Sounds nice out there although a bit hot in summer?

I have loads of antenna work needed as well but like you say, not easy 
to get help with it these days.

Also have a 4 metre beam in the garrage and some long yagis for 2 metres 
but can't get them up on my own.

Keith Barrett
gw4nby


On 23/06/2011 12:20, Tim Crawford (GI4OPH) wrote:
> The shack here is housed in a 10 by 12 foot timber shed, attached to the =
> rear of my garage.
>
> It's double skined, with a 2 inch layer of good quality insulation in =
> between.  the roof, floor and walls are insulated, and I've installed a =
> large double convector radiator making it quite comfortable, even in =
> winter.
>
> The entrance door faces east, with the 12 foot walls running east west.
>
> The door is in the middle of the east wall, with the corners helping to =
> form a cupboard on each side.
>
> These cupboards contain various items, such as shoe boxes of qsl cards, =
> boxes of connectors, leads and cables and peices of unused equipment.  I =
> have also=20
> several photo albums, at least one for each band, containing a qsl for =
> each confirmed dxcc entity.
>
> A fairly substancial 30 inch wide bench runs along the remainder of the =
> north side, continuing at a right angle along the west wall to form an l =
> shape.
>
> Heading right to left along the north facing bench, there is a Rotel cd =
> player, and a Nad hi-fi amp on top, these are 20 and 15 years old =
> respectively, but still sound quite good.
> Left of the hifi gear,  sits the shack computer, an old pentium 2.8 =
> which is beginning to show it's age,a 17" monitor, with a set of small =
> pc speakers either side purely for speech, and an external hd.
>
> Above the bench are a pair of bookshelf KEF speakers mounted on wall =
> brackets.  Between which there is a display cabinet containing my =
> collection of 1/50th scale diecast model trucks.
>
> Under the bench I have a chest of drawers, storing around 650 cd albums. =
>   These are prity much unused since I've converted the whole lot to flac, =
> and are stored on pc now.
>
> The bench forming the other leg of the right angle runs along the west =
> facing wall, and accommodates the radio equipment.
> right to left, is a Palstar 1km atu, Acom 1000 linear used mainly for 6 =
> metres, my Alpha 91b which is the main HF amp, and the FT1000MP.
> Left of the MP is my ft847 which I use on 6 metres, and a 4 metre =
> transverter awaiting an antenna one of these days.  There is also a =
> Kenwood tr751e with a dodgy af gain control, needing repair.
>
> Above the main bench runs a shelf on which lives the rotator controller, =
> P2000 swr/power meter, the ldg tw1 and 2 meters, and the control box for =
> my Steppir Yagi.
>
> There are a couple of low pass filters for HF and 50 mhz, a 4 way =
> antenna switch, and the senser for the p2000 screwed to the wall =
> underneath the operating bench.  A 30 amp psu also sits under here as =
> well.
>
> The shack  has  it's own ring main, with a master switch.  in addition I =
> have 4 8 way surge protected units, providing plenty of mains sockets.
>
> Above the radio gear, on the wall are a few plaques and pictures =
> pertaining to Liverpool football, or if you prefer, "soccer" club,=20
> of which I've been a fan since childhood.
>
> Along the south facing wall there are a couple of salvaged chests of =
> drawers which store all sorts of stuff, like blank cds, stationery, and =
> other assorted junk!  My trusty Perkins sits on top of here.
>
> This wall also has a double glazed window.
>
> Finally scattered around the place are various sundry curiousities, such =
> as a peice of the timber mast of a fishing boat I once owned, and bits =
> and peices of stuff made by my kids in school.
>
> The antenna system at present consists of a 3 element Steppir Yagi, with =
> the 40/30 metre driven element dipole kit, on a 60ft crank-up tower.
>
> I plan to reduce this to a 2 element, to make room for probably a 6 =
> element Yagi for 6 metres, and a 5 Element for the 4 metre or 70 mhz =
> bands.  I was hoping to make these changes this year, but due to lack of =
> available  help, it will probably be next spring.
>
> My next chalenge is to get some sort of antenna up for 80 metres, is =
> I've really not done anything on that band to date.
>
> This will probably be an inverted l, however given that a sizable area =
> of my garden is paved, an effecient radial system is going to prove =
> difficult.
>
> Apologies for what has turned out to be a rather lengthy post, and hope =
> it hasn't sent too many of you to sleep smile!
>
> Best 73,
>
> Tim.
>
> Bangor, N. Ireland.
>
> Skype:  tim-crawford
>