My Ham-Monitoring Shack

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jmp883

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This is the latest version of my ham and monitoring shack:

kc2pjl.jpg

There are 5 scanners, 4 handheld scanners, 4 ham transceivers and 1 ham handheld transceiver. There are two computers in the shack as well. The monitor on the top center of the computer table has all my scanner programming software and ham radio software loaded in it. The other computer is for all my other computing needs.

It's a nice place to hang out....at least until the warm weather comes around...then that big blue beast on my computer desktop exerts it's will over me and I'm on two wheels pretty much from March through November!
 

jmp883

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Jan 7, 2005
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Northern NJ
Here's a close-up of my scanners:

kc2pjl (1).jpg

On the left are 2 BC-895's sitting on top of a BC-890.
On the right is a GRE Super Amp followed by 2 BC-780's.
The Radio Shack power supply is just a place for the 780's to sit.
The handhelds consist of a Sony Wavehawk, a Sporty's Pilot Shop JD-100 Airband Radio, a Yaesu VR-500, and an Icom IC-R5.
 

jmp883

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This is the ham side of my shack:

kc2pjl (2).jpg

An Icom 746 Pro and an original Icom 756 (non-Pro series) take care of my HF needs. 2 Yaesu FT-7800's handle VHF and UHF and a Yaesu FT-60R handheld take care of my portable needs.

The stock handheld microphone on the 746 was replaced with a Heil Icm microphone mounted on the Heil boom and shock mount. The 746 also has a Heil footswitch for hands-free operation.

Everything but the 746 are powered by that Alinco power supply. The power supply feeds a RigRunner and all 5 scanners, the 756, and both FT-7800's are plugged into the RigRunner. The 746 uses it's own Icom power supply that is plugged into a wall outlet.

Like I said earlier...it's a great place to hang out!
 

jmp883

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Northern NJ
And this is my mobile setup:

untitled3.JPG

My BCT-15 is mounted under the rear seat of my Ford Explorer. It's controlled with the BC-RH96 remote head.

The ham transceiver is the Kenwood TM-V708.
 

commscanaus

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Jan 27, 2006
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Melbourne VK
Very nice Joe!

You have a very neat and well stocked setup.

In the background there (pic #2), peeking up ever so slightly, I can see a Sony Wavehawk scanner.
Always wanted one of those, and they never seem to offered up for sale.
Is it any good?

We both happen to use the same rigs mobile too...and I like the way you have them set up.
The RH-96 just cannot be beat for mobile use!

Regards, Commscanaus.
 
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WatnNY

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Very nice collection of radios for the home QTH - and I also like the mobile install as well. You've done an excellent job!

Mike
 

jmp883

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Northern NJ
Commscanaus wrote:

In the background there (pic #2), peeking up ever so slightly, I can see a Sony Wavehawk scanner.
Always wanted one of those, and they never seem to offered up for sale.
Is it any good?

It's a good radio. As I got more radios with PL/DPL capability I started to not use the Wavehawk as much. Even though I have a dedicated military/civil airband radio in the JD-100 it has a broken battery cover lid so I don't use that radio that much anymore, using the Sony for avaition monitoring where lack of PL/DPL doesn't matter.

dd364 wrote:

How bout the antennas?

The scanners are fed through the GRE SuperAmp out to a Grove Scan-Tenna that is mounted on the old TV antenna mast on my house. The mobile antennas are a 4' whip (can't remember the manufacturer) for the BCT-15 scanner and a Diamond dual-band antenna for the Kenwood transceiver. The HF antenna is a homebrewed antenna made from an extendable 31' fiberglass mast with wire cut for 20m. There are 2 30' ground radials off the base of the antenna. I've worked almost all the way around the world with this antenna. I can also work 40m and 17m with this antenna, getting a 1:1 SWR from it on all 3 bands. Not bad for only about $60 spent!

I also forgot to mention that I use the MFJ-281 speaker. There are 3 in the home shack, one on each 780 and one on one of the 895's. The other one is plugged into the BCT-15 in the truck.

Thanks to everyone for all your nice comments about my shack. It may not be the neatest or most organized shack but it works, I'm not embarrassed to show it off, and it's a great place to spend time in. In the end that's all that counts!
 
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