Shack video

 

Some years ago, I did a video about the setup here. Sorry my voice is so poor!

Shack

This photo may have been on before. If so, my apologies.

It shows me in the shack checking the birds in the garden with binoculars. Building is done on the left and operating on the right.

The photo makes the room look much bigger than it is. 

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/shack

Shack photo

 

This photo of me in the shack was taken in September 2013.   

Since then, there have been a few changes.

Shack photo

This photo was taken a few minutes ago. 

It shows the equipment that I use. 

For FT8 I use the FT817ND and the SignaLink. The FT991A is only used at QRP levels. 

Shack

The photo, which has been on before, shows the shack as it is currently. The 10m magnetic loop is on the left. It has been on 10m WSPR TX all day (500mW) , but has not been spotted yet. Hopefully there will be some spots before I go QRT later.  It works far better than expected. 

Operating is from the desk on the right and what building I do (little these days sadly) is on the work surface straight ahead. 

G3XBM shack and antennas

Just over a year ago I made a video showing the shack and antennas in use at that time. My voice is very poor!

Since then, I have made a few changes, but still mostly use FT8. There are other videos on the G3XBM channel, most made when my voice was OK!

Shack

This photo was taken today. It shows the shack. Currently I am trying daytime FT8 on 160m.

Shack - 1992?

This picture shows my radio gear in about 1992. These days I have far less! Looking back, I had quite a bit of gear. It was all on a "spare" table in our main bedroom. These days I have a dedicated shack, and less gear! As I recall, all the Standard gear was free. This was obtained from work as we were considering a tie-up at one time when they were part of Philips if I remember correctly.

Shack - April 2019

This is a view of the operating position in the G3XBM shack. As you can probably tell, I quite like QRP. Actually I like small things generally - small PCs, small houses, etc. Maybe I should operate with my hands tied behind my back!

Old Shack 1992?

Yesterday, whilst giving the shack a clean, I came across this photo of my radio gear in about 1992.

Although I cannot be sure of the year, there is a Yaesu FT747.  The MX2 is used with a homebrew 28MHz 1W transverter. Also in the picture is a Mk1 Lincoln 10m rig and a dual band Standard handheld (C828?) and charger.  Also visible is a Howes QRP ATU and a 70cms Pye PRM80.  I had more gear then than now!

At that time, I was using a table in our main bedroom.

Another video being prepared

Later this weekend, I hope to have another video on my G3XBM YouTube channel. Someone suggested a walkthrough of the shack and antennas with me commentating. This I have done, although I need to put these clips together with MovieMaker, which I think is on an old PC.

My voice is bad these days, so I apologise in advance. Maybe you will have to watch a few times if you miss the odd word. If I can, I'll explain things in words on the screen if I can remember how to do this! As I said, should be ready later this weekend.

Like buses, you wait for ages, then several come along.

UPDATE  2225z: For reasons I don't understand, MovieMaker would not allow me to save the video. Over the weekend I may try a different package if I can find one.

Shack

This is a view of my operating position. Nearby, but not shown, is the bench where I do any building.

Old Shack

Old shack in 2009

Facebook throws up memories and today was no exception with a photo of my shack in the old house 7 years ago. In those days I had to share a bedroom, but nowadays I have a dedicated shack. I appreciate this.

Several rigs and the PC have changed.

Shack photo

This was me on the 2m FM net in East Cambridgeshire last night. There were only 3 of us on last night. These days I tend to use WSPR quite a bit as my voice is still pretty poor. We meet on 144.575MHz FM at 8pm local time most Mondays. Note, this is in the all-mode section. Newcomers are always welcome to join us. QSOs are never more than 1 hour and frequently much less.

Tidied the shack

I tend to use WSPR a lot at present because my voice is poor with 100% TX  on 10m and 20% TX on 6m.  I can be on both bands at the same time. Usually I monitor on a different PC in the lounge. If there is any problem I go to the shack to check and reset.

Although I have managed a little building, my fine motor skills are still far from good.  The shack was becoming untidy. This morning I decided to give the shack a tidy! Although really superficial, it does look better. It is now XYL acceptable, I think.

