How's This For A $4500 Or Less Ham Shack

[KD3NE]

I know a Ham wcho bought a Yaesu FT9000 ($14,000!) To run into some rinkydink vertical cuz he lived in
one of those Nazi run HOAs/CCCR communities! Hope he enjoys being THRILLED to work Kansas!

Yes indeed, U can get a $20 Heathkit HW101 and a wire run out the window to do that!

You do what you gotta do, and you do it with what you have.

Years ago I lived in one of those area, really strict and I still have the threatening letters.

Then election time came around and my neighbor put a huge sign on his front yard, and the HOA forced him to remove that sign so he took it down on a Sunday.

On Monday that sign was back, well not that same sign but an even bigger sign .... in fact two of them were back.

He had taken one of his companies trucks to the candidate and had HUUUUUGE signs attached to both sides of that box truck and parked the truck in front of his house.

Nothing the HOA could do about that!

Sooooooooo ..... a week later I had several antenna mounted in and on my old pickup truck and parked the truck in front of my house.

Yeah the antenna were compromises, especially on HF but I was on the air and even working DX contacts so I *was* happy !!!

I'm sure the guy you knew was just happy to be on the air ........ because he used a $14K rig and a 50 cent antenna shouldn't matter. He was a Ham and he was ACTIVE.

We need to get more people on the air and have to realize that not everyone can put up an antenna farm on 40, 100, 150 foot towers. Those that can are fortunate, those who can't will do what they can and all will be happy!

[VE3FMC]

Well towers are out for now ..... though I did shoot an email to a friend who can get surplus military self supporting crankups so we'll see.

Made some changes ......

Kenwood TS2000 ( primarily for V/UHF )
Kenwood TS590S ( HF )
Alpha Delta DXCC Dipole
Astron RS35A (2)
Cushcraft 2m Beam
Cushcraft 6m Beam

Total comes to $3860


HF Beam would be nice, I realize that but reality says that won't happen.



Leaves $1140 to play with ...... hmmmmm

Unless you plan on operating 2 M SSB why buy a TS-2000 for 2/440 FM? Buy a dual band mobile instead and you can use it in the shack or your vehicle.

2 M SSB is not going to work out for you without a tower, and you better be at least 50 feet in the air with the 2 M beam.

Same thing goes for the 6 M beam, no tower, what is the point? I have mine up at 30 feet and although ti works it sure would work a lot better at 50 feet or higher.

As others suggested why do you need two Astron supplies? I operate my Yaesu FT-950 off an Alinco DM-330V which costs a lot less than an Astron and has worked perfectly for me. In your case you could power both radios off the one supply. Remember you can only talk on one rig at a time. So one 35 amp Astron will do for your station.

If you want a radio that covers all bands, look at an Icom 7000. Good for local VHF/UHF, and it performs well on HF. I have owned one for 3 years, currently it is in use for 6 meter SSB and VHF.UHF FM (which I rarely use) Plus you can operate 2 M SSB if you can get that beam up high enough.

I agree with what Pat said. Why spend $14,000 on a radio and connect it to a mickey mouse antenna?

I will admit that my antenna setup is not the best. 80/40/17 M dipoles. A 40 Meter loop that just happens to resonate on a good chunk of the 20 meter band. An A99 vertical for 10/12 meters. But I have managed to work more than enough countries for my DXCC over the years. I have WAS on 75 fone with 100 watts, WAS on 40 with digital modes. I do not chase DX, do not contest so those wire antennas serve me. I do have a tri band I can mount at 30 feet.

[KD3NE]

Unless you plan on operating 2 M SSB why buy a TS-2000 for 2/440 FM? Buy a dual band mobile instead and you can use it in the shack or your vehicle.

2 M SSB is not going to work out for you without a tower, and you better be at least 50 feet in the air with the 2 M beam.

Then I guess all my old QSL cards for 2M SSB contacts from my pickup truck, Kenwood 9130, and mobile vertical antenna are not good?

