More station photos

This view shows the shack in October, 2016.   The newest addition is an Elecraft KX2 transceiver.   The KX2 will serve a dual purpose.
First, it's a multi-mode, multi-band portable station to take to the field.   Second, it is a modern replacement for my old FT-7 Yaesu rig.

My initial reaction to the KX2 is positive.   It's been used in several casual contest efforts (CW and SSB) and has held up well.  I've not done receiver dynamic range measurements yet.   It was used for some FT8 contacts in 2018 where it worked well so long as the power was kept to 3 watts output or less.  Higher output led to high PA temperature.  This was not a problem in CW or SSB, but only in digital mode.

This photo shows a 25 watt linear amplifier that is used with the KX2.   It uses a junk box part (DV-2880T) operating at 25 volts.  We have not yet built a low pass filter board with band switching, so an appropriate filter is inserted from our experimental stash of modules.   The PA has been used on all bands from 7 through 21 MHz.   (2018 photo)

Below is a  slightly earlier (June, 2016) view of the station.   Scroll down for a closer view of the main CW rig.   The aluminum panel boxes at the right are experiments.   The lower one is a direct conversion receiver while the upper one is a frequency synthesizer that can be routed to the main CW receiver.


The close-up is shown below.   Additional info is below the photo.


The box with the large black knob is the receiver.   The box with the meter is a QRP transmitter that tracks with the receiver.   The chassis under the shelf is a 40 Watt MOSFET CW power amplifier.    This set-up, as shown, covers 40, 20, and 15 meter CW.   The rig just to the left of the QRP transmitter (just out of view in this photo) is a SSB and CW transceiver for 6 meters.    My interests have moved away from VHF at the present, so the 6 M transceiver sees little use.  

The photo below shows the shack in late 2021.  

In 2021, I took a major plunge and added an Icom IC-7300 transceiver to the shack.    It's a departure from the "all homebrew" theme that I've embraced for so many years.   (Guess I'm getting old! )   The new transceiver is included in the above photo.  The 7300 is an amazing box with several features that I've not had in earlier rigs.