Station/QTHs

Station/QTHs covers Equipment, current QTH (Pueblo West, CO), prior QTHs (Alice Springs, NT Australia (both times); Haymarket, VA; Brighton, CO, Parker, CO, and Garland, TX), and some Old Equipment.

Equipment

• Ham equipment:

  • Kenwood TS-990S HF/50MHz Transceiver

  • Icom SM-8 Desk Microphone (one lead modified for Kenwood), bought in ~'86 for my IC-735 (which I wish I still had!).

  • Radiosport RS-60CF Headset

  • Yaesu SP9000 Dual External Speaker System with Audio Filters (bought used on eHam, just a great speaker with the TS-990S).  The Phonema Y9K Acoustic Modification Kit was installed (taking the sound quality from really good to great).

  • K1EL WinKeyer USB CW Keyer

  • N3ZN ZN-SL Single Lever Paddle Key.  Really nice key.  Still getting used to it - just need some more time with it....

  • ICOM IC-880H D-Star VHF/UHF Mobile Transceiver (in my Tacoma)

  • Icom ID-5100A UHF/VHF D-Star Transceiver.  Used primarily here in the house.  Another complete cabling and antenna setup in the RV where I can take the "head" and the Main Unit and readily install them in the RV when travelling.

  • Yaesu FT-710-AESS HF/50MHz Transceiver.  Recently acquired radio bought at 2023 Dayton Hamvention.  Purchased mainly for HF in the RV. .  The radio is still here in the house since configuring the radio and application software along with there not yet being an HF antenna installed on the RV (work-in-progress).

  • Astron SS-30M-AP Power Supply.  Sources 13.8 VDC (for the station equipment needing DC power).  The SS-30M-AP is a recent acquisition needing to be able to source more current than the previous Astron SL-11R Power Supply (one that I have had for 12-15 years).  More current was neeeded for driving the recently acquired Yaesu Ft-710 HF/VHF Transceiver - I found to have "max'ed-out" the SL-11R trying to transmit at 20W in CW; it seemed good at 20W whn it FT8 or other modes.  So, I just needed to upgrade the station DC power.

  • West Mountain Radio RigRunner 4008 DC Outlet Panel -- Distributes 13.8 VDC to the few pieces of station equipment needing DC power.

  • MFJ-148RC 12/24 Hour Dual Time Zone Clock

  • QRP Labs QCX 40m CW Transceiver -- Kit finally finished in late 2021.  Building it was stopped in 2018 when moving, helping my wife recover, and then with my still working in up in the Denver area each week only being home on weekends.

• Antennas

  • Zero-Five 10-40 Groundplane Antenna mounted at 13 feet above ground.  An MFJ-993BRT Remote Automatic Tuner is mounted just below the antenna's feedpoint.

  • Stealthy MyAntenna EFHW 40m antenna - used with ~132 feet wire as endfed 75/80m NVIS antenna

  • Comet SBB5 2m/70cm Mobile Antenna - used in conjunction with Icom ID-5100 2m/70 Mobile Transceiver here in the house.

• Computer Equipment and Applications:

  • Computer – All Mac for decades -- MacBook Pro (16-inch, M1, 2021) connected to LG 24-inch USB-C 4k Monitor (with integral USB-C hub).  Mac interfaced to TS-990S via an Other World Computing (OWC) Thunderbolt Dock.  Logitech K380 Keyboard and MX Anywhere 3 for Mac Mouse (both Bluetooth).

  • Applications – running MacLoggerDX (an absolutely great logging program for the Mac; ran RUMlogNG for a short time); fldigi (just despised...really wish that cocoaModem was still supported!); and WSJT-X.  In October, 2021, SkookumLogger was downloaded from the App store in anticipation for participating in the ARRL Sweepstakes-CW event - wow, SkookumLogger was just great and now part of my applications!

• Test Equipment:

  • Rigol MSO5104 100MHz Mixed Signal Oscilloscope -- 4-channels analog, 16 channels digital

  • Rigol DSA815-TG 1.5 GHz Spectrum Analyzer with Tracking Generator

  • Rigol DG952 50MHz Arbitrary Waveform Generator

  • Hewlett-Packard (HP) 8648A Synthesized RF Signal Generator -- 100KHz - 1GHz Sig Gen

  • Rigol DM3058E Digital Multimeter -- Bench Digital Multimeter, 5 1/2 digits

  • Heathkit IP-2718 3-Output Power Supply -- Dual variable 0-15V with up to 500mA, and single fixed 5V up to 1.5A.  This was kit built around 1976 or 1977; it is one of a few remaining Heathkits that I still have from the many Heathkits built over the years.

