New Shack Pic :-)

[steve_qix]

Here's something to pass the boredom (or perhaps make it worse !!!!!).  We need some new shack pics!

I though I'd take a new pic of my "shack", since I've had a few requests.  Nothing great, just the operating position.

I haven't taken a picture of the shack since around 1999 or 2000, so it was well overdue!

I just took a picture of the operating position, with the main station equipment that I use on a daily basis.

All of the transmitting and audio equipment is homebrew, along with the inside of one of the receivers (the BC-1004).  Personally, I like the rack and panel type of construction, with large meters and good sized knobs for adjustment.  I particularly like the black wrinkle look.

Equipment description (from left to right as show in the picture):

Far left - the "flagship" transmitter - (2   7 foot racks - 1/2 of the left most rack is cut off in the picture).  This is a class E solid state transmitter equivalent to a Collins 20V2 or similar transmitter.

Next to that in the black wrinkle finish (the transmitter I'm adjusting in the picture) - 3 band (160, 80 and 40 meter) class E solid state transmitter.  This is the one I use most of the time when on the air.  About 1/2 the power of the "flagship" rig.  There are a couple of large speakers that sit on the 160 meter RF amplifier for this transmitter.

Next to that (behind me) there are 2 table racks holding the receivers, modulation monitoring and audio processing equipment.  The main station receiver is a BC-1004 which I rebuilt to be solid state.  This is a fine receiver, with a low distortion detector.  There is also a Collins 75A3 (still tubes!) which I use under adverse conditions.  I did add a low distortion detector and AGC system to this receiver.  All of the receivers drive a home built 50 watt high fidelity audio amplifier, connected to the large speakers shown :-)  I really like to hear the good audio that so many of the AM stations have !

Although all of the transmitting equipment is solid state, except for the fact that there are no tubes, everything inside the transmitters looks like a high power tube transmitter.  This is due to the fact that the RF power is the essentially the same as what I ran when I used tubes, and the same size power transformers, filter capacitors and RF components are required.

Oh well !  Happy dart shooting 




Below is the remainder of the left side of the operating position.

[kc2ifr]

HOLY SH** Steve,
Great pic.........thanks for posting it............
One question though..........................where are those famous clip leads

Bill

[WA1GFZ]

wow Steve, look at all that clean bench space.

[ka3zlr]

...it's........it's.........Alive....


...Awesum Dude....

[Opcom]

geez I am excessively impressed. meterage and knobbage. I note the DEC? power control panel at the top center right. That have the 8 or 10 gage power cable? Hi-Fi speakrs. Which item is the 50 watt audio amp? That there is what I call a fun factory!

very fine station,

[w8khk]

Cool looking shack, Steve.  Clip Leads hanging handy in front of the BIG speaker.

I like a shack that is always a work in progress.  Easy to modify on a moment's notice.  Glad to hear the 75A3 still uses tubes.  I hope that 50 watt audio amp also uses tubes, with all that solid state stuff you need something to keep you warm on those cold winter nights.  Gotta have some glow in there, hi hi....

73, Rick

[flintstone mop]

GEE Steve,
I thought there would be a Dorrough loudness meter on-line.
You have motivated me to post a pic. BTW how did you load such a nice big pic. I'm tired of the thumbnail thing.

Fred

[steve_qix]

Thanks for the comments !!!!

One question though..........................where are those famous clip leads

Bill

There are a couple of clip leads visible in the pic, but behind the racks is another story    Lots of 'em back there !!!  But, I'm trying to eventually remove most of them as I neaten up things back there!

geez I am excessively impressed. meterage and knobbage. I note the DEC? power control panel at the top center right. That have the 8 or 10 gage power cable? Hi-Fi speakrs. Which item is the 50 watt audio amp? That there is what I call a fun factory!

very fine station,

I love those old DEC power controllers.  I have another which is actually visible (barely) in the left-most rack, immediately to the left of the center 3 meter panel.  That one is used to turn off and on the various transmitters,  modulators and RF decks.  The one in the audio rack is for the audio, receivers and lighting.

Cool looking shack, Steve.  Clip Leads hanging handy in front of the BIG speaker.

I like a shack that is always a work in progress.  Easy to modify on a moment's notice.  Glad to hear the 75A3 still uses tubes.  I hope that 50 watt audio amp also uses tubes, with all that solid state stuff you need something to keep you warm on those cold winter nights.  Gotta have some glow in there, hi hi....

