N9JIG AZ Shack Completed

[N9JIG]

Antennas in place!

Joe came from the other side of the Valley yesterday and installed the dipoles and a boatload of my other scanner antennas in the attic. I took a few pics but there really isn't a way to get a clear look at things since there are so many joists and vent pipes blocking the view (and access...).

So far I can confirm that the 2 dipoles (10M and 20M) are working great! I made a couple 10M contacts last night and was hearing all kinds of east cost nets and foreign broadcasts around the bands on the R8500 and IC7000.

Today and for the next couple days I am going to start testing the scanner antennas on various freqs. As I did in my old home periodically I will find a few representative always-on channels (NWS, ATIS, data signals, etc.) and test signal strength on each antenna on each channel. I have a pretty good procedure for this that I have used before:

1) Find good, reliable always-on transmitters of varying signal strengths around the area, like a couple different ATIS, data or NWS signals in the various bands.

2) Load these channels in my R8500's memory

3) Create a log sheet for the antennas and freqs.

4) Connect each antenna in turn to the R8500 and check each channel in the radio, logging the displayed signal strength for each channel.

5) Determine what antenna goes to what radio based on it's normal use. For example, I have 4 BCT15's dedicated to searching Mil Air and a 5th for scanning. These would be connected to the antennas that displayed the best results for this frequency range.

Once done I will then rearrange the antenna cables so they are routed to the appropriate cabinet/multicoupler/radio.

In the attic I now have:

4 Antenna Specialists ST-2's (The big pitchfork jobs)
4 Antenna Specialists ST-3's (The little 3-radiator/4-radial groundplanes)
3 NMO Groundplane mounts with MON-51 or MON-52 whips
Comet dual-band (2m-440)
Diamond dual-band (2m-440)
Diamond Discone
Diamond CR8900 Quad (10M, 6M, 2M, 440) on a groundplane mount.
DPD ADS-B antenna
10M wire Dipole
20M Wire Dipole
800MHz. groundplane

I have a couple spare coax runs for anything additional I might add later. I am thinking of a flagpole antenna out in the yard in the future and I might try to sneak a wire outside if I can hide it from the HOA. If I can find some decent wire that matches the color of the clay tile roof I might run a wire antenna right on the roof along the tiles.

I am also thinking of changing around the left cabinet, pulling the R8500 out and putting it on the desk to free up room for the IC7000.

 

[radio3353]

I am not sure what is more impressive - your antenna lineup or the size of your attic!!

 

[N9JIG]

I am not sure what is more impressive - your antenna lineup or the size of your attic!!

Well, it is a single story home with a spread out footprint so there is a lot of square footage in the attic. It is however quite crowded as the AC and furnace are up there and all the associated duct-work as well. The ceiling is about 8 feet at the centers (there are 3 wings from the center core) but it is tough to walk around up there. The only place one can stand comfortably is on the AC walkway. The various sections make for a lot of joists and cross members. My old house in Illinois had a wide open attic with none of that.

I had hoped to buy a new home here, they have cathedral attics where they use sheet insulation tacked to the underside of the roof. It keeps the attic cooler, eliminates the dust from stirring up blown-in insulation and makes it easier to place flooring to walk on. Unfortunately the new models didn't have the floor plans we liked so we bought a 6 year old home instead with a better floor plan.

I am tempted to see about sucking my blown-in insulation out and laying down sheet insulation but that would be pricey and probably not very effective.

I give a lot of credit to Joe, he was nimble enough to do the work, I am not. Besides, I am way too clumsy for that. I likely would have put my foot down thru the ceiling (done it before...) and the wife would have killed me for that.

 

[WatnNY]

Well let's see some pictures, Rich!!!

Mike

 

[K9JDN]

Great design and implementation, Rich! I've been following your shack photos for awhile.

I have a couple of questions about the Jotto Desk faceplates and mounts, that I haven't been able to find answers for by doing some Google searches. I'm sure I'm just not entering the right parameters. Does each 19" 2U space consists of two (2) radio mounts and one (1) 19" frame? It appears to be three separate pieces to me. How are the radio mounts supported in the center of the 19" space? I can find the scanner faceplate mounts at various vendors, but haven't seen the 19" frame they would fit into. I'm obviously overlooking something.

