Well, my shack is nothing special at all.
It's set up in the second bedroom.
When you enter, there is a closet on the left along the same wall as the
door. As soon as you enter, on the right wall there is a long table bench
with a shelving unit on top. This holds all the various bits and pieces of
connecters, drill bits, some tools, sprays, oil and so on.
The dog has his shack bed under this table.
Right in front of this bench, or on the left wall as you come through the
door, is a raise bunk bed type bed, but with only the top bed on it. My
shack desk is located underneath this top bunk. On the desk from right to
left is the TS2000 with the tw1 on top, then my computer keyboard with HT's
and charger plugs behind it, and then my 4 channel behringer mixer that
takes the sources from the radio and a microphone into the computer. In
front of the mixer is usually a desk stand that holds the audio technica
AT2020 for skype and voice recording on the computer.
The rest of the left side of the desk is taken up with various bits and
pieces again, such as a magnetic bowl for screws and other metal parts I
don't want to lose. The shack is severely stripped down compared to
previous shacks due to room and apartment size constraints. I also have
several guitar amps, extension cabinets and guitar stands in the area
between the left side of the desk which is near the end of the bunk bed
frame, and the closet.
Under the desk, on the left, is the PC tower and a couple power strips, and
the 23A power supply sitting on the floor. not the best spot for it, but
there is no where else really at the moment.
I plan to get a better desk with a hutch/shelving to arrange things a bit
better.
The computer speakers are a 2.1 logitech system with the main speakers
suspended from the bottom frame of the bed above.
It's all a bit temporary and disorganized at the moment hi.
Antennas are a tram 5/8's over 5/8's dual bander mounted on the balcony
railing, and a 20M and 40M hamtenna that can go on to another mount on the
balcony railing. Coax feeds through the sliding balcony door, and I have
water pipe tube foam insulation around the ends of both sliding doors, and
around the door frame so that when the doors are closed, the two pieces of
tubing butt up against each other and prevent wind, rain and snow from
coming in.
73
Colin, V A6BKX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Crawford (GI4OPH)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2011 5:20 AM
Subject: GI4OPH Station
> 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
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