Studio 'A' @ WB4IUY/AC4QD

These are pictures of the primary operating position and station equipment here. Most of it has many years of use, but is still good gear. I'm able to work about anything I can hear, and usually cut through most DX pileups with little trouble. The pic on the right is fairly current...if you click on the pic you'll get an older pic of the station that was taken back around 1994.

The main table was built for me back around 1992 by a good friend and ham, Glen Speight KD4BSP. He built this on the spot, from a sheet of 3/4" plywood, some 2x4's, and a sheet of formica covering. It is very sturdy and has been in service in my hamshack ever since! The upper shelving is your typical wall-mounted type from the local Home Depot. Glen is a professional interior trim carpenter, and this hamshack table looks better than anything I could have bought...not to mention that it was custom built to meet my needs.

ICOM IC-756

This is one of the older IC-756's, not a "Pro" model. I bought this rig back in 1996, and it has been a great rig. It's one of the 756's that has the display problem that Icom doesn't support nor can provide repairs for, so I use Ham Radio Deluxe as a computer interface to correct for some of the display problems. Otherwise, I've been very happy with this rig.

Controlling the ICOM IC-756

I use a free and VERY powerful software package to control my IC-756 called Ham Radio Deluxe. It will control most functions of the radio, adds MANY features that the radio didn't come with like favorites, remote connectivity, the ability to work many of the popular digital modes found on the bands, and much more. They have an awesome user support network and discussion forum powered by actual users of the software. I wish I'd switched to this many years ago!

Buxcomm Rascal Interface

I've said this before, but I'll say it again... the best $50 I've _EVER_ spent on my shack was when I bought a Rascal Soundcard/Rig Interface from Buxcomm. I had never even heard PSK31 or other digital modes of that sort... When the Rascal came in the mail to me, I had it opened, installed, and making my first contact on the air in less than 30 minutes. It was a beautifully simple plug and play operation, and came with all cables and software needed to get it up in running in just minutes. You can find it on Buxcomm Communications' website at http://www.buxcomm.com/. It doesn't get any easier or less expensive to get on the digital modes than this! I've also made a mod to the Rascal for keyed CW, so I wouldn't have to change cables when I operated in CW (not MCW) mode. I've posted info and a drawing about this on the site, and you can see it by clicking HERE.

For the Rascal CW Mod, click HERE. For the Rascal Remote Operation, click HERE.

Yaesu FT-901DE

I bought this old rig back around 1992, in need of much TLC. It had been owned by a CB'er who changed crystals in the 10m band to 11m, turned every slug in the radio with metallic tools and cracked them, and otherwise butchered the radio. I bought it for nearly nothing, and took it on as a project radio. it was a fun job, and I was able to totally restore it to it's original operations and performance. It is a permanent fixture in my shack, and I use it frequenctly on 20m RTTY and 75/40m phone operations. You can see it in this pic with a JPS NIR-10 DSP audio filter.

Kenwood TS-120

I acquired this rig back around 1991, and it was loaded with problems. Someone had tinkered in the balanced modulator section of the transmitter, damaging the circuit board and swapping parts with incorrect components. I obtained a manual, and started to work. I finally got it repaired, and use it as a backup HF rig now. I plan to put this rig mobile and do a bit of HF from the trunk.

Ameritron AL-82

I bought this Ameritron AL-82 amplifier from good friend and owner of Omega Electronics, Bill Edwards K4BWC (now SK) back around 1998. It has been a great addition to my shack, and has run trouble-free ever since the first day it was switched "on". It runs a pair of 3-500 tubes and handles most of the amplification chores around WB4IUY. I've run it very hard on RTTY, FM, AM, and several of the digital modes...not to mention SSB. I can't say enough good stuff about this amp! I recently did a bit of work on the amp. You can see it in the [WORKSHOP] -PROJECTS- section or by clicking HERE.

DC Power Supplies

No shack is complete without some serious DC power. I use a pair of supplies for this task, for additional current and redundancy in my setup. If one blows, I'm still on the air! I use an Astron 35 amp supply (1st pic), and a Pyramid 26 amp supply (2nd pic).

Turning Things...

When I put my tower up back in 1993, I didn't have much money for a rotator. I bought a super-cheapie rotator, thinking that I'd just use it for a short time and replace it with a nice rotator when it burned out (which I was sure it was going to do!). I WAY-overloaded the rotator with a stack of yagi antennas (Cushcraft A3S Tribander, Cushcraft 5 el 6m Yagi, a pair of 17B3 17 element 2m yagi's, and a dual band vertical on top of it all. Well, as of this writing in 2009, it's STILL turning without problems! The rotator is a little Alliance HD-73, and I could NEVER say anything bad about this beast...it's been frozen in ice storms, struck by lightning, ignored for maintenance, etc.