73, Rick

A work in progress - always !!!!   (is there any other way to be!).  I can't keep anything clean anyway, so what the heck!  On the tubes in the 50 watt amp  - well, I confess there are no tubes anywhere except in the 75A3 and the oscilloscope CRTs.  So, I have to provide "real" heat to the room in winter 

The 50 watt amp is built into that old Integral Systems preamp that's in the right hand audio rack (above the BC-1004).  That old preamp actually now contains 2 audio amplifiers - one 50 watt amp for the speakers and another seperate smaller amp for the headphones.  The headphones and speaker audio channels have individual volume,  bass and treble controls. 

During transmit, the audio is switched by a relay from whatever receiver is selected, to the modulation monitor.  If you're listening in the headpones you hear the receivers when in receive and, you get to hear the transmitted audio from the mod monitor when in transmit.  Of course, with the touch of a button you can listen to the receivers while transmitting, if desired, rather than the mod monitor.  The receivers are not disabled when in transmit, rather, a relay is configured at each receiver's antenna terminals, disconnecting the antenna input and shorting the input at the receiver when transmitting.  Only the speaker is muted during transmit.

Oh well !  It works, and I guess that's all the really counts !! 

Regards,

Steve

[w8khk]

During transmit, the audio is switched by a relay from whatever receiver is selected, to the modulation monitor.  If you're listening in the headpones you hear the receivers when in receive and, you get to hear the transmitted audio from the mod monitor when in transmit.  Of course, with the touch of a button you can listen to the receivers while transmitting, if desired, rather than the mod monitor.  The receivers are not disabled when in transmit, rather, a relay is configured at each receiver's antenna terminals, disconnecting the antenna input and shorting the input at the receiver when transmitting.  Only the speaker is muted during transmit.

Steve, thanks for sharing details on your TR switching methods.  I was thinking of doing something similar with the antenna relay.  I put a three-pole double-throw relay in the valiant for the antenna switchover.  This is wired to short the receiver input during transmit, and short the transmitter output during receive.  Two relay sections between the antenna and receiver for better isolation.   I have a second relay that switches primary power to the HV transformer, and another set of contacts enables the screen voltage electronic regulator series 6L6 for the modulator 1625s.   A third relay switches the VFO and has contacts for external receiver muting and linear enabling.  But I am hoping that shorting the receiver input will be sufficient.  We shall see soon.

I noticed you posted another great pic in the initial post of this thread.  That is some monster variac - ICAS or CCS for buzzard transmissions?  I think you will win the award for the biggest mo variac in the shack.  Prolly takes both hands to turn the wheel!

73,
Rick

[w1vtp]

Steve

THAT is a piece of work!!!  I love it!

Al VTP

[steve_qix]

Steve, thanks for sharing details on your TR switching methods.  I was thinking of doing something similar with the antenna relay.  I put a three-pole double-throw relay in the valiant for the antenna switchover.  This is wired to short the receiver input during transmit, and short the transmitter output during receive.  Two relay sections between the antenna and receiver for better isolation.   I have a second relay that switches primary power to the HV transformer, and another set of contacts enables the screen voltage electronic regulator series 6L6 for the modulator 1625s.   A third relay switches the VFO and has contacts for external receiver muting and linear enabling.  But I am hoping that shorting the receiver input will be sufficient.  We shall see soon.

Hi Rick,

Your proposed T/R system sounds as if it will work.  I finally gave up including any T/R relays in any transmitters, except for those relays that specifically enable the transmitter itself.  The RF outputs of all the transmitters end up going to a master selector switch.  The master RF selector switch's output then goes to the antenna change over relay system. 

There is also a master control for everything T/R wise, with 2 control lines - one control line is an immediate on, delayed off (for the antenna, receiver and VFO relays) and the other is a delayed on, immediate off for the transmitters.  In this way, the antenna relays are closed first, then the HV is enabled in the transmitters.  When going to receive, the transmitters are deactivated first, then about 1/4 second later, the antenna is switched to receive, and the receiver output is enabled.  This system has been in place since 1975, and has worked perfectly since !

I noticed you posted another great pic in the initial post of this thread.  That is some monster variac - ICAS or CCS for buzzard transmissions?  I think you will win the award for the biggest mo variac in the shack.  Prolly takes both hands to turn the wheel!

73,
Rick

I was extremely lucky to find that Variac about 25 years ago at the Hosstraders for $25.00 !!!  It's a 50 ampere,120V unit that, with a switching arrangement, lets me control a 240 volt line from 0 to 250 volts.  I actually switch the Variac out of the circuit unless I'm doing some kind of testing or something that requires a voltage other than 240V (all of the H.V. supplies run off 240).  Those big knife switches above the Variac are for the Variac in/out control.

