AMATEUR RADIO STATION



Scott (NA4IT) & Jean Duckworth

NOTE: I am now inactive. This page is left up for historical and informative purposes only!


From the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains

I'm glad you stopped by to see my site! Here's the shack!

(NOTE: All of my shack pictured here has been sold.)


The equipment, left to right:
Top Shelf: 2- Motorola GM300s for APRS / packet, Yaesu FT-8800R 2M/70CM rig on voice,
TNC-X on APRS,  and Kantronics KAMPlus TNC on packet.
Lower Shelf:  Rotor controls, Ameritron RCS-8V Remote Antenna Switch, Egg Timer,  Homebrew "FT Meter",
Timewave DSP-9 filter unit, LDG AT-100ProII Autotuner, Signalink USB, Yaesu FT-857D

This is a close up of the HF portion of my station:


The FT-857D is severly lacking in the Notch filter area, so the Timewave DSP-9 takes care of that.
The LDG tuner does very well for me. I highly recommed the SignalinkUSB for digital modes.
The homebrew "FT Meter" is built into an old gimbal mount speaker case.

My station has a lot of digital stuff going on. I can be on VHF packet, APRS,
and one of several HF digital modes, and the internet all at the same time.

My computer is a Heinz 57, 1.8GHz, 1GB ran machine running WinXPPro.
The TNC-X/USB takes care of APRS through one of the GM300s.
The Kantronics KAMPlus usually runs VHF packet with a node and mailbox,
and can be used with a wiring and software change for WL2K Pactor I Ham.
The actual software is UI-VIEW32 for APRS, Outpost PM for Packet, RMS Express for WL2K.
The Signalink USB handles all the HF digital modes.


 I can operate Pactor I, WINMOR, PSK, MT-63, OLIVIA, RTTY, SSTV, PACKET, APRS, etc, etc, etc.

My favorite softwares are as follows:

APRS
 UI-VIEW32 with Precision Maps, UI-NWS (included with UI-VIEW32)
Packet
 Outpost Packet Message Manager and Winpack and AGWPE
PSK31
 Digipan
RTTY
 MMTTY
SSTV
 MMSSTV
MT-63 & Olivia
 MixW and Olivia add on
Multimodes (SC text)
 FLDigi
Winlink (Pactor and WINMOR)
 RMS Express (Can be found at www.winlink.org)
Digital SSTV
 EasyPal
Additional / alternative
Software packages
 		MultiPSK and Puppy Linux with FLDigi (EMCPup) on a bootable USB Flash Drive!
(NOTE on Puppy and FLDigi, you DO need to do some reading and learn a little about them!)

All these can be found by doing a "Google" on the software title.
Report broken links to the email link you find on this website.
On all softwares, I HIGHLY recommend you use the latest updates, and check regularly for new versions.

Shack is powered with a 12V / 150AH UPS Battery, and a IOTA 30 amp supply / charger from Cascade Audio.
The IOTA supply is an Recreational Vehicle type supply / charger and have good RF shielding.
The DC voltage stays near 13.5V at all times, and when AC fails, there is NO loss of DC.


 Antenna setup is a 40ft tilting, crank-up tower, with 2M horizontal beam at 50ft, 10/15/20M rotatable dipole, 75/160M fan dipole and 60M dipole.
The 10/15/20M dipole is the driven element out of a Mosley TA-33.
Other antennas are 2M/70CM vertical, 2M/70CM beam, and 5/8 wave 2M antennas for APRS & packet.

I like helping folks with projects and answering questions, especially about digital operation
I have some helpful pages, and will be adding other ham related projects soon. Click below!


HF Fan Dipole
Dual Band Ground Plane
Signalink USB and Yaesu FT-857D
SC Interface / TNC Switch
706 Headset
  "PUT" Tuner
Homebrew Paddle
 HF MOBILE
 EMCOMM
Equipment Reviews
 Baofeng Info
 EMCOMM Portable Station Hints
Signalink USB Hints & Tips
 Providing Amateur Radio Infrastructure
 *NEW* EZ Way Tower Project
Emergency Communications Basic Planning
 		Amateur Radio Elmers
 ECOM Antennas that WORK!

Mobile / Portable


My Background

 My name is Scott Duckworth. I live Southwest of a little town in East Tennessee called Etowah.
The town's nickname is sometimes called "Muddy Waters". I am disabled because of my worn out knees, back trouble, and osteoarthritis.

On April 20th, 2002, I became an Amateur Extra class operator! 

Personally, due to my disability, I plan to participate in emergency communications from my home station with
 SATERN, SouthBEARS, and Skywarn,
as well as other groups that could and would use my assistance and skills.

I would encourage EMCOMM groups not to over look the disabled or elderly operator. Some of these folks are very capable of traffic handling.

I believe in EMCOMM work, as it is a great way to give back to the community.
I believe that amateur radio operators should get all the training they can, especially pertaining to those they serve.
Amateur radio operators volunteer their time and equipment for free, and I also believe any training they need or that is required should be provided free of charge.
Please see the EMCOMM link in the table above for more of my beliefs on the subject.

I also encourage amateur radio operators to work towards the highest license available in amateur radio, the Amateur Extra Class.
Even though you may not be interested in HF radio, if you have the license, you will be able to do what ever it takes in emergency communications.

(NOTE: As of 2017, I am now inactive in amateur radio. I do maintain my license.)

My Interests

  Of course, God is my first interest. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, I would love to talk to you about him.
Please go to http://baministry.tripod.com/Salvation.html to learn more.

Ham Radio and Computers tie for my second interest. I was first licensed as a ham in 1976 with call sign WD4AXH.
But I let that license expire and was not on the bands for about 20 years.
In 1998, my interest was sparked again by listening to the local Weather Nets on the local repeater.
I decided to get my Technician license and passed the test at the Dalton Georgia Field Day operations in July of 1998.
I received callsign KF4ZHD at that time. I applied for and received my current callsign of NA4IT in July of 2002.
I have been slowly building my station, recently moving into a "hobby" room that my wife and I had planned.
There, ham radio, computers, Bible study, and sewing machines will be the order of the day!


Blessed Assurance Ministries

  For seven years, I was priviledged to be a part of a singing group that was formed by my wife and I and another couple, Tim & Sharon Moses of Etowah.
As with all things, time has a way of changing things. Tim & Sharon now minister on their own and remain good friends of ours today.
God has sent some wonderful people to fill in the gaps through the years.
We sang at local nursing homes and jails regularly, and did a few church and special singings.
God has been extremely good to all of us!
If you would like to read more about Blessed Assurance Ministries, go to http://baministry.tripod.com/.

Lady



Lady was our friend, part of our family. She was 3 years old when we got her. She was with us 13 years, and lived to 16 years old.
Sadly she came down with a fast moving cancer, and we had to have her put to sleep. She came into our lives at a time when Scott
really needed her, as she helped him keep his sanity while enduring a two year battle to get on disability. She will NEVER be forgotten!
We encourge everyone to be an animal lover, and to support your local shelters and rescue agencies!


Click here to have your picture taken by an alien telescope!

Click for Etowah, Tennessee Forecast


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Page updated when something changes or I get in the mood!