I've begun the journey of rack mounting and you get all the credit for the inspiration! If you can provide any answers/"behind the scenes photos", it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[N9JIG]

The frame that the JottoDesk faceplates mount in are customer made by or for NorthComm (Home). They take 2u of rack space each so 5 to a case. The cases are 10u but you can get them in different heights.

One way you could go is to make your own frames with sheet metal, cut to size and with holes to fit the faceplates. I did this for a project at work a few years back. I took a roadsign blank to a metal shop and had them cut it to fit with holes for the faceplates and screw holes to match the cabinet. That was for 4 radios in a 2x2 configuration.

 

[N1SQB]

GRRRRR....

I HATE looking at your set up Rich ! I start to drool uncontrollably like a baby! You're killing me brother! :roll:
Nice Job as usual!

Manny

 

[KG7LER]

I'm drooling over all the scanners, now you just need some hd security cameras to see what is going on outside while listening to the radios and working

 

[commscanaus]

Rich,

I have to claim on my medical insurance due to having just slipped over in my own drool!

Thankyou for showing the rear of the racks as well, detailing how you have organized the wiring.
Very well done indeed!

Your shack layout certainly reflects the enthusiasm you put into your work.


Regards, Commscanaus.

 

[mikesatter]

Very nice!

 

[W9WSS]

Rich, any change of getting a few photos of the antenna array in the new attic?

 

[N1XDS]

Very nice!

 

[N9JIG]

Rich, any change of getting a few photos of the antenna array in the new attic?

I have tried, they are too scattered to get any real decent pics.

Basically they are just standing up in the attic spread about as much as we could get them. The house has a large footprint and there are several sections of the attic but there are too many joists in the way to get good pics.

I am thinking about this winter replacing the coax and putting in a patch panel. I have debated this often over the years.

If I do this I will go with a bulk purchase of LMR400 and RG6Q cut to fit. It will allow me to get my antennas into other parts of the attic away from the AC and vents as much as possible.

I will have to tear up the walls a bit again but spackle and paint are cheap...

 

[SCPD]

The radio room looks Awesome,the Tv install is horrilble,you should have someone snake all the wires behind the wall instead of the wire molding.

 

[N9JIG]

I planned on doing just that but the studfinder showed a firestop or some other obstruction midway between the floor and TV mount. Since I was already pulling the drywall on one side of the room for a similar issue I didn't want to have to do it on another wall.

I have since replaced the TV mount with a swinging mount and eliminated the shelf. I have a small cabinet/shelf thing below the TV that contains the router, cable/TX modem, household automation system, a couple network drives, BRD, the video phone etc. all connected to a UPS.

I was planning on painting the wire mold when we repainted but we ran short after the second coat.

If I do other carpentry in the future I might address it but for now it isn't a problem.

 

[dixie729]

Hope to get some time to do this to my 996xt


Sent from my XT1097

 

[dixie729]

Not sure if this topic is still active but I had a question about the carrier indicator light.
Note: i haven't taken my 996xt apart yet.
Instead of drilling into the face plate.
Could you remove the headphone jack and use that hole to mount the LED bulb?
Would that mess up anything on the circuit board?

Sent from my XT1097

 

[N9JIG]

I suppose you could do that, or perhaps just run the leads for the LED thru the jack and use a little dab of hot glue to secure the LED.

I have been running the leads thru the DIN key slot and it has worked well.

 

[dixie729]

Ok. So I got my bulb from RadioShack. Touched the leads to the contact points on the bottom of the circuit board that were pictured here. My light would not light up. I switched the leads around, no luck.
I'm scanning a P25 trunking network and a P25 non-trunking network if it makes a difference.
Not sure what I'm doing wrong

Sent from my XT1097

 

[N9JIG]

It is more than just a bulb. You need a transistor to handle the switching and a resistor to control the voltage to the LED.