My
current QTH offers very little in size for either antennas or station
equipment. I hope to change that soon if I can find a place to buy.
Currently,
I have my trusty Kenwood TS-570 as my mainstay HF rig. I also have an
old Heath 75M mono-bander SSB rig that I like to fire up from time to
time.
I added a digital radio to computer interface unit from Tigertronics called the “Signalink USB”.
The unit adds a USB sound card that frees up the computer sound card
and also eliminates the possible transmission of unwanted signals
generated from the computer generated sound alerts. The unit has added
greatly to my day to day digital operations. I also loved the fact that
the second I plugged it into my little Ubuntu Thinkpad, it didn't require any drivers! This is truly plug and play at its best.
I
also enjoy CW and SSB. Update to hams who haven't received a return QSL
card, I moved back in 2005 and lost many QSL cards that I had not yet
sent confirming QSL's to. If you sent a card and didn't receive a reply
QSL, I do apologize. I also lost my digital log book during a computer
"upgrade" when I bought my last laptop. I QSL the old fashioned
way. I will also try to learn about LOTW this year.
The HF
antenna is a small inverted dipole fed with balanced feeder and only up
about 4 meters. As I mentioned earlier, my lot is very small and
the noise here is pretty bad which kind of nullifies the urge to build
a bigger HF antenna.
I am very active in VHF/UHF FM radio too. I have a few mobiles that I use for voice communications and APRS.
I now run an APRS “I-Gate”
server. This server listens to 144.390MHz for APRS packets, digipeats
them and also sends them to the APRS-IS network via the Internet. I'm
new at this but I am enjoying the experience of learning new
technologies! This server code is pure beauty, called APRX
The software is non-GUI'd (console server mode) software that
runs exceptionally well on my old, underpowered Thinkpad. Thank you
Matti OH2MQK for hacking this magnificent code!
I hope to
install conventional packet here at the QTH soon too. I have some new
antennas and the desire to radiate signals as much as possible! :)
I only use Gnu/Linux here at my QTH, Ubuntu OS is running on all my machines. I only use the long term support versions for ease of security updates.
For logging, I use xlog—simple, effective, fast.
For digital modes I use Fldigi—this also runs on Macs and MS operating systems.
I use Qsstv for slow scan.
I use OH2MQK's APRX I-gate server software at my QTH.
I bought an Yaesu VX-8GR HT
that has built in APRS/GPS. This is the unit I used on my two month
long motorcycle ride around the USA. It's a good radio but has plenty
of bugs. Yet it does work well in the APRS arena.
I also bought an FTM-10SR
motorcycle mobile rig that has a Bluetooth optional chip. With this
radio, I was able to use 2m and 440cm FM bands, as well as use the FM
broadcast feature when there was no ham activity on my tour. Again,
this radio has plenty of bugs and is very under-documented with the
official manual it ships with. The rig is 10 watts. I hope Yaesu will
continue to build radios for this type of service and make it possible
for firmware updates (and free firmware so we can modify it for our
individual needs!). It's a work in progress but serviceable.
I
plan to install a new mobile rig in my work truck that includes APRS. I
spend lots of hours in my truck so this will be a daily use radio.
Right now it has a dual band 2/440 rig in it for FM only.
My old car is also geared up for dualband use with an older Icom rig.
If
I'm lucky, I will also find a used HF mobile rig. I have the antenna,
but I don't want to use my Kenwood as a mobile rig since it's fairly
large.
The shack is a perpetual mess and I guess that is the way god meant for it to be! I try to keep it tidy though.
updated: August 2, 2010