The shack is a real nice man-cave    Sherrie makes an appearance from time to time, but gets scared off by all the testosterone flowing from the speakers!  She keeps the rest of the house quite clean and orderly, but the radio room is a wonderful oasis of unmitigated creativity, clutter, mess and man toys, where the hand of woman has not set foot 

[ab3al]

steve :

WHERE IS YOUR DOSEY METER!!!!

[Joe Long]

This is whats lurking behind those racks.I went behind them once in total fear of my life just for some pictures.

[ka3zlr]

Color coding is Not an Issue...

[steve_qix]

Here are some new pictures of the back of the racks   

This is the tank circuit and part of the heatsink for the "flagship" transmitter.  1/2 inch copper tubing; 15kV tuning cap.



This next one is the Pulse Width Modulator for the "driven daily" transmitter (not the flagship).



Here is the power supply for the "driven daily" transmitter.  Part of the power supply for the flagship is visible in the background, along with the RF amplifier heatsink.  The heatsink for the "driven daily" modulator is in the foreground, left.


Finally, this is the back of the "driven daily" transmitter's 80 meter RF amplifier.  Uses 8 modules of 2 MOSFETs each.  I built this RF amplifier in 2001.

[WB1BXJ]

Below is the remainder of the left side of the operating position.

Steve, I thought the BC5P was the on the left....Oh, wrong station! 

Brother Roger

[wb1ead]

Steve..awesome!!..did want to alert you in the 1st pic there appears to be a ricebox perched just above your head about to take a swipe at your cranium..is that a Hammerlund rcvr under the file card drawers??
Phenominal is what that shack is!!..great work Steve!!            73 de DAVE

[Bill, KD0HG]

I'm buying stock in the Acme Split-Bolt Corporation.

[K1JJ]

I like those 16 tiny "pill meters."  You be the class E ChannelMaster, caw mawn!

You have a great Ham Radio Spirit, Steve. (HRS)

I still remember the visit and seeing those racks up close. Nothing as unique anywhere on the planet.


T

[w8khk]

Steve, thanks for sharing details on your TR switching methods.  I was thinking of doing something similar with the antenna relay.  I put a three-pole double-throw relay in the valiant for the antenna switchover.  This is wired to short the receiver input during transmit, and short the transmitter output during receive.  Two relay sections between the antenna and receiver for better isolation.   I have a second relay that switches primary power to the HV transformer, and another set of contacts enables the screen voltage electronic regulator series 6L6 for the modulator 1625s.   A third relay switches the VFO and has contacts for external receiver muting and linear enabling.  But I am hoping that shorting the receiver input will be sufficient.  We shall see soon.

Hi Rick,

Your proposed T/R system sounds as if it will work.  I finally gave up including any T/R relays in any transmitters, except for those relays that specifically enable the transmitter itself.  The RF outputs of all the transmitters end up going to a master selector switch.  The master RF selector switch's output then goes to the antenna change over relay system. 

There is also a master control for everything T/R wise, with 2 control lines - one control line is an immediate on, delayed off (for the antenna, receiver and VFO relays) and the other is a delayed on, immediate off for the transmitters.  In this way, the antenna relays are closed first, then the HV is enabled in the transmitters.  When going to receive, the transmitters are deactivated first, then about 1/4 second later, the antenna is switched to receive, and the receiver output is enabled.  This system has been in place since 1975, and has worked perfectly since !

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the details on your TR switching system.  As I bring more of my equipment online, I may also try the central switching solution.  In the meantime, I just have a few things to complete in the Valiant Re-Incarnation.  I designed a solid-state relay driver circuit to provide the proper sequencing and delays, rather simple in concept, and it has passed the breadboard test.  Now I need to shoe-horn that, and the peak limiter, into the under-chassis area.  It is really getting packed under there!

In the past, I have used separate relays for my rigs, but with the Valiant I wanted to try to make it completely self-contained, except for the receiver, antenna tuner, and monitor scope.  I want to put this rig on a desk in the bedroom and hide all the wires.  But I think my implementation of the six-foot rack 304TL and 250TH rigs will look alot more like your shack, except they will have more glow.  I want to try the class E stuff with your new boards soon.

[steve_qix]

I like those 16 tiny "pill meters."  You be the class E ChannelMaster, caw mawn!

Ah.... but if they were only all connected to something   Only some are connected - never got 'round to building the remainder of the transmitter !!  Oh well...

Hi Dave - that is indeed an HQ145 under the bench (along with a lot of other stuff!)........  The receiver is pretty deaf - probably has the capacitors in the IF transformer problem.  I've owned it for years, but have never tried to fix it.

Bill, those split bolts are the new high current clip lead    Seriously, I don't think it would be possible to construct something like a class E rig without some kind of high current, disconnectable device like a split bolt.  I do use quite a few of them!!

Fun stuff