Same thing goes for the 6 M beam, no tower, what is the point? I have mine up at 30 feet and although ti works it sure would work a lot better at 50 feet or higher.

I worked 6M SSB off a homebrew rotatable dipole and made many a contacts. Sure there is always a better solution, but you do what you can with what you have.

As others suggested why do you need two Astron supplies?

Because there are going to be at least two operating positions, both at times being used at the same time.

I agree with what Pat said. Why spend $14,000 on a radio and connect it to a mickey mouse antenna?

Whenever you do anything, you do it right when you can and compromise where you cannot.

If he can afford a $14,000 radio....good for him.

You think he could not afford a 100 foot tower and a nice beam? I bet he could.

However his situation force a compromise on him and aside from moving ( which I did when confronted with that scenario ) he did what he could.

Old gear? Yeah it still works, however if we want to keep this hobby alive we need to bring in new, young, blood and to do that we need to put something in front of them that keeps their interest.

Why a new rig? For the USB port and computer control / remote operation.






You want to discourage new blood from coming into the hobby .......
tell them that unless they can put up a tower they are wasting their time!!!!!!







.

[AB1OD]

Kenwood TS2000 ( primarily for V/UHF )
Kenwood TS590S ( HF )

Others have said it, but I'll repeat/expand on it: The TS2000 may be overkill, depending on what your V//UHF interests are.

If all you're looking to do is to hit repeaters and maybe talk on FM simplex or work the ISS, you can save yourself a lot of money by getting a 2m mobile rig for your shack. Maybe go for dual band if there's some UHF activity in your area. If you want to splurge, I like my D710, but that's because I play with packet and APRS occasionally. You could then put the extra money back in the bank; or, if it's really burning a hole in your pocket, invest in an amp.

If you're looking to do some SSB or CW on 2m, you will be challenged if you don't have a beam on an tower. But if you want to try anyway, you might consider getting (2m mobile FM rig + a 2m transverter for the 590) instead of the 2000. (Note: for 2m, I have a simple J-pole, and a tower and a beam are not an option. I have a bit of fun playing on 2m sideband/CW. I can make a few contacts, but mostly I just hear loud stations working stations I can't hear at all.)

If you are planning to work satellites, then the 2000 makes sense...but you will want to invest in appropriate antennas and rotors for that purpose.

If you are planning to play in contests and try working SO2R, the 2000 might make some sense. I get to play with a 2000 on HF fairly regularly, and I've been disappointed with its performance. For SO2R, you might be happier with a second 590. (See prior points regarding VHF).

If you're planning to chase DX, having the 590+the 2000 makes a little sense, Having a second receiver comes in handy when trying to play in big pileups. However, you will probably want to have an additional HF antenna for this use...and frankly, you'd have better luck with a single HF transceiver with two receivers.

[AF6LJ]

I should have added that we have both of those.

A real nice Bird Watt Meter with a host of slugs ..... have had that piece for 20 years.

Dummy loads, well I have an old Heath Cantenna I think it is called ..... might need to get oil for it as I do not remember if it is filled or not.

Also have other Test Equipment, O'scop, even an old HP RF Spectrum Analayzer ........ just need radios and antenna.

then you are well on your way.

I'm a firm believer we should have basic tools in order to troubleshoot problems with antennas transmission lines and the like. It doesn't heart for a beginning tech who has only an HT to also have a field strength meter, just to make sure that HT is generating RF when there seems to be a problem. .

[VE3FMC]

Sure you can make contacts on 2 M SSB with a vertical. Same goes for 6 M and a dipole. That was not my point.

I have a $1500 FT-950 that I bought new. No USB port, but I have it connected to a computer for rig control and for digital.

Since I am a single op I do not need two stations going at the same time. I can do that though as my Icom 7000 is on a separate PS. I actually have an Astron RS35M but it sits on the shelf behind me not being used as I prefer the smaller switching supplies I use.

