Unfortunately, no photographic evidence exists of the original WN4JYB station. The mighty Knight-Kit T-60 CW transmitter and Hammarlund HQ-110 receiver were on the air from June, 1968 through the summer of 1969 when the borrowed HQ-110 was replaced with a Hammarlund HQ-170. While I had two 40 meter crystals and 1 crystal for 80 meters, the DX bug had bitten and most of my time was spent on 15 meters on my 3 crystal frequencies of 21.145, 21.150, and 21.155 mHz. The antenna farm consisted of a W3DZZ all-band trap dipole.

The oldest photographic documentation of the station is this photograph (circa 1972) showing the Hammarlund HQ-170 receiver, the Heathkit SB-400 transmitter, and the Heathkit SB-200 linear amplifier (on top of the cabinet holding the HQ-170). By now the call had changed to WB4JYB. The W3DZZ trap dipole was still strung between the telephone pole in the side yard and a 60 foot pine tree in the backyard and a 3 element monoband yagi was nestled on a pole about 35 feet above ground. The yagi was rotated using the "armstrong" technique. As I recall, I could leave the operating position, run out the back door, turn the antenna, and be back at the rig in about 45 seconds. The yagi was originally used on 15 meters, but rebuilt for 20 meters when my Advanced Class license arrived. My DXCC certificate and membership (#75) in the old Pacific DX Net grace the wall above the operating position. That's a younger, thinner, and shaggier WB4JYB poised ready to jump into any pile-up that he could find.

This photgraph shows my first post-college days WB4JYB station (1976-77). I was on my own, living in an apartment in Shelby, N.C. The SB-400 and SB-200 were gone; having been sold to finance the Heathkit SB-102 transceiver shown here with the Collins 75A4 receiver which had replaced the HQ-170. Indoor dipoles were used with the net effect of wiping out the televisions and stereos of nearly all of the other tenants in the apartment complex. In actual fact, very little HF operation was done from this QTH. The SB-102 was soon to be sold at the Shelby hamfest to finance a 2 meter FM transceiver.

After being absent from the HF bands for about 2 years, I convinced my new XYL that I needed to get back on the air. The Collins 75A4 receiver was brought out of mothballs and a new Ten-Tec Century 21, 70 watt CW transceiver was purchased. The station was originally located in our one-bedroom apartment in Spartanburg, SC. The tried-and-true indoor dipole arrangement was used again. This photograph was taken after the station had been moved to the spare bedroom of our first home in Inman, SC in 1979. A simple dipole was the original antenna at this QTH. By now, the call had also been changed to the new, CW-friendly AE4Y.

In 1979, a new Kenwood TS-520S SSB/CW transceiver replaced the Century 21. A Dentron Clipperton-L linear amplifier was added to the station in 1981. In addition, a Rohn 55 foot tower and Cushcraft ATB-34 triband yagi had gone up in the backyard. A series of trap dipoles, slopers, and inverted-L antennas were used on the 160 through 40 meter bands. With the sunspot cycle again at a peak, chasing DX was now a very serious business. This photograph was actually taken after the station had been relocated to Hendersonville, N.C. in 1985. While in Hendersonville, I was active on RTTY for the first and only time. 2 meter Packet was also added during this period. The MFJ RTTY interface can be seen on top of the TS-520S. The equipment line-up remained essentially the same from 1981 until 1993. That year, the QTH moved once again; this time to LaGrange, GA. AE4Y was active in LaGrange until 1997; however, due to the fact that the sunspot cycle was heading towards a minimum during these years, the tower and tribander were never installed there.

In 1997, AE4Y once again moved to a new QTH; Alpharetta, GA (located in the northern part of the greater metropolitan Atlanta "sprawl"). The station has become simpler, but no less fun to operate. Highly restrictive neighborhood antenna convenants have limited the antenna system to a very low-key, "neighbor friendly" dipole that is used on all bands with the MFJ tuner. The tried and true Kenwood TS-520S has been replaced by a TS-570DG as the primary rig. CW is still the preferred mode of operation, with a little 2 meter FM work done on one of the many local repeaters available in the Atlanta area.

It's anybody's guess as to where AE4Y will be in a few years. Until then, look for me in the CW portions of any band.