Benton, Louisiana USA
Parish of Bossier
Grid Sq EM32
QSL Direct to
Steve
138 Amy Lane
Benton, LA 71006 USA
Station Updates as of Novembar 2008
The left Xcvr is a Yaesu FT-1000MP, with a Henry 3K
The right Xcvr is a Yaesu FT-1000MP and a QRO Technologies HF-2500DX amp
Tri-bands KLM KT-34xa at 40 feet on a Rohn 25g guyed tower
40 meters KLM World Class 4 el 40m Beam at 24 feet on a short 25g Guyed tower this antenna is close to the ground on purpose,
also on 40 a Pair of Full size 40m loops spaced one wave length apart and fed "In Phase" these loops are hung vertically between two HBX series 50 foot Towers,
they work almost as good as the Beam But can Not be rotated.
Bottom of the loops are only a few feet above the ground and the phasing is with 300 ohm TV Twin lead.
80 meters currently Four antenna choices
1) Two 80 meter Double bazooka's that are phased with a WX0B Stack Match phasing box
2) Hy Gain Hy Tower Vertical with a 1/4 wave length ground screen under it
3) OCF Dipole hung at 55 feet and slopping from the tower towards the North West
4) Inverted "L" Hung from 70 feet on Rohn 55 G tower located due West of the shortewr 45 foot Rohn 25G tower that supports the top end of the "L"
this "L" is also tied into the Hy Gain Tower ground screen
Early in 2004 I was able to get a pair of Telrex Beams formerly owned by Wes Attaway N5WA
these antennas provide me with 3 elements on 40m and 5 elements on 20m,
they are mounted on 85 feet of Rohn 55g with the 40m beam inches above the rotor, which is a Telrex Prop pitch style.
The 20m mono bander is aprox 15 above the 40m beam. Using these two antennas has been a blast !
At one time all antennas were selected automatically using a Top Ten Devices Band decoder with the Source driver Mod, this unit is controlled by the shack computer and or the Radio
and in turn controls the two remote band switchs, one is an Ameritron 5 position coaxial relay, which is mounted near the base of the small rohn 25g tower.
The second antenna relay is a DX Engineering antenna switch that is mounted at the coaxial access point entrance to the shack
Today all antenna selection is manual with a limited amount of automation, the automation is for Band Pass filter insertion
(The right Band Pass filter for the band the radio is tuned to) This allows us much more versatility for which antenna (any) on either Radio A or B SO2R changes a lot of shack and atenna farm engineering !
Lighting Protection is afforded through the use of an I.C.E. surge suppressor on all coax lines that enter the shack.
Just prior to ARRL SweepStakes 2007 we installed the WX0B Six Pak Two Radio control antenna system,
allowing either radio one or radio two to use any antenna in the antenna farm - Safely !
Since we are SO2R we also use ICE Model 419B auto Band Pass fileter boxs at each radio
to protect the front end of each radio
Also just prior to November SweepStakes in 2007 we installed a set of INRAD filters in our FT-1000MP
and saw much improved usability of this great radio in the contest versus past years
The folks at InRad are awesome !
Dailey Logging is no longer done with DX4WIN, if you use windows for your computer,
I still recommend use of DX4Windows, fantastic program and you can visit his site at Http://www.DX4Win.com
However I am using MiLog, which I feel has much better import export of data to ARRL Log Book of the World. I update my LOTW data within weeks after every major contests.
MiLog made this very easy early on for me.
Not only is it a great program with lots of features and ease of use,
it is written by a someone that will give you great support and quick reply to your email questions.
I am a WriteLog www.writelog.com User
and also use N1MM, RTTY is with the MMTTY plug-in RTYY is amazingly slick with either WL or N1mm in a contest
My Station is evolving since I have moved towards SO2R
adding Coaxial Stubs, Band Pass Filters etc is wild !
I still use an Icom 756 Pro II for my emergency Goto radio * as well as 6 meter work
having a rig ready to go with the antenna and coax is just one reason why I was asked and served in Katrina in 2005 assisting the US Coast Guard at Belle Chase NAS
My Callsign at the Top of this page was designed by Jerry K9MY