UPDATE 1817z:   My fine motor skills were put to the test today: my son managed to cut through the power cable of the hedge trimmer, so I had to mend it. I managed it OK and all was fine after I tested it.

Grandchildren this week

Over the next week, we have both sets of grandchildren staying with us. For the first half of the week, my shack houses a travel cot so I have far less access to the amateur radio gear and PC.  I hope to remain on 10m around the clock ( PC only needed to sync the clock) but my access to 6m will be much more restricted. Although tiring, the grandchildren take priority.

UPDATE 1945z:   Es (and EA8BVP via F2) on 10m WSPR during the day, but no Es evidence here on 6m WSPR where only G stations have been spotted and spotting me.

UPDATE 2052z:   EA8BVP (2986km) spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon 21 times today, so far.  I presume these were all single-hop F2.

Shack limited access this week

Busy birdwatching

We have different grandchildren staying this week depending on the days so I have limited access to my shack.  I should be able to do some WSPR for the first few days, but later in the week will be more difficult as there will be a cot in the shack!

Today we went birdwatching, counting the different species spotted on a 1 mile village walk. The elder grandson (aged 7) is into categorising and collecting. 12 species mostly seen (a couple heard).

My shack

Shack - operating position Jan 8th 2015

As many of you know, I had a cerebellum brain bleed in Sept 2013 which was operated on. I am steadily recovering, but my voice is still poor so I much restrict operations using voice modes for now.  The picture shows the operating position in my shack. As shown, I am using 500mW on 10m WSPR (WSPR-AXE-CW beacon) and 5mW ERP on MF WSPR via a homebrew transverter (just below the clock) and the earth-electrodes in the garden.  MF uses the PC and FT817 whereas the 10m beacon is tiny and needs no PC. The loading coil (above the power meter) is not used with the earth-electrodes. It is used when on MF when loading up miscellaneous other antennas. It is not in use at all currently.

When fit again, I intend to resume field experiments.

Not shown are any of the optical, 136kHz or VLF kit or the bench used for building. The latter is currently awaiting better health again.

In the shack

This is a photo of me in the shack just before lunch today. Since lunch, I have had to disconnect everything because of an approaching lightning storm. At the last count (flashes to thunder) it was about 2km away but I think the storm is now moving away.

G3XBM in the shack today

For storm maps see http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en . The storm seems to have moved off: I can still hear thunder (to the east) but no nearby lightning. We have heavy rain, which will do the garden good.

Just a moment ago there was a flash and thunder almost overhead.  This showed up on the lightning map. Storms still rolling around. I shall not reconnect the antennas and radio gear for a while yet.

Some building in the shack!

For the first time since my stroke last year I decided to build and test something in the shack (other than a loading coil). For my very wobbly self, this is a major step.  I decided to have a go at the Petitico 10 parts rig from PY2OHH shown a few posts back.

Somewhere I have a 7MHz crystal, but I could not locate it, so I built a bench version, for 3.560MHz instead. I still haven't managed to optimise values yet.

On RX the sensitivity with 600 ohm headphones was, at best -70dBm, so a strong signal is needed to hear anything. It was less sensitive with a crystal earpiece. It is possible that further optimisation might yield a few dB more, but this level I expected. The RX-TX offset seems ideal. The only real operating technique, with this sort of sensitivity, is LISTEN (for a good, strong signal) and then POUNCE. I have yet to check TX output power.

 I'd like to try it on 7MHz really and may buy some 7.030MHz crystals from GQRP club sales. On 7MHz I have an antenna and can listen for my signal on the Twente SDR RX in Holland.

The actual results are almost academic. What mattered was that I actually built something with my soldering iron, didn't burn holes in the carpet and, sort of managed, despite my severe balance problems.

I am wondering if I should open the Ultimate 3 Beacon kit box and build it or wait a few more weeks. At the moment I think I should wait. My confidence levels are still low.

The 481THz NLOS test I had planned will have to wait until I feel less giddy I have decided. Everything for now will be shack based.