N5PHT SHACK

N5PHT Shack

I am doing this with several goals in mind:

I am not suggesting that this is the 'best' way to organize your shack as there are many ways to that end; However, I hope it gives you some ideas. Just about any of the following could have an extensive article written on that item alone or that subject but I am just hitting the high points.

OK, the first picture shows most of the items. I will offer some discussion on each and they are labeled by number in the picture for clarity, but not in any particular order:

1- Rotator Control.

Just a note that many options abound on rotators these days. You can connect them to your computer if you want computer control (I may do that at some point).

2- Primary shack power supply.

You will need a stable 13.8 v power supply. Lots of ham equipment requires this. My advice is to get a 35 amp supply. A 20 amp supply will probably do the trick but a 35 amp supply gives you the extra margin and the cost is not a lot different. I have had good service from the "Astron" line and they are probably the most popular and available. These days a "switching" power supply seems to be the answer. I don't have one but I have seen them and they are much, much smaller and therefore take up a lot less room. But I don't know much about them - perhaps someone else will tell us about that in their shack display page.

3- HF Amplifier (and its power supply is also shown).

I opted for a solid state model. You don't have to tune them. The legal limit is 1500 watts PEP output and my amp puts out about 500 watts. You can certainly work the world without an amp but sometimes it helps to use a little extra push. This particular amp (Ameritron ALS-600) has a long cord so that the power supply could be stashed away out of the main shack. I didn't take that option but it could be nice in some applications with a smaller shack space. If you go solid state you will be limited to about 1000 watts and you will spend a lot of money!! A solid state amp that puts out a 1000 (kw) watts will run you over $3,000 easily! My little 500 watts will do for me and it much less on the pocketbook. Tube type amps are readily available used and you can secure one for a few hundred dollars to several thousand. Lots of options in this area and remember that you do not need an amp to work DX by any stretch of the imagination. I believe this is the probably most overrated piece of ham equipment. If you have some bucks to spend and can't buy a good antenna and an amp always opt for the antenna. A good antenna works both for receive and transmit. About 90 percent of my contacts are at the 100 watt level.

4- Antenna Tuner.

Many are available. Mine is one of the MFJ models. The goal here is that the tuner must be able to handle whatever max power you plan to use. One that will handle 1500 watts will be fairly large (mine is rated for 1500 watts) and will likely have a large roller inductor involved. There are many configurations but most are very easy to learn to use. For more dollars you can get some automatic tuners and they are very neat. You can get a 100 watt version of an automatic tuner that is not very expensive. Mine is manual but you can write down the settings and returning to a particular antenna and frequency is very quick. You can get a good used tuner that will handle a 100 watt rig and then with a very simple wire you can get on the air on HF.

5- UTC Clock.

It is imperative that you learn "UTC" for time keeping in ham radio. This has been called "GMT" and the military called it "ZULU" time - it is all the same. Here in the Central USA you add either 5 hours (now) or 6 hours (after the time changes again) and you arrive at UTC. For example, 10 AM is 1500 UTC. Also, it is important to log in UTC "Date." For example, 8 PM local time is 0100 UTC but it is 0100 the next day. So, 8 PM on 20 June is 0100 UTC on June 21. All DX stations use UTC and this is really the only way to go. If I want to make a schedule I tell the DX station in UTC time and date and then we both know what we are doing! Each station makes their own computation back to local time. So, you need a clock set for UTC near your operating position and get used to always logging in UTC.

6- Main Rig.

Some stations have multiple rigs. This is an area that would be a separate subject for sure. I have the Icom 746 and believe it is a great rig for the money. It has 2 meters and all of HF. The Icom 746 Pro is being sold now but some 746's are still around. There are several other good choices too. Just think about what you want to do (HF, VHF, DX, CW, Satellite, etc) and check around.

7- CW Paddle.

If you want to get into CW again you have lots of choices. The basic choice is between a straight key and a paddle or bug of some kind. I like the Bencher paddles and that is currently my favorite. You can also do CW by keyboard but that is a different subject in itself for sure.

8- Antenna Switch.

This particular switch is for a remote controlled switch at the base of my tower. You can find several models to choose from if you want to go this way. This gives you only one HF coax coming into the shack and that is nice to take some clutter out if you want to have several different HF antennas. This particular model is an Array Solution model "Rat Pak" that has input for up to 6 antennas. The unit you see in the shack is a simple switch and it has a control cable going to the actual antenna switch mounted on the base of the tower and that unit has relays for switching antennas from the shack remote.

9- Computer Interface.

This is another shack item that has lots of choices. You can homebrew something easily I am told. I have a West Mountain Radio "Rig Blaster Plus" unit. This interfaces your computer sound card to your rig. This is used for digital modes such as RTTY, PSK-31, SSTV, etc. You can also use it for keyboard CW and lots of other things. You can get rig information by a click of the mouse on your computer if you have the proper software loaded. Again, another extensive subject. But if you plan to use your computer sound card for digital modes you will have to have an interface.

10- Amp Keyer.

This little device is a life saver for your rig. They are not required for running an amp but it puts a safety measure between your rig and the amplifier. I highly recommend that you use some kind of interface between rig and amplifier. Many different ones are available. The rig relays can suffer and these type of devices can save you an expensive trip to the rig hospital.

11- Panel 12 volt supply.

This accessory really helps keep some of the wire clutter contained and it helps make it very easy to plug in anything needs 13.8 volts from your main power supply. In my case the Astron supply feeds this little box and then anything I have that needs 13.8 volts can be plugged into the box on the wall for easy access. This box uses standard connectors. Mine is the West Mountain Radio "Rig Runner" and they have several versions available. Each output is fused. If you have to pull your very heavy main power supply and unbolt the connectors to add something that needs 12 volts a few times you will be very pleased with this device. Several companies offer something similar.

