My Shack - 2014 Update

[Avery93]

Thought I'd post an update of my shack, as quite a few things have changed since 2012.

The PSR-400 has been replaced with a Kenwood TK-7150 as the primary radio for monitoring my county sheriff and mutual aid channels. The PSR-400 is now just used to monitor random stuff that I don't want to tie up another radio with, and the RSN4001 speaker is now hooked to my 996XT.

I also added a Kenwood TK-2312 to my portable collection.

With the exception of the PSR-500, all radios and the MCA204 multicoupler are now powered through a RigRunner 4008 mounted to a battery box (like this), which is fed by an Iota DLS-45/IQ4 power supply/battery charger. Currently, backup power is only provided by a small APC UPS that the Iota is plugged into, but I will soon add an Optima YellowTop D34 battery between the DLS-45 and the RigRunner. This whole setup is located behind the desk, mostly out of sight. I will have pictures of this up soon, as the wiring still needs some cosmetic work.

Also, the DPD custom vertical for the F5021 has been replaced with a Comtelco BS150XL3, and the DPD Omni-X has been replaced with a Comet GP-6NC.

 

[ScanMaine]

nice setup!!!

 

[wise871]

Very nice and organized setup.

 

[RadioPatriots]

Nice setup. Very nice.

 

[oregontreehugger]

Wow, very organized and nice setup!

 

[Dann]

Looks great.

 

[AC2OY]

Very sweet and neat setup!!!!

 

[Avery93]

Thanks for the comments!

 

[kevin2525]

Nice looking shack. May I ask the model number
of the Motorola external speaker. Thanks.
73's:Kevin.

 

[Avery93]

Nice looking shack. May I ask the model number
of the Motorola external speaker. Thanks.
73's:Kevin.

Motorola RSN4001. It's an excellent quality speaker, and is extremely loud (13 Watts, 4 ohms).

 

[CanesFan95]

Looks like a nice clean setup.

 

[SCPD]

Nice work!!. Very professional setup with cables hidden and excellent radio selections.

 

[Avery93]

Thanks again everyone for the comments.

I've had a few PM's inquiring about where I got the desk. I bought it at Staples almost 5 years ago, but couldn't remember the name of it. After quite a bit of searching, I finally found that it's an OSP Design Mercury Corner Desk. Unfortunately, it looks like that model has been discontinued for a while, and they don't seem to have a replacement for it.

 

[N8DRC]

Looks great, nice and clean setup!

 

[pgnsucks]

It would be nice to see what you are doing on the outside if not all just inside antennas.

Antenna height?
Type?
Grounding?

Still the pics are very nice I may be asking to much have a good one

 

[Avery93]

It would be nice to see what you are doing on the outside if not all just inside antennas.

Antenna height?
Type?
Grounding?

Still the pics are very nice I may be asking to much have a good one

No problem, although the antenna setup is nothing particularly special. Also please forgive the iPhone quality pics.

First antenna is a Comtelco BS150XL3-BC. It feeds the Icom F5021, and is mounted on a ~20' mast. With this setup I can hear virtually every public safety repeater in a 40 mile radius with almost no noise. When the band is open, this can easily extend out to 60-70 miles. Simplex mobile traffic can reliably be heard out to around 10-15 miles, and simplex portable out to around 5 miles.

Second antenna is a Comet GP-6NC. This antenna feeds all of the other radios (via a MCA204M multicoupler), and is mounted on a small, ~8 foot pole. Despite being at a lower elevation, the GP-6 performs almost exactly the same as the Comtelco on repeaters and bases, though there is a more noticeable loss of simplex range.

Feedline for both antennas is LMR-400.

 

[IcomIcR20]

Very nice and well put together!