  • Tack Life MDC-01 Power Supply -- single variable 0-30V with up to 5A, CV or CC.  Mainly used on the bench for powering radios and other equipment being tested.

  • ...and a variety of small units such as a RigExpert AA-230 Zoom Antenna Analyzer, Fluke 87 DMM, LCR meters, freq counter, Heathkit HD-1250 Solid State Dip Meter (another Heathkit built in the '80s and still own), hand-held logic analyzer, etc.

• Other equipment not currently in-use::

  • Bencher BY-2 Paddles (that I have had since ~'86).  Was a backup here.  Now at my son's place, Kris, KF0KVY, for him to getting into CW.

  • Kent Twin Paddle Morse Key (built from the TP1-B kit).  Backup for now; sits on top of bookcase.  Was the one in-use prior to the N3ZN Single-Lever key.

  • Schurr Small Morse straight key.  Just beautiful; bought directly from Schurr ~1993 when living and working in Australia.  Sits on bookshelf.

  • Heathkit HW-9 CW QRP Transceiver with WARC Band Kit (unbuilt, NIB) - bought from a Minnesota ham in the early 1990's when living and working in Australia.  Has remained unbuilt and in the box since receiving it.  The plan even when buying it, and in the past ~30 years now intervening, was to get it built and put in-use.  The goal remains for getting it assembled sometime soon after a few other projects are done.

  • Heathkit HW-7 CW QRP Transceiver and Power Supply - bought at hamfest (cannot remember when), works, needs to be cleaned-up and tuned-up 

  • Cushcraft R3.  Bought new, the 1986-vintage 10, 15, and 20m Remote-Tuned End-Fed Half-Wave vertical was modified to include 17m (replacing the 15m trap assemlby with the Cushcraft R-5's 15/17m trap assembly and modifying the adjacent tubes).  This has been my "first up and last down" antenna whether in the US or in Australia.  Have another stock R-3 bought from a ham on eHam to be used for parts if needed.  Both the original R-3 and the other R-3 are stored in the garage.

  • Lightning Bolt 2-Element Quad for 10, 15, 17, and 20m (used in Australia from '91-'96 and from '98-'99).  Stored in the garage.

  • Yaesu G-800 Rotator (used in Australia from '98-'04 first with Lightning Bolt 2-Element Quad, and then with Force-12 C3SS Yagi). Stored in the garage.

  • Kenwood SW-200 Wattmeter with SW-1, SW-2, and SW-4 Sensors.  That SW-4 Sensor is a rare one - paid dearly for it from a Netherlands ham around 2006 or so.

  • Homebrew QRP stuff; test equipment.

• Planned/Desired:

  • Short tower (limited to 40-foot height limit at current QTH due to municipality) with a decent 2-3 element HF antenna (would love to install the quad again, but overall height needs consideration) - looking at a 3-element SteppIR (with 40m?), JK, Mosely, or OptiBeam, but still under investigation.  Want to be ready for the forthcoming sunspot cycle, Cycle 25.  Tower and antenna was planned for 2020, deferred to 2021, now seeming to be a "green light" for 2022.

  • Icom IC-9700 (to replace the Yaesu FT736R with 2m, 70cm, and 23cm sold in 2017) - not a strong desire, just nice for completing the shack -- get back on 1.2GHz FM, get on 1.2GHz D-Star, and maybe even get into working satellites someday.

QTHs

Pueblo West, Colorado (current QTH) SEP18 - Present

Grid:  DM78qj CQ Zone 4 ITU Zone 7 Pueblo County

My wife and I bought our place in Pueblo West for a handful of reasons:  great location and view (from the back and patio), she loved from the time it was initially seen (about 2 months prior to it being completed); and I liked the flow of the house, lot size, 3-car garage, and ability to put up an antenna.

We have a nice view from the dining area's bay window and from the patio:  Wet Mountains to the west and southwest (and seeing some peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range behind the Wet Mountains especially when snow covered), Spanish Peaks to the south, and Pikes Peak to the northwest.

The house's location was really great when buying it in SEP18 due to that I was still working, and worked until semi-retiring in late November 2019.  So, the proximity to the Colorado Springs area was still important for my then daily commute (taking about 28 minutes to get to the south side of the Springs from the house -- we are a short jaunt west of I-25's exit 108).  The commute was a lot uglier a bit later when taking a position in Aurora -- there were days when making the 1.75-hour (min.) one-way commute, but most times just going up on Monday morning and coming home Friday afternoon staying in a hotel during the week.

