Other H.F. Antennas:
I may also use a 7.2 metre high "UnTenna" supported by a fibreglass fishing pole using a good quality G Whip 9:1 UnUn or a GWhip End Fed Zepp. I have also used both a ground plane antenna, again supported by the fibreglass fishing pole, cut for the 20 metre band and a trapped dipole for 20 and 10 metres fed by 75 ohm twin feeder and 1:1 balun to the ATU, both with good results. However the Inverted L and Delta Loop antennas are, for now, offering the most versatility on H.F.

VHF & UHF Antennas: 2m & 70cms FM are taken care of by either a Watson W50 'white stick' dual band vertical collinear mounted on a push up mast in the garden or a dual band wire N9TAX wire J-Pole antenna installed in the loft space. SSB is catered for with a DK7ZB design dual band Yagi antenna, with 5 elements for 2 metres and 8 elements for 70cms, mounted horizontally on the push up pole and rotated by a lightweight AR300 rotator.

Computer Data Interfaces: There is a SignaLink external USB sound card that links the Icom transceiver to a Windows PC for use with data modes such as CW (Morse), RTTY, PSK31, SSTV and Packet etc.

The Kenwood TS-590S is also linked to the PC by direct USB connection which conveniently allows data RX & TX and rig control.


Computer: I had to rebuilt the PC in January 2012: The Abit Motherboard that I installed in August 2008 disappointingly failed prematurely in December 2011.

Now the PC consists of a new Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2P AM3 ATX motherboard (with solid long life capacitors), AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.0GHz Dual Core Processor, 2GB Corsair DDR3 1333MHz RAM Memory and a Seagate 500GB Sata III Hard Disk Drive. The existing components used are the original Nokia style case (from 2001), a Hiper brand HPU4S425 Silent 425 Watt PSU (from 2008), a Card Reader and a DVD Writer.
The system runs Windows XP SP3. All supplied by CCL Computers.  http://www.cclonline.com

I have found from experience that the switch mode power supplies that come with many of the cheaper PC cases and towers can create rather a lot of RF noise across all bands. I have used the 'Hiper' brand of ATX PSU's previously and found them to be fairly quiet as far as RF QRM is concerned.  QRM


Software: I Use Ham Radio Deluxe v5.0 for logging together with eqsl for QSLing; Digital Master 780 for data; FTBasic and FT7900 for memory management. I also use RadioMobile for pixel plotting.

I do also have a Morse key (of course!), but I have yet to learn this art - though I am very keen to do so at some point.


Speakers: I have a choice of several external loudspeakers; A couple of old 'Realistic' Minimus 3.5 Tandy brand speakers which are excellent. I use one for the Icon IC-706mk2g and the other for the Kenwood TS-590s. There is also a little 'CRT' brand MS120 mobile speaker connected to the Yaesu FT-7900 and although it is small it is quite clear and because it cuts out a lot of low frequency sounds it can be very helpful in improving intelligibility in some circumstances - it's not used full time but handy to have.

For 'bigger sound' I also have a large speaker, that sits on top of the cabinet. This I made myself from a GL13 10 watt, 6 inch loudspeaker unit and a grill that I purchased from Maplin. I housed it in an admittedly rather roughly made wooden cabinet that I made for the purpose. I find this loudspeaker to be very good in many circumstances, particularly on the Icom. The Maplin GL13 unit is very sensitive and has a good frequency range.


PC Monitor Bracket: Initially I placed the PC monitor on top of the shelf unit, but that was really too high to view comfortably. I later found a very strong monitor bracket for sale at a very reasonable price (£11.00) made by IntecBrackets.

I bolted the bracket to the side of the shelving unit that houses the equipment. The bracket articulates very well and allows the screen to be placed in any convenient position or angle.


Shelf Unit: Having limited space I could not accommodate a normal horizontal desk style layout. The only scheme that would work in the limited space was a vertical tower. I toyed with the idea of making a tall unit from scratch, but then I saw the small, narrow book cases in a local catalogue shop, Argos, that turned out to be just perfect for the job. They were very cheap too, about £14.00 each if I remember correctly, and actually very much cheaper than buying the timber and other materials to make a unit from scratch - and certainly easier. I bought two of these bookcases and cut one down a little to make it shorter so that it would stand at the required height on top of the other - a relatively straightforward task.

Photograph showing general layout, microphone & its goose-neck and the computer screen bracket by IntecBrackets

2 Metres and 70 Centimetres Area From MØMTJ Home QTH

The predicted plots are produced assuming these factors:
2 Metres: 5 & 50 Watt transmitter power plots; 2dB feeder loss; 2dBd TX antenna gain; TX antenna height of 7 metres a.g.l.
70 Centimetres: 50 Watts transmitter power; 3 dB feeder loss; 4dBd TX antenna gain; TX antenna height of 7 metres a.g.l.

In both cases RX antenna system is assumed to have 0dB overall gain/loss and also positioned at a height of 7 metres a.g.l.

The plots are only very broad predictions - the actual area could vary considerably due to different RX antenna height, gain, feeder losses and other variable or unpredictable local conditions. For reference two S point dB scales are shown below; traditionally S9 represents 50µv with each successive S point being 6dBV lower. However many S meters are not entirely accurate and each S point may be different, perhaps only representing 4 dB gradations:



2 Metres : 144 - 146MHz:


Some older photographs of previous incarnations of the shack:

THE RADIO AMATEUR IS....        

CONSIDERATE... never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.         

LOYAL... offers loyalty, encouragement and support to other amateurs, local clubs and the American Radio Relay League, through which Amateur Radio in the United States is represented nationally and internationally.         

PROGRESSIVE... with knowledge abreast of science, a well-built and efficient station and operation above reproach.         

FRIENDLY... slow and patient operating when requested; friendly advice and counsel to the beginner; kindly assistance, cooperation and consideration for the interests of others. These are the hallmarks of the amateur spirit.         

BALANCED... radio is an avocation, never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school, or community.  

PATRIOTIC... station and skill always ready for service to country and community.

I will listen and listen, and then listen again before calling.

I will only call if I can copy the DX station properly.

I will not trust the DX cluster and will be sure of the DX station's call sign before calling.

I will not interfere with the DX station nor anyone calling and will never tune up on the DX frequency or in the QSX slot.

I will wait for the DX station to end a contact before I call.

I will always send my full call sign.

I will call and then listen for a reasonable interval. I will not call continuously.

I will not transmit when the DX operator calls another call sign, not mine.

I will not transmit when the DX operator queries a call sign not like mine.

I will not transmit when the DX station requests geographic areas other than mine.

When the DX operator calls me, I will not repeat my call sign unless I think he has copied it incorrectly.

I will be thankful if and when I do make a contact.

I will respect my fellow hams and conduct myself so as to earn their respect.

**JOIN**
The Radio Society of Great Britain

Representing the best interests
of radio amateurs