The Station
Fun? You bet!
Like most amateur radio enthusiasts, my novice station was very modest. I earned my novice license in 1975 when I was 15. Like many young men, I was NOT overflowing with cash, so I improvised. I worked as much as I could while in High school by mowing lawns, shoveling snow, and working nights to fuel my new hobby. A local ham and owner of an electronics store, Mr. Bob Evans, was always there and willing to help an eager novice. He advised me to purchase a Drake 2B receiver. Since money was scarce and the Drake 2B was in demand, he let me pay a little at a time until it was paid for. I still have that Drake 2B. Bob was a kind man confined to a wheelchair, but always patient and willing to help. I always enjoyed going to his store and talking to him. To honor him the Robert M. Evans award is presented annually is given to a local ham who has given considerable service to the Amateur Radio community by the Des Moines Radio Amateur Radio Association.
So, I got the receiver, and the excitement begins. Waiting for the official ticket from the F.C.C., I started looking for a transmitter, antenna, SWR meter, key, etc. More Muny, More Muny, More Muny… Back to work. I needed a car too… Back on the hamster wheel to earn some more bucks. In late 1975 minimum wage was $2.30/hr. My electronics teacher came to the rescue and sold me an old 1957 mobile rig the AF-67 for $20 bucks. I affectionately called it old sparky. But hey, I needed at least 50 watts input, a steady VFO, and an ac power supply. The PS-2V power supply would thump when you switched it on, It was sure nice to keep those feet warm during those long winter months. N9BOR made a nice tribute to the boat anchor.
So that was the Novice station. Of course, I went off to college and personal computers were the rage in 1981. I had to have one too. I looked at the Apple I kit for $666. But, I wasn’t confident that this little obscure company made a useful computer, so I passed. That was a $375,000. error. However, I did go to a networking conference (1981) in St. Louis and learned how to network IBM XT’s and Apple II’s. Wow, what power.. 1 Mbs speeds. When modems where 300baud and Compuserve was an independent company, 1Mbs was fast. In the mid-1980s, having 9 Apples networked with a 20MB Corvus Omninet was cool. My amateur radio activities took a back seat until I decided I was ready to evolve to the general ticket ranks and purchased the IC-751A in 1986. I still use that rig. I love the rig and still have the original box. Easy to use from 5 watts to full power. Unfortunately, with the newer digital modes like psk31 with its 31hz bandwidth signal, the IC-751-A would tend to drift. So after a successful business career, IT career, family and raising 2 kids, it’s time to upgrade the station before those college tuition bills start rolling in! So Here we go: My upgraded station as of August 2019.
To come up to speed with the new capabilities, I’ve added a fairly new custom computer coupled with a ERGOTron.
Powering the 3- 21″ monitors is a Asus MB, water cooled 8-core AMD 8350 @4.3Ghz, 32GB memory, 1TB SSD, 1TB WD and a Netgear 1 GB/s network switch to a Synology 416 12TB NAS. Software used is Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD), and SatPC32. For satellite work, I’ll be tracking the Satellites with the KD0ZW Sat-Trac, outfitted for 2mtrs, and 70cm, with DBA 270 masthead preamp. The IC 7300/9700 units are connected with USB 3.0. How do I like it? Below is a screenshot of a pile-up I got my self into on 9/18 at 12:15 am
Running 10wts FT8 into non-resonate End-fed Inv L up 30ft. Who would expect a pile-up? Maybe they need me for there 40mtr WAS between 05:00 and 05:15 GMT award… lol Needless to say, I was surprised. Lots of stateside people up at these hours on 40mtrs?
I’ve been using FT8 to get a handle on the radiation pattern of this new EFNRW (End Fed Non-Resonate Wire) . Here is what has happened during a solar minimum at 41.5NL -93.5L using 20-30 watts output. The results have been encouraging.