Everyone has been asking for an update, so here goes - including Antenna pics!
This is the global corporate headquarters of RadioReference.com LLC
Over the past 4 years, I have been fortunate to have a job that allows me to listen to radios throughout the day, test computers and equipment, and manage a really awesome online community. But trust me, RadioReference.com really is a lot of hard work - and this is where I get all that crazy work done.
The below image is my main desk, which comprises of a Mac Pro with 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon processors, 10 GB RAM, 2 80GB Intel SSD drives in RAID-0 configuration, 4 TB of storage for photos, videos, etc, and 300GB of storage on an 15K RPM drive for VMware images (Win XP and CENTOS 6). It has served me well for quite a few years.
The Mac Pro has two monitors, Apple's 30 inch Cinema display which is primarily used for all development work on RadioReference.com and a Samsung 24 inch monitor mounted vertically sitting on the right for all email, calendar, task management etc.
Development on RadioReference is done using CENTOS 6 VMware image that runs on the Mac Pro which is able to completely replicate our production environment on one image - web, database, nfs, proxy, audio, archiving etc. I can copy that image to my laptop for mobile development work when needed.
Everything is interconnected via Gigabit Ethernet. The entire house is also served by a Mac Mini with (2) 2TB of RAID 1 storage for movies and media, a 2TB drive for Time Machine backups for the house, and another 2TB drive for scripted backups of other media.
This 2nd computer is the "radio" computer and is used for all computer controlled radios and decoding.. It is an Intel i5 3.1GHz with 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, running Windows XP SP3. External hardware includes 4 USB sound cards for recording and decoding purposes, a Wavecom W-PCI card, and 4 USB to serial adapters for computer control of various radios. Software running on this machine includes TrunkPCR, ProScan, Wavecom WCode, PC-ALE, Ham Radio Deluxe, WinRadio SDR, SpectraVue, Pro96Com, HomePatrol Sentinel, and a bunch of other radio related decoders and software applications.
This computer is mounted in this rack, which houses most of the radios that I own.
The rack was designed to house all radios, decoders, 12V/120V power, multi couplers, recorders etc in one enclosure so as to reduce the amount of cables running through the office. It has worked out well. All installed in this rack (on wheels) includes:
Icom R-9500 (general purpose receiver - HF through microwave)
GRE PSR-500 (P25 monitoring and control channel decoding)
Uniden BCD996T (General scanning for San Antonio)
AOR AR-5000+3 (Mil, Aero, VUF/UHF Spectrum Analysis, HF overflow receive)
Icom R2500 (San Antonio EDACS System)
RF Space SDR-14 (Connected to the AR5000 IF Output for spectrum analysis)
BC-235 (control channel monitoring)
Winradio G33DDC Pro SDR Receiver (my primary HF receiver)
Additionally, a AirNav Radar box resides in the attic and is connected back to this computer using a USB to CAT-5 converter, then translated to USB/IP for wireless USB over IP from the upstairs to the downstairs office.
I also own a BCD396T which is my primary mobile scanner (mainly for air shows and special events), and a HomePatrol w/GPS receiver (my primary travel scanner). Since the San Antonio area cannot be monitored with a scanner (all EDACS ProVoice here!), my use of mobile and portable scanners is pretty limited.
Interconnection components in this rack include:
8 port Stridesburg multi coupler for VHF/UHF Discone
4 port Stridesburg multi coupler for HF long wire
12 Channel Eurorack Pro audio mixer for all audio to 2 sets of speakers
25 Amp 12V DC Power supply
Rigrunner 4012 DC distribution panel with power poles for 12V
UPS for the radio PC, behind a Tripp-lite Isobar
On top of the rack is a Netbook run Ubuntu which functions as a platform for DSD.
The audio mixer at the top is key to a nice business office with a lot of radios. I can immediately mute all radios and computers for a phone call/conference call, and I can direct certain audio, on demand, to specific speakers.
The front of the rack:
Back. Note the amount of cables that are contained in this one enclosure.
For the antennas. I have 4 antennas that are used. They are:
The gold standard Radio Shack discone fed to the 8 port multi coupler in the office. This is my primary 30 MHz+ antenna and gives great performance all through south Texas. This antenna is mounted behind my chimney since I've got a pretty strict HOA - but it cannot be seen by anyone except my next two neighbors and me in my backyard. The two neighbors are obviously cool with it.
A Wellbrook loop antenna. I cannot sing enough praises about this antenna - it performs almost flawlessly on HF. It is connected to the WinRadio HF SDR. As you can see, it is mounted right on top of my kid's play set, which functions nicely as a base camp for another antenna as well.
A 150ft triangle loop throughout my back yard, terminated with a 9:1 matching transformer - at the Apex of the kiddos playlet - it performs quite well.
The final antenna is a DPD productions ADS-B 1900 MHz antenna for the Air Nav RadarBox. It is connected by a 6 foot piece of Coax to the RadarBox which is installed right in the attic under the vent, so loss on the coax is virtually nil. I easily get 250-300nm range from the Radarbox and can easily track international flights that transit the eastern edge of the Gulf of Mexico.
