- Joined
- Oct 27, 2002
- Messages
- 2,277
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You'll look at this from a distance and say, "what the hell, this looks like the last one". Well it kinda does, because it kinda is, with a few subtractions, a major addition, and more than a few relocations. There will be no pictures of cable management (with the exception of the same ol' patch panel I've been rolling out since the Gold Rush of 1849) because let's face it, that's the pig that waters down the lipstick, right?
Anyway, to the "big picture"...
Same racked console from Audiorax. One of the greatest additions to my shack ever, IMHO. It is both beautiful and restrictive! Probably in a good way because it minimizes my $$ spending as I don't have any room for stuff.
Wait...that didn't quite work in this case....here's the primary reason:
I've owned cars that were cheaper than this damned thing...but it is an absolute thing of beauty, and in my full-fledged return to amateur radio it was, after a period of operating QRP, the "logical" decision. What a machine. I am running it at just its 100 watts, and in conjunction with a Heil PR-781G and a "Fifine" USB mic, I have made an amazing amount of contacts around the globe. It somehow has the capability of busting pile-ups with said 100 watts. It has to be the combination of the rig itself, the antennas, the microphones, and my loud mouth....with emphasis on the latter!
Of course I still do an abundance of listening here as well, and although it's moved a slot to the right, this time it's NOT leaving. I finally got over it. @N9JIG probably still thinks I'm more full of doo doo than a Christmas turkey....but it's here to stay.
On the left side we have four older Unidens, just updated with that BCD536HP, who's saga was told in the classified section recently when I tried to sell it. As soon as I hit send here I'll be deleting that ad. It's reconnected to an external speaker and works great. These scanners share a Stridsberg 4 port multicoupler attached to....well anything I damned well please, but usually a Comet GP15N atop the tower I haven't shown you yet.
Over here we have the "right side big picture", which most of you have seen in some variation over the years. Some old Motorolas up top still monitor my local PD, FD, and traffic inbound and outbound of the Cape Cod Canal. The patch panel lets me use just about any receiver on any antenna. The PC screen is running OP25 Boatbod and waiting for the digital part of CoMIRS to get here. Riiiiight....I found a 380 MHz radio system that came online at Joint Base Cape Cod several months ago. Nary a peep of traffic thus far but it runs 24/7 and by gawd I'll maybe be the first to hear it....unless it's using ENC...below it runs my one remaining SDS200, a BCT15X that monitors the department I worked for for almost 34 years, and three scanners for a Rangecast setup.
The hodgepodge of antennas attached to or nearby the tower seem to play nice with one another. The usuals are for the most part still up there as you'll see, and two dipoles have been added as well, a ZS6BKW 40-10 meter and a True Ladderline doublet, also for 40-10. The former uses 450 ohm ladderline down to a balun, and the doublet uses the wider 600 ohm, also to a balun. Both are fed from there into the shack. I recently have added 10 and 15 meter monoband rigid dipoles. It was my intention to build my own, but a company called Diex Antennas from Brazil sells them cheaper than the parts I could cobble together, so they're up instead. This photo shows the 10 meter, off camera is the 15. I may add a 20 next spring. I like resonant monoband dipoles and I've been rewarded with excellent results using them.
I'm going to click send now and see if this fits in one post. This setup, to paraphrase @prcguy , is protected by firearms, but I'm not sure I can approach his IQ, so in this case it's even a lower one.
What a wonderful hobby. Thanks for looking!
Anyway, to the "big picture"...
Same racked console from Audiorax. One of the greatest additions to my shack ever, IMHO. It is both beautiful and restrictive! Probably in a good way because it minimizes my $$ spending as I don't have any room for stuff.
Wait...that didn't quite work in this case....here's the primary reason:
I've owned cars that were cheaper than this damned thing...but it is an absolute thing of beauty, and in my full-fledged return to amateur radio it was, after a period of operating QRP, the "logical" decision. What a machine. I am running it at just its 100 watts, and in conjunction with a Heil PR-781G and a "Fifine" USB mic, I have made an amazing amount of contacts around the globe. It somehow has the capability of busting pile-ups with said 100 watts. It has to be the combination of the rig itself, the antennas, the microphones, and my loud mouth....with emphasis on the latter!
Of course I still do an abundance of listening here as well, and although it's moved a slot to the right, this time it's NOT leaving. I finally got over it. @N9JIG probably still thinks I'm more full of doo doo than a Christmas turkey....but it's here to stay.
On the left side we have four older Unidens, just updated with that BCD536HP, who's saga was told in the classified section recently when I tried to sell it. As soon as I hit send here I'll be deleting that ad. It's reconnected to an external speaker and works great. These scanners share a Stridsberg 4 port multicoupler attached to....well anything I damned well please, but usually a Comet GP15N atop the tower I haven't shown you yet.
Over here we have the "right side big picture", which most of you have seen in some variation over the years. Some old Motorolas up top still monitor my local PD, FD, and traffic inbound and outbound of the Cape Cod Canal. The patch panel lets me use just about any receiver on any antenna. The PC screen is running OP25 Boatbod and waiting for the digital part of CoMIRS to get here. Riiiiight....I found a 380 MHz radio system that came online at Joint Base Cape Cod several months ago. Nary a peep of traffic thus far but it runs 24/7 and by gawd I'll maybe be the first to hear it....unless it's using ENC...below it runs my one remaining SDS200, a BCT15X that monitors the department I worked for for almost 34 years, and three scanners for a Rangecast setup.
The hodgepodge of antennas attached to or nearby the tower seem to play nice with one another. The usuals are for the most part still up there as you'll see, and two dipoles have been added as well, a ZS6BKW 40-10 meter and a True Ladderline doublet, also for 40-10. The former uses 450 ohm ladderline down to a balun, and the doublet uses the wider 600 ohm, also to a balun. Both are fed from there into the shack. I recently have added 10 and 15 meter monoband rigid dipoles. It was my intention to build my own, but a company called Diex Antennas from Brazil sells them cheaper than the parts I could cobble together, so they're up instead. This photo shows the 10 meter, off camera is the 15. I may add a 20 next spring. I like resonant monoband dipoles and I've been rewarded with excellent results using them.
I'm going to click send now and see if this fits in one post. This setup, to paraphrase @prcguy , is protected by firearms, but I'm not sure I can approach his IQ, so in this case it's even a lower one.
What a wonderful hobby. Thanks for looking!