12- Wall clock.

Certainly not necessary but I got wind of this one from WA0URJ, David. It is available at Wal-Mart and not too expensive (around the $30 mark). It has a remote sensor for outside temp and it is large and easy to read. I have mine set for local time but you could certainly use this for UTC. It is radio controlled and it receives signals from the WWV time and standards station in Boulder CO several times a day and therefore self adjusts. You will find that in rag chews on HF you often exchange weather info with the other stations and this particular model has nice big digits and are easy to read.

13- Power Strip with surge protection.

Very highly recommended. I found one at WalMart that has a lightning damage guarantee (hope it is good). I like the idea of plugging everything into one place. Then, when a storm approaches I power down the computer and then flip the switch on that one strip and everything is shut down at once. Then I can physically unplug one thing from the wall and all electrical is isolated from any incoming problems. (more on lightning stuff later). Be sure to get one that has room for the typical "wall warts" little power supplies that are required for many devices.

14. Log Book.

Many years ago (before I was licensed) the FCC used to require that every transmission be properly logged. Well, that requirement has been deleted for many, many years but I still log every HF contact. I think it is good practice. I do this on a paper log and I duplicate it in computer logging. I use a readily available ARRL logging book. I have over 30,000 qsos logged in this way and can therefore easily go back and check on an old qso. If you start working some DX and get involved with the QSL Bureau (a separate subject) you will likely receive some cards that are from a 2 or 3 year old qso.

15. Headphones.

Not a necessity but I would not be without them. I use them extensively. It simply makes it much easier to hear in my view. A good quality headphone set is nice to have in the shack. You can (I don't) get headsets that combine the rig microphone and headphones.

16. Computer.

Well, not many shacks these days are without a computer. You can use them for so many things it is way beyond the scope of this article to begin to discuss the computer and the ham shack.

17. Microphone.

I just use the stock mike that came with my Icom 746 but there are some great microphones available if you want to really get into the audio. Well, that was a little long but I hope it helped. Below I will deal with the few items in the next picture. N5PHT Shack

18. Antenna switch - 6 position.

This is a mechanical switch. I would not need this because I have the remote switch but I use this for lightning protection. Take a look at the picture and the coax I have labeled "HF In" is the only coax coming into the shack from outside the shack (for HF). The coax labeled "VHF/UHF" is the only coax coming into the shack for those bands. So, I can physically unscrew those two coax and I am fairly safe from a storm. I tried to arrange these incoming coax lines so that when disconnected they don't lay over other cables. This 6 position switch is for HF (and I use it for 6 meters) and not VHF or UHF. These type of switches can either control 1 antenna going to several different rigs or several antennas going to one rig. I have it so that my one HF coax is the "common" and then I can switch to the IC-756's two different antenna jacks. I use one for HF and the other for 6 meters. (The 746 also has a separate coax for 2 meters). Since the IC746 has two HF antenna inputs I use one that is routed from this wall switch thru the amplifier and tuner and the other directly to the second antenna input. This works good for 6 meters because my bypass on the amp and tuner don't do too well for above 30 mhz so I just go direct with the second coax HF input on the rig and tell the rig to use that for 6 meters. With one of the unused positions I could try another rig for testing, etc.

19. Antenna switch - 2 position.

This is rated for up to 500 MHZ so I use it for 2 meters. Again, I have one coax incoming and can send it to one of two rigs (I am only using the one at present). Both of these switches ground out whatever antenna is not selected (good for storm protection).

20. Disconnect area.

You can see the Internet Cat-5 line coming in for our broadband. But also there behind the printer (not visible in the picture) I have two other quick disconnects. One is for the Rat Pak antenna switch control line. This is very low power and 7 conductor so I use an RS-232 computer cable (9 conductor) and that is easy to disconnect. The rotator control uses 4 wires so I picked up a standard 4 conductor quick disconnect that is used for boat and cattle trailers (tail lights etc). It is heavy duty enough for the rotator control cable and you can find these for a few bucks at the local hardware store. So, I have 6 items on that side of the shack that get physical disconnects (with little white screw posts to hang them onto so they don't drop behind everything and be a pain to dig out later!). The six items: 1 HF coax, 1 VHF coax, 1 power strip, 1 rotator control cable and 1 rat pak switch control cable and my CAT-5 Internet cable. This makes me safe in storms. Remember that I have 24 elements of antennas at or above the 80 foot mark just begging for a lightning strike so I take that stuff serious. I do have one lightning arrestor on the rotator control cable but I really don't like installing these devices. They are not as safe as a physical disconnect, cost quite a bit and put a break in your coax and that always adds a tiny bit of loss. So, they are generally recommended but I prefer to just disconnect physically. The problem is that you could have a storm come up quick unexpected. I have made a few very rush trips home. I have everything that gets unplugged or disconnected marked in red masking tape and even have an instructions posted for the family in the event I am gone.

ADDITIONAL NOTE ABOUT GROUNDING:

Your shack needs at least a good 8 foot ground rod close to your shack. Then run a heavy gauge wire into the shack. I use a grounding panel purchased at the local hardware store. I run the heavy cable (use #6 or larger - the smaller the gauge number the larger the wire so a #2 or #4 would be fine too) into the grounding strip and then ground each piece of equipment into the grounding strip. If you look closely in the picture you will see a piece of my grounding strip behind the computer monitor.

Well, that is my input on a ham shack. To get on the air you need a radio and an antenna and some kind of power supply but it is fun to collect and use some "goodies" from time to time to help things work smoothly. I look forward to comments from others and sure hope to get some new ideas. Just email me for any for details on any of the above and I will help as much as I can do so.

Gary Stone, N5PHT