That's about it - let me know what questions you have
This is the global corporate headquarters of RadioReference.com LLC
Over the past 4 years, I have been fortunate to have a job that allows me to listen to radios throughout the day, test computers and equipment, and manage a really awesome online community. But trust me, RadioReference.com really is a lot of hard work - and this is where I get all that crazy work done.
The below image is my main desk, which comprises of a Mac Pro with 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon processors, 10 GB RAM, 2 80GB Intel SSD drives in RAID-0 configuration, 4 TB of storage for photos, videos, etc, and 300GB of storage on an 15K RPM drive for VMware images (Win XP and CENTOS 6). It has served me well for quite a few years.
The Mac Pro has two monitors, Apple's 30 inch Cinema display which is primarily used for all development work on RadioReference.com and a Samsung 24 inch monitor mounted vertically sitting on the right for all email, calendar, task management etc.
Development on RadioReference is done using CENTOS 6 VMware image that runs on the Mac Pro which is able to completely replicate our production environment on one image - web, database, nfs, proxy, audio, archiving etc. I can copy that image to my laptop for mobile development work when needed.
Everything is interconnected via Gigabit Ethernet. The entire house is also served by a Mac Mini with (2) 2TB of RAID 1 storage for movies and media, a 2TB drive for Time Machine backups for the house, and another 2TB drive for scripted backups of other media.
This 2nd computer is the "radio" computer and is used for all computer controlled radios and decoding.. It is an Intel i5 3.1GHz with 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, running Windows XP SP3. External hardware includes 4 USB sound cards for recording and decoding purposes, a Wavecom W-PCI card, and 4 USB to serial adapters for computer control of various radios. Software running on this machine includes TrunkPCR, ProScan, Wavecom WCode, PC-ALE, Ham Radio Deluxe, WinRadio SDR, SpectraVue, Pro96Com, HomePatrol Sentinel, and a bunch of other radio related decoders and software applications.
This computer is mounted in this rack, which houses most of the radios that I own.
The rack was designed to house all radios, decoders, 12V/120V power, multi couplers, recorders etc in one enclosure so as to reduce the amount of cables running through the office. It has worked out well. All installed in this rack (on wheels) includes:
Icom R-9500 (general purpose receiver - HF through microwave)
GRE PSR-500 (P25 monitoring and control channel decoding)
Uniden BCD996T (General scanning for San Antonio)
AOR AR-5000+3 (Mil, Aero, VUF/UHF Spectrum Analysis, HF overflow receive)
Icom R2500 (San Antonio EDACS System)
RF Space SDR-14 (Connected to the AR5000 IF Output for spectrum analysis)
BC-235 (control channel monitoring)
Winradio G33DDC Pro SDR Receiver (my primary HF receiver)
Additionally, a AirNav Radar box resides in the attic and is connected back to this computer using a USB to CAT-5 converter, then translated to USB/IP for wireless USB over IP from the upstairs to the downstairs office.
I also own a BCD396T which is my primary mobile scanner (mainly for air shows and special events), and a HomePatrol w/GPS receiver (my primary travel scanner). Since the San Antonio area cannot be monitored with a scanner (all EDACS ProVoice here!), my use of mobile and portable scanners is pretty limited.
Interconnection components in this rack include:
8 port Stridesburg multi coupler for VHF/UHF Discone
4 port Stridesburg multi coupler for HF long wire
12 Channel Eurorack Pro audio mixer for all audio to 2 sets of speakers
25 Amp 12V DC Power supply
Rigrunner 4012 DC distribution panel with power poles for 12V
UPS for the radio PC, behind a Tripp-lite Isobar
On top of the rack is a Netbook run Ubuntu which functions as a platform for DSD.
The audio mixer at the top is key to a nice business office with a lot of radios. I can immediately mute all radios and computers for a phone call/conference call, and I can direct certain audio, on demand, to specific speakers.
The front of the rack:
Back. Note the amount of cables that are contained in this one enclosure.
For the antennas. I have 4 antennas that are used. They are:
The gold standard Radio Shack discone fed to the 8 port multi coupler in the office. This is my primary 30 MHz+ antenna and gives great performance all through south Texas. This antenna is mounted behind my chimney since I've got a pretty strict HOA - but it cannot be seen by anyone except my next two neighbors and me in my backyard. The two neighbors are obviously cool with it.
A Wellbrook loop antenna. I cannot sing enough praises about this antenna - it performs almost flawlessly on HF. It is connected to the WinRadio HF SDR. As you can see, it is mounted right on top of my kid's play set, which functions nicely as a base camp for another antenna as well.
A 150ft triangle loop throughout my back yard, terminated with a 9:1 matching transformer - at the Apex of the kiddos playlet - it performs quite well.
The final antenna is a DPD productions ADS-B 1900 MHz antenna for the Air Nav RadarBox. It is connected by a 6 foot piece of Coax to the RadarBox which is installed right in the attic under the vent, so loss on the coax is virtually nil. I easily get 250-300nm range from the Radarbox and can easily track international flights that transit the eastern edge of the Gulf of Mexico.
That's about it - let me know what questions you have
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