Shack Evolution

When I was first licensed in November 1985, I was just finishing college and was living at home with my parents. My first "shack" was located in my bedroom and consisted of a Kenwood TS-430S and matching PS, a small B/W antenna tuner which all sat upon a corner of my desk. The original antenna was an end fed random wire (which was actually a SWL antenna bought from Radio Shack for about $8) elevated about 15 feet off the ground. In those days, novice class operators were relegated to the CW bands and that is where I spent the first 3 months of my ham career. In retrospect, in many ways those first months on CW were the most exciting and thrilling ever encountered! I soon put up a Hy-Gain dual band(40 and 80m) inverted Vee which was around 30 feet up in the air and that antenna allowed me to have a better signal on those bands. The end fed wire seemed best for 15m. Due to the sunspot cycle, my license class and available antennas, I spent many late nights on the 40 and 80m CW bands!

My second shack took shape about a year later when I moved in to my first own home (mobile home) which was nestled in a trailer park. I moved my radio equipment over and took the opportunity to put up a tower..."a biggin"...approximately 15 feet of TV tower (with a couple feet of it in concrete)! On top was a small, very small, HQ-1 Mini Quad. That antenna and tower was all that the park owner would allow me to put up and I was lucky to get that. I was OK with that antenna on 10-20m but was hurting badly on 40 and 80 since I had no way to put up wire antennas. There just wasn't much room on a small lot that was something like 30 feet by 80 feet. The vertical I tried performed horribly as it had few radials and was completely surrounded by metal structures. Nonetheless, this is where my DX and Contest interest was born!

In 1989 I moved to North Carolina and put up a 40 foot TV type tower. I placed a Mosley TA-33 on top and put up several wire antennas as I now lived in the middle of a Pine Forest! When I moved from Indiana, I sold my motorcycle (Yamaha IT 490 enduro/trail bike) which had been a fun adventure and bought a amplifier (Ameritron AL-80A). By the way, that's the same amp I use now 19 years later. I'm sure the motorcycle was put out to pasture years ago. After a couple years, I sold the TS 430 and bought my first "big" radio...a Kenwood TS 940s. I really enjoyed that radio and used it for several years.

In 1992 I moved to a different QTH about 5 miles down the road. I put up the same 40 foot tower but this time, rather than the TA33, put up a 2 el. 5 band Quad. (I've been sold on the antenna ever since) I discovered Ebay a few years later and did some buying/selling and eventually worked myself in to my current radio, the Yaesu FT 1000. I also picked up a Drake MN2700 antenna tuner and various other accessories.

In 2000 I moved to our current home(8 miles down the road) and since we built our own house, was able to really design the shack as I would like. It's a great little spot for me. A traditional "bonus room" over the garage with some special features for me! Over the last few years I have added an Icom IC 746 to cover 6m and 2m as well as serve as a nice backup rig to the FT 1000.