KB7INO's Previous Home Station Information

My previous (up to ~2003) radios were:

Radio	Bands	Modes	Comments
Yaesu FT-817	HF 6 meter 2 meters 70 centimeters	All Mode	Base Station Portable Used for my "Upstairs Shack" Used with the Tokyo High Power TH-HL50B I can get 50 Watts on 6 meters!
Kenwood TS-440	HF	All Mode	Base Station
Kenwood  TR-751	2 meters	All Mode	Used for SSB Used on business trips.  - the max power of this radio is 25 Watts  - can be powered via the cigarette lighter
Kenwood G707A	2 meters 70 centimeters Scanner	FM	Used for 2 meter simplex Used for Repeaters

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My " Upstairs Shack"



The situation :

• I live in a split level home.
• My main shack is downstairs.

My solution :

• I have a run of co-ax running from the dining room to the main shack.
• Upstairs the co-ax run is about 10 feet long out of  the wall.
• In the "Main Shack" the co-ax is connected to a duplexer.
• The VHF/UHF side of the duplexer is connected to the GP-15
• The HF side of the duplexer is connected to my LDG Z-11 autotuner, which is then connected to NAH ^{see below}
• By using the duplexer I can use both HF and VHF/UHF on one co-ax
• When I need to hide the "Upstairs Shack"...
• I just hide the co-ax behind the curtains
• I remove the table

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Here is a layout of the antennas at my QTH :




Yes, I name my antennas... doesn't everybody?

Here is information about my antennas are :

Antenna Name	Technical Information	Band	Comments
NAH North American Horizontal	50 Foot Dipole fed with twin-lead  - 75 Feet High  - Horizontally Polarized  - Pointed toward the USA and Alaska	10-40 meters   - Work great 80 meter    - probably not too efficient	If I had one HF antenna this would be it. This serves as my main antenna for Upstairs Shack.
DXH DX  Horizontal	50 Foot Dipole fed with twin-lead  - 50 Feet High  - Horizontally Polarized  - Pointed about 90 degrees off       from my other horizontal antenna.	10-40 meters	Helps me to hear the other half of the world !
Tri-Bander	120 foot vertical fed with  RG-58U with 3 radials  - quarter wave on 160  - quarter wave on 80  - 88 feet... this length fit in my yard	160 meters = ~1/4 wave   75 meters = ~1/2 wave   60 meters =  ~5/8 wave	This antenna hangs off my deck for stress relief and runs to the top of a tree!   - Stress Relief is done by using a 3 lb weight. Adding the 160 meter radial reduced the BW from 200 kHz to 80 kHz.   - I am assuming that this means I now have less ground losses. Adding the 80 meter radial allows coverage all over the 80 meter band.   - Previously I was unable ot tune on 3.9 MHz +/- 50 kHz Check out the states I worked during the 2003 160 SSB Contest results.
NVIS	75 meter dipole fed with RG-58U     - Center is 20 feet high	160 meters - with tuner   75 meters - resonant   60 meters - with tuner   40 meters - with tuner	NVIS Really works great for close in communications. Several stations that are in Oregon just beyond the mountains might be a S1-S3 on the vertical, but are S9+ on the NVIS!!!
	Comet GP-15	6 meters 2 meters 440  MHz	Main VHF UHF Antenna Used in "Upstairs Shack"
	Radio Shack Mag-Mount 2 meter 5/8 wave	6 meters 2 meters 440 MHz (really!!!)	Secondary VHF/UHF antenna Used for repeater monitoring Bought on clearance for $10

One very important rule about putting up HF antennas that is never mentioned in any antenna handbook :

Marry someone that will let you put up antennas.

Tips on putting up antennas that are never mentioned in antenna books :
    1 - bring home flowers
    2 - mention how beautiful your XYL is
    3 - buying jewelry really helps in antenna efficiency on the lower bands
         - i.e. this will help you put up the full size dipole on 80 meters

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Simple antenna equations to keep in mind :
Note these are not exact, just a approximation

TOA (Take Off Angle) of a horizontal dipole

                                                14
TOA_degrees =  -------------------------------------
                           Height above ground in wave lengths

 Dipole Resistance of a dipole that is half wave or less

                                             [         total_dipole length        ] ^ 2
Dipole_Resistance =   200 *  [    -------------------------   ]
                                             [     half_wave_dipole_length  ]

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