Rigs

February 2022

Changes. The vintage gear is off the operating desk and on a bookshelf, replaced by two new SDR transceivers: a QRP Hermes Lite 2, the small black box shown with Hardrock 50 amp next to it, and an Expert Electronics SunSDR2 DX. The Hardrock 50 also has a KX3 interface. On top of the HL2 is a keyer, since it doesn't have one built in. Running on the laptop screen is ExpertSDR2 software for the SunSDR2 DX. On the monitor is SDR Console running the Hermes Lite 2. Between the SDRs you can see a small, black network switch since both SDRs are Ethernet connected and an antenna switch to choose between them. Behind the monitor is another antenna switch that selects the upper or lower decks for RF and has a center ground.

The cable end to the left of the KX3 is attached to a triband (6 meters, 2 meters, 70 cm) antenna for VHF/UHF. The K3 and KX3 cover 6 meters and the SunSDR2 DX covers 6 meters and 2 meters, but has no CTSS :(

On the right is a QRP labs VFO that is GPS disiplined, on an LP Pan for the K3 and under that a Behringer 192 kHz USB audio device. The KX3 also can feed the Behringer and both the K3 and KX3 have a nice, integrated pan adapters using Win4K3 software. The small box just to the right of the K3 and left of the monitor is a remote control for the MFJ 993B tuner mounted in a waterproof box at the base of the HF antennas.

The other new addition is a Baofeng handheld that does DMR next to my old Yaesu VX-6.

September 2020

In 2015 I remarried and moved to a new home in Franklin Township near Kent, OH. My station is now set up in the breezeway between the house and garage that we call our Narthax.

Workbench and Operating

Left to right

Lower row: Mosley CM-1, Heatkit DX60, Begali Simple, LTA straight key

Top row, HTs, Heathkit HG-10 VFO , Heathkit HD-11 Q-multiplier, CALF audio filter, Elecraft KX3, Yaesu FT-857D, Elecraft K3, Remote tuner head, LP pan, QRP LADS VFO with GPD as GPS disiplined reference for K3

View of West Lake from operating position.

Rigs built

Back row: BITX-40, uBITX in old Heatkit sixer case, U3S with GPS

Front row: 40 m QCX, multiband uSDX, 80 m Cricket

Build and test equipment

Back row: Solder iron and hot air desoldering, Siglent SDS 1202X-E oscilloscope, Leo Bodner GPSDO, Multimeter, Bench power supply, Dummy loads

Front row: Pana vise, fume extractor and aligator clip holders, Antuino, SDRplay RSP1a with spectrum analyzer software, nanoVNA with QRP LABS filter test jig, Analog Discovery 2 with impedance board, noise source, annenuators

Vintage rigs

In addition to the Mosley CM-1 and Heathkit DX-60 a friend gave me a Heathkit HW-16 transceiver that had belonged to his late father.

Original front view

Original back view

Cleaned up. Cleaned inside and out, used contact cleaner on all switches and sockets, replaced electrolytic caps and selected resisters. I drive it with the Heathkit HG-10 VFO. It works and is fun to operate.

I removed the neon bulb oscillator and did a mod to leak a bit of the transmit back to the receiver to provide a side tone. It is much more pleasant than the neon bulb screech.