It was easy envisioning getting the property's "clean slate" appearance to where we wanted it too.  The 1.2-acre property was landscaped with zero-scape in the front half (road to house, around the house, and a bit behind the house), a couple of trees and some plants in the front and back on drip irrigation (the only way that any vegetation can survive in this area without wasting a lot of water), and a 4-foot black welded-wire fence around the back of the property up to the front of the house (with a 10-foot vehicle access gate and a 4-foot gate along the sidewalk from the driveway around to the back patio).  The back half is struggling to get some low-grow native grass growing due to lack of rain the past two years.

What attracted me was being able to do a few things without being severly restricted - namely being able to install an effective antenna.  While not being able to put up a large tower, I can install an antenna system up to 40 foot.

• Presently, there is an elevated Zero-Five 10-40m Ground Plane Vertical antenna with a MFJ 993BRT Remote Tuner mounted at the feed point is installed near the back right of the house (near the NW corner).  The Zero-Five 10-40m Ground Plane Vertical has been a really good performer for a temporary antenna.  There is also a 132-foot end-fed wire from the southwest corner of the house going out the back left fence corner as an Near Vertical Incidence Sky-wave (NVIS) antenna -- the only used for some contacts on 80m and 160m -- my first ever and sole contact on 160m was made in early 2021 on this NVIS antenna using FT8!

• The plan was, and still is, installing a short self-supporting aluminum tower with a decent antenna such as a 3-element SteppIR (with 40m?), JK, Mosely, or OptiBeam with the top of the antenna just shy of that 40-foot height above the ground.  That was being planned for 2020, deferred to 2021, and again deferred to 2022 now.  I am looking forward to getting a much better antenna system up in preparation for the coming sunspot cycle, Cycle 25.  

Colorado Springs, CO - temporary QTHs FEB18-SEP18

Grid:  DM78ot CQ Zone 4 ITU Zone 7 El Paso County

With my contract ending in northern Virginia at the end of NOV17, I took a (discovering it was "lousy") position with my then current company in the Colorado Springs, CO area.  I found a furnished 2-bedroom end-unit townhouse with a month-to-month rental statrting in FEB18 waiting for my wife to join after our house sold back in Haymarket, VA.  The plan was getting the Haymarket, VA house sold in the MAR-APR18 timeframe which did happen.  My wife joined me in Colorado Springs in late APR18 after getting the household packed-up, put in to storage for a while (waiting for a new place in the Colorado Springs area), and getting the VA place sold.

A QRP Labs QCX 40m 5W CW Transceiver and the enclosure kits were started around MAR18 getting probably more than halfway through it when having to pack things up to move to another temporary house in early MAY18.  Somehow, the kit was not completed since being consumed with looking for a new residence with my wife, Denice, and working.  Then with work, Denice's health for a while, and getting into a new place with all of the unpacking, nothing happened with getting it out and completed.  It is once again unpacked on the bench about to be restarted and completed.  The TS-990S was never taken out of the box while at the townhouse being brought out with some of my other things - there was not the room to do it.  

My wife and I then rented a cozy 2-bedroom house just south of the Colorado Spring downtown area in mid-MAY18 on a month-to-month basis from a quite understanding landlady - she allowed me to temporarily install a wire antenna up in the quite tall trees.  So, a MyAntennas EFHW 40m was ordered and installed - the transformer end with wire attached was hoisted up one tree at the front of the house and with the other end of the wire tensioned with some paracord hoisted up from another tree near the back fence.  Worked really good for getting back on for a while (until we closed on our house in Pueblo West south of Colorado Springs).

The Kenwood TS-990S was in-use mainly working PSK31 and FT8 signals.  I was also in the midst of trying to get the 990S physically and logically interfaced with fldigi and MacLoggerDX as the logging application.  I had been using RUMlogNG as the logging application for about a year, but returned back to MacLoggerDX during this time.  The main issue was trying get thing everything to "play nicely" integrated to operate as needed.  fldigi was just a pain to get working right -- and I really wanted to get back to working PSK31, a mode that I really enjoy.  Sadly, the cocoaModem application that I was using since around 2000 had not been supported for a year or two (in 2018) becoming unstable with Mac OS10.7.  Going through all of the issues to get it all working was the catalyst for generating the Mac-Based Amateur Radio Applications document captured in the Amateur Radio/Mac Amateur Radio Digital Applications website page.

