On the air since 1991
I constructed a new OCF wire for HF. 135′ total. Here are some shots of the center (Radiowavz B14V 1:4 Volta ge Balun) and ends (Wireman Acrylic Insulators). Not shown is the vertical radiator (20 feet of RG-58) and the 1:1 (Radiowavz B11ISO) Current Balun. In the air as of March 25, 2016.
This winter time (should have started last summer) project has involved bringing a late 1960s vintage Heathkit SB-200 up-to-date with some new Harbach kits. So far I have replaced the power supply, added the soft start and soft key circuits. It has the original Cetron 572B tubes inside! This unit once was owned by the late Charles Leonard “Chuck” Miller, K4ULA, one of the first hams I ever met here in Ashe County. It has been passed on to me by Duane Gervasi, KF4ZS, a fellow ham friend that administered my first ham radio exam. So… this unit has some real sentimental value. First contact on February 14, 2015 to VA3AAA in Ontario on 20 meters running near 600 watts.
The new KB4W/B is on the air at 28242.8 from Yarnall Knob with a power output of about four watts. This is the Tayloe Simple Transmitter from Hendricks QRP Kits. Getting good reports so far.
And the winner is… W4MLN! 1st Place Standard! A big thanks to Dave, KB4W for all of the support, and Marc, KK4OII, Terry, KJ4EZX, for hanging around until the end of the contest, and the rest of the ACARC gang for coming by. Thanks to John, WB2NHQ and Tony, KE4VVF with Mecklenburg ARES and the entire Mecklenburg Amateur Radio Society for sponsoring the hamfest and this contest.
Since I’ve had a lot of comments and few dozen questions about “the box”, I decided to post this. Here are some pictures of what I was using at field day. This case is a Gator Powered Rolling 6 Rack Unit (GRR-6PL-US ) that I and WKSK used to use for remote broadcasts and ball games. “Powered” meaning there is an AC power strip in the bottom of the case. After years on the road, the broadcast crew (including me) wore it out. The pull handle was broken and the tread on the wheels had worn off, so we bought a new one, a 4RU model. I asked the owner of the station what he was going to do with it, he said take it to the landfill one of these days, so I hauled it off for him… straight to my shack! I called up the Gator case company and asked about a new handle and wheels. They sent free of charge. I was kind of shocked the just asked for my address and never my credit card. They really back their products; most have a lifetime warranty.
I bought a couple of Middle Atlantic Products UTR1, 1 Rack Unit vented shelves ($20 each) and mounted the power supply and radio to them. I removed the feet from the Astron SS-25 and used the screw holes since they lined up perfectly and I secured that to the shelf with the existing screws. I used the hardware that came with the FT-857D to mount it to the shelf. Most everything else is Velcroed down and can removed easily if needed. The LDG FT Meter is a nice addition to any FT-857. The LED lights came from the automotive section at Wal-Mart for about $18. The 1RU vents were about $5 each from some Amazon. The external speaker was part of an old Motorola car phone installation.
On the back, there is an aluminum patch panel for antenna connections. This panel came out of a decommissioned server cabinet. I just drilled the holes and mounted the UHF feed-throughs to it. The vented panel came from a controller box that was used on a capacitor rolling machine from United Chemi-Con/Sprague Electric; free of charge. I mounted a small 2 port RS-232 to USB adapter for rig control and PTT/CW keying, an external SoundBlaster Audigy that is connected to a homebrewed soundcard adapter for the digital modes, and USB hub to connect all of that together. Anderson PowerPoles are used for all DC connections and they are all brought back to a RigRunner 4005.
This is still a work a progress. Wheel this baby to the site, peel off the covers, give it power and an antenna, maybe a computer for any digital modes, and you’re ready to roll. Down through the years, I wanted to keep my portable system nice and new, but it became a pain to hook everything together when I wanted to operate. This unit protects your investment and it can be ready to operate in literally seconds. More stickers will be added later.
