hight of the
radiator is just under 40 feet. The antenna is matched to the
feedline by a coil at the base (photo to right). The coil is made
from 8 guage solid ground wire wound on a 2 inch PVC form. The
coil attaches the base of the antenna to ground and the feedline taps
the coil about 10 turns up from the bottom. The design is
entirely cut and try using an MFJ-259 antenna analyzer. The base
of the antenna is supported about 5 feet above the ground on a 2x4 and
3 elevated radials are deployed during the contest season while the
snow is on the ground. This antenna works well for DX contacts
(I've worked VK6, many European countries and KH6 on 80M) On 40M
I use a Cushcraft AV5 mounted in another tree. As you can see,
even in winter, this antenna is virtually invisable. Some tuning
was necessary to compensate for the detuning caused by the tree, but
the antenna still works well (I've worked JA, VK, ZL and many other DX
stations on 40M). This antenna is also mounted 5 feet above
ground and uses 2 elevated radials that are deployed during the contest
season. I am considering adding a low trapped or paralell dipole
for 40/80M to more easily work domestic stations. My son has not
shown a huge interest in amateur
radio
yet, but he is only 2. He enjoys turning the knobs on the radios
and playing with the paddles and listening to it on the radio.
Maybe
next year we'll work on learning CW!
from the
street. Only 5 houses in the development can see the
antenna. The antenna is currently turned by a Yaesu G-800 rotor,
but this will be replaced by an old Alliance rotor soon so the Yaesu
rotor can go to the Baldwinville station. Just to the left of the
MA5B mast you can see the vertical dipole for 10/20M. This
antenna was made from the 12/17M element on the MA5B and serves as a
2nd antenna in SO2R contest situations. In the tree to the left of the
mast you can see my homebrew 80M vertical. It uses 2 sections of
10 foot Radio Shack mast and a World Radio SD-20 fiberglass pole with a
14 guage wire attached as the radiator. The total hight of the
radiator is just under 40 feet. The antenna is matched to the
feedline by a coil at the base (photo to right). The coil is made
from 8 guage solid ground wire wound on a 2 inch PVC form. The
coil attaches the base of the antenna to ground and the feedline taps
the coil about 10 turns up from the bottom. The design is
entirely cut and try using an MFJ-259 antenna analyzer. The base
of the antenna is supported about 5 feet above the ground on a 2x4 and
3 elevated radials are deployed during the contest season while the
snow is on the ground. This antenna works well for DX contacts
(I've worked VK6, many European countries and KH6 on 80M) On 40M
I use a Cushcraft AV5 mounted in another tree. As you can see,
even in winter, this antenna is virtually invisable. Some tuning
was necessary to compensate for the detuning caused by the tree, but
the antenna still works well (I've worked JA, VK, ZL and many other DX
stations on 40M). This antenna is also mounted 5 feet above
ground and uses 2 elevated radials that are deployed during the contest
season. I am considering adding a low trapped or paralell dipole
for 40/80M to more easily work domestic stations. My son has not
shown a huge interest in amateur radio
yet, but he is only 2. He enjoys turning the knobs on the radios
and playing with the paddles and listening to it on the radio.
Maybe
next year we'll work on learning CW!