Haymarket, VA JAN08-NOV18

Grid:  FM18eu CQ Zone 5 ITU Zone 8 Prince William County

Was not on the radio much at all during this time.  Had much higher priorities with family and work - work was especially challenging for chewing-up time with my less-than-stellar 45-90+ minute each way commute to and from work.

Transitioned from the short-lived Yeasu FT950 (which is an "ok" radio, but...), to the Elecraft KS3/10 kit ordered AUG15 (also "ok", although many "out there" just love it -- it was just not right for me), then finally landing back to Kenwood with the TS-990S HF/50MHz Transceiver (which I love) in FEB17.  

The area where we lived was an HOA meaning no outside antennas.  There are ways to work through that constraint along with being somewhat effective with some creative thought.  Had my venerable Cushcraft R-3 End-Fed Half-Wave Vertical (modified) installed up in my attic in an almost horizontal position for working HF.  Also had a Diamond X-6000A 2m/70cm/23cm Vertical Antenna up in the attic area connected to the Yaesu FT736R with 2m, 70cm, and 23cm modules installed.  Sold the Yaesu FT-736R at the Frostfest Hamfest in Richmond, VA in FEB17.  About a year prior to leaving, I installed a 53-foot end-fed wire connected to a MFJ-993BRT Remote Tuner in a 5-gallon bucket from our deck going out the woods behind our house.  The wire was the really strong for its 26-gauge size.  It really worked out quite good especially for getting back on 40m again.

Brighton, CO JAN05-DEC07

Grid:  DN70oa CQ Zone 4 ITU Zone 7 Weld County

Was not on the radio much at all during this time either.  Had much higher priorities with family, studying, work, and working the 2.5 acre property.  Was working on my MBA specializing in Project Management up until graduating in JUN07.  That was coupled with a lot of domestic travel working on the east and west coasts for a work week followed by being home for the weekend. 

With a "bright idea" leveraging from the SGC Stealth book, I installed a delta loop with about a 48 foot perimeter out of 1/2-inch copper pipe up in the attic area over the garage connected to a SGC SG-230 Automatic Antenna Tuner.  Unsure what the issue really was, but the configuration was just a lousy performer.  Along with having little precious time for ham radio, this sat dormant until removing it all in late 2007 when preparing the place for a work relocation to the northern VA area (JAN08). 

The FT736R (with the 2m, 70cm, and 23cm Modules installed) connected to a 3-port triplexer was conencted via a run of low-loss coax to the Diamond X-6000A Antenna located in the attic area above the garage (a huge space).  The setup performed rather good being above to "hit" all of the repeaters in the area along with working mobiles, HTs, and at a considerable range.

Sold my beloved Kenwood TS-950SDX HF/6M Transceiver after buying the rather new Yaesu FT950 HF/6M Transceiver (~2006?).  The FT-950 was ok, but it was not a TS-950SDX.  But, I was not on the radio much at this time anyway.

Alice Springs, NT  Australia APR90-SEP96, and APR98-DEC04

Grid:  PG66wg CQ Zone 29 ITU Zone 55

It was an awesome experience being DX!  Just as awesome was having a semi-rare VK8 prefix of as there were not too many VK8s "out there".  I had a lot of fun working stations from all over the world during the first time there (from APR00-SEP96).  Due to higher priorities with family and family activities, work, and some business travel, I was not on near as much the second time in Alice Springs (from APR98-DEC04).  

During the first stint there (from APR00-SEP96), we lived at two locations.  The first was a new 3-bedroom flat (townhouse) for a little more than a year, then moving to a 3-bedroom house.  My Icom IC-735 HF Transceiver was coupled to the Cushcraft R-3 20/15/10m End-Fed Half-Wave Remote-Tuned Vertical that was sitting on top of a couple of sections of old Telstra tower strapped on to the end of the flat's carport.  At the height of sunspot Cycle 22 (going from SEP86-AUG96), I was "on" having a ball working stations all over the world.  HF Packet was pretty big then too sending and receiving messages to and from friends back in the US.  There were weekly chats scheduled with some good friends back in the Dallas, TX area on 10 meters for their Friday evening and my Sataurday morning.  I still recall dialing back the 735 to minmum power (the power had been "calibrated" to be 5W at the low end and 100W at the high end) to operate at QRP and working a W6 mobile in California on 10m SSB.  Just a great experience.