The bottom line here is this. This is your money, you spend it as you please. But you asked for opinions and more than one of us have said the TS-2000 is overkill for VHF/UHF work. As I said I rarely use my Icom 7000 for VHF/UHF, I have no interest in repeaters and I use the radio for 2 M simplex with a couple of friends, and I have it connected to my 6 M yagi. That allows me to be on HF with the FT-950 and leave the 7000 on 50.125. However I did not buy that 7000 solely for that purpose. I had it before I bought the FT-950. When I bought the Yaesu I decided to keep the Icom as a back up rig.

Like you I can not install a huge free standing tower. My lot situation just won't allow that. So I have 2 30 foot towers and live with that. If I had the room in the back yard I would install a vertical and lay down lots of radials. But I built a huge deck off the back of my house and now I have no room for radials to be laid down properly.

I agree that we need more young people to enter the hobby. But with cell phones, texting etc it is tough to get young people interested in the hobby.

[KD3NE]

I have a $1500 FT-950 that I bought new. No USB port, but I have it connected to a computer for rig control and for digital.

I agree that we need more young people to enter the hobby. But with cell phones, texting etc it is tough to get young people interested in the hobby.

I too have used a computer to control a rig without a USB port, however that USB port puts something into play with a computer controlling the RIG that kids love ..... the INTERNET!

Setup the station at your home .... use the USB port and the proper software and you can control that rig from anywhere you have internet access.

As for the TS2000 .... I may well drop that in favor of a 7000 ..... but the HF station has to have that USB port.

My oldest son is a member of a computer club and he is pushing for it with the intent of going to a computer group meeting and putting on a Ham Radio demonstration.

It is what " control / operate vis the internet " that will be the key to grabbing their interest.




Think of it this way, what will grab the interest of todays youth .........

A) A Kenwood TS-830 , a wire antenna, and a tuner at the meeting site.

-OR-

B) An HF station located in Bel Air, Maryland being operated via the internet from say Vienna Virginia




The idea here is to utilize todays technology to attract todays youth into a hobby with a very very long history.



.

[KT7DAD]

I too have used a computer to control a rig without a USB port, however that USB port puts something into play with a computer controlling the RIG that kids love ..... the INTERNET!

Setup the station at your home .... use the USB port and the proper software and you can control that rig from anywhere you have internet access.

As for the TS2000 .... I may well drop that in favor of a 7000 ..... but the HF station has to have that USB port.

My oldest son is a member of a computer club and he is pushing for it with the intent of going to a computer group meeting and putting on a Ham Radio demonstration.

It is that " control / operate vis the internet " that will be the key.

None of my rigs have USB port, but I still have remote operation over internet capacity, using HRD and Skype....

[KD3NE]

None of my rigs have USB port, but I still have remote operation over internet capacity, using HRD and Skype....

THanks ... will look into HRD ( at their site as we speak )

I do know on radio that would get their interest, the 7600 ..... hook a keyboard to the front USB port and work PSK and RTTY without a computer.

But knowing that group, they'd be thinking ... ' hmmm there is a computer in there ...... I wonder how we can hack it and make it do different things ' LOL

Who knows they may come up with the next best thing by doing that .... or not! LOL



EDIT: Downloaded/Printed the manual for HRD ... it looks interesting. When my son gets here I'll have him look it over.

EDIT2: Shame HRD doesn't have a native version for Apples OSX

[N0AZZ]

If I may, forget all those radios that you had listed when 1 will fill the bill quite well for you. I do have one but it isn't my only radio for sure and I'm maxed out on antennas it is an IC-9100 a 1.2 gig/UHF/VHF/HF/D-Star and you can add to it what you want when you wish. It holds up well against my main HF/6m rig the #1 rated receiver FTDX-5000MP I have worked all the recent DXpeditions with it as well as the FTDX-5000. The IC-9100 is an excellent weak signal radio that I use the most on VHF SSB and Digital Tropo/Meteor Scatter/EME.

If I could have only one radio in my shack it would be the IC-9100 as it really will do it all and quite well. Plus it leaver the TS-2000 in the dust for features modes, receiver and able to add extra filters.