The second QTH (from MAY91-SEP96) provided an opportunity to get the Lightning Bolt 2-Element 4-Band Quad up.  That happened around JUL91 several months after moving to the 3-bedroom house from the flat.  I just remember it being pretty cold and near freezing a few evenings when Dana Howard (VK8DM then, W0BOV now) and I working out in the backyard getting the tower assembled, assembling the Quad, and then getting tower up with the rotator and Quad.  Using 4 sections of that old Telstra tower (about 3m per section?), the Quad was finally up.  Wow!  The R-3 was pretty good, but the Quad was great!  I could now work just about anything that I could hear.  I became a regular mainly on the weekends with the Southern Cross DX Net and the Family Hour DX Net making lots of contacts.

Parker, CO NOV96-APR98

I was not on the radio at hardly all during this time.  Tried an attic dipole since being in an HOA.  Had a 22-foot Ponderosa pine planted near the back left corner of the backyard (which ran me about $1000, and this was in very early '97!).  The intent was to run several appropriately painted 1/2-inch copper pipes up the trunk along with running radials out from the base.  Had a ground-mounted sprinkler valve box near the tree's trunk connected via some 3-inch flex tubing running to a covered box at the house - that was for running the coax out to the SGC SG-230 remote tuner to be placed in that ground-mounted sprinker valve box.  Was almost done, but not able to complete the hidden antenna project due to working back in Virginia prior to heading back OCONUS.

Lots going on with a young family and new work.  Was hired by another company after a year in Parker going out to northern Virginia in OCT97 renting a room at a single friend's house for 5 or so months.  After getting there in VA, was offered a job to return back to Australia.  Was even TDY back to Australia twice during this 5-month time.  The family and I returned back to Australia in APR98.

Rowlett, TX JAN87-MAR90

Had a great time being a ham here.  Still had the Icom IC-735 HF Transceiver.  Installed in the backyard a Butternut HF-2V 40/80m Vertical with an elevated feedpoint about 7 feet above the ground with elevated radials running out to the 6-foot wooden fence.  Then getting the bright idea of phasing, bought another HF-2V installing it like the first one and about 32 feet north from the first one - which would make it a half-wave spacing for broadside or in-line on 40m, and a quarter-wave spacing for cardiod on 80m.  Somehow, with getting married and then preparation for heading Australia for work, getting the phasing network done and installed for both antennas was never completed.

Garland, TX APR84-SEP86

Made my first CW contact here as a new Technician having upgraded from a Novice license at one of the first VE sessions with the Dallas Amateur Radio Club (DARC).  Went to the VE session with several other guys that I got know there at work.  I tested for my Extra in SEP86 some months after getting my Advance license receiving my Extra license from the FCC on 01OCT86.  

Bought the Icom IC-735 shortly after it was introduced - maybe around AUG84.  Used an Astron RS-7A Power Supply with it at first only pushing maybe 10-20 Watts on CW.  Had to wait about 2-3 months to get the 735's matching PS-55 Power Supply.  Really got into CW at this time too after making my very first rough and quite nervious CW QSO on 40m with N5IGE from Arkansas on 06SEP85.

Modified/updated the 735 about 6 months after getting it (as the 90-day warranty was over, ordered the 735's Service Manual soon after buying the radio, and I was an EW hardware design engineer working with RF at work every day):

• installed a better aftermarket AM filter (as I was into SWL then too and listened to a lot of it when just working on stuff)

• installed an FL-44A SSB filter replacing the stock board-mounted filter by mounting the FL-44A filter with a new custom brass bracket between the RF board and the front panel board (there was just enough space to get the filter mounted in there) and then using short pieces of RG178 to electrically connect the filter back to the board.  This was a really good improvement for the radio, one not really appreciated until after getting to Australia some years later.  The selectivity was just so much better....

• aligned radio's internal adjustments so the front panel's RF Power slider control when at the bottom, the radio had 5W output.  With the slider at the top, then the radio had 100W output.  This made it quite easy to drop down to QRP level.  

Put up a Butternut "Butterfly" antenna for 20m-10m.  What a pain that was to get somewhat near right!  Never could get the thing to tune right on each band with the 12m portion in there - so, the 12m part was "deleted".  I had that thing up and down so many times in trying to get it right.  I was just using SWR then too.  Of course the tuning was way off when close to the ground when trying to tune it, then be off somewhere else after getting it raised back up.  Just a pain in general.  Finally got it "close enough" and left it at that.  Sold the "Butterfly" when selling the house in OCT86.

Old Equipment

Some of the old equipment that I had in the past, but no longer have...