... Tom's Ham Radio Page ...

The cool blue glow of genuine.....

Yep, you guessed it (probably from the Drake logo)... I'm a nut for R.L. Drake products. Below are some views of my station.

• Bottom Row
  • TR-4 Transceiver on top of MN-2000 Matching Network
  • RV-4 Remote VFO/Speaker (with AC-4 power supply mounted inside) for the TR-4
  • R-4 Receiver
  • T-4X Transmitter
  • MS-4 speaker (with AC-4 power supply mounted inside) for the R-4/T4-X
• Middle Row
  • MS-4 speaker for the SPR-4
  • SPR-4 Shortwave Receiver (mostly general coverage)
  • R-8 Receiver
  • TR-7 Transceiver
  • MS-7 Speaker
• Top Row
  • Heathkit VF-7401 2-meter FM transceiver
  • Drake ML-2 2-meter transceiver
• Invisible on a rolling cart under the table...
  • Kenwood TS-700A all-mode 2-meter transceiver
  • Poly-Comm 6 6m AM transceiver

• Top Row
  • Heathkit IG-102 RF signal generator
  • Heathkit IG-18 AF sine/square signal generator
  • Heathkit SP-27A power supply
  • Micronta digital multimeter and DSI frequency counter
• Bottom Row
  • Drake W-4 HF wattmeter
  • Heathkit HM-2102 VHF wattmeter
  • Heathkit IM-28 VTVM
  • Eico 147A signal tracer
  • Kikusui COS6100 100MHz 5-trace oscilloscope

I keep my ham radio fingers in several pies; not only am I an active HF operator, but I'm a Volunteer Examiner, a Volunteer Communicator for Franklin County EMA, and trustee/owner of the WA8PYR repeater system in Dublin, which is a joint venture with the Capital City Repeater Association. All repeaters have full-time emergency power capability. The frequencies are:

10 meters - 29.60 simplex (not yet in service)
6 meters - 52.525 simplex (not yet in service)
2 meters - 144.670/145.270, PL 82.5
70 centimeters - 449.175/444.175, PL 179.9

	The 2 meter repeater is the heart of the system. It uses a GE Mastr II repeater, and runs 50 watts to a Hustler G6-270 dual-band antenna at 70 feet. An ACC RC-850 controller provides lots of interesting noises to listen to (it's got time out timers and identifiers, too). A Doug Hall Electronics voter is being added to accomodate two remote receivers, one in the Worthington/Westerville area and another west of Dublin. There's no phone patch, however; too many of those around already.... The cabinet to the left houses another repeater which shares the site.
Here's a close-up view of the 2m repeater cabinet. From top to bottom are the Hall 4RV voter, ACC RC-850 controller, the GE Mastr II repeater, and a GE power supply. The big empty space above the voter will hold 2 link receivers and the 10m remote base.
	145.27 is linked to the 444.175 repeater, which is a Motorola CXB type (digital capable) MSF-5000 repeater running 30 watts to the same Hustler antenna as the 2m repeater. The MSF-5000 is capable of 75 watts continuous duty should the need arise. This photo shows the repeater sitting on top of a GE Mastr III cabinet, which houses the 2m duplexer.
Here's a close-up of the UHF repeater, showing (from top to bottom) the power amplifier, the duplexer, the ACC RC-85 controller, the Motorola control shelf, and the RF tray.

The 6 meter side is still in the planning stages; it will start out as a remote base on 52.525, but will likely end up as a combination repeater and remote base. It would normally operate on the 6m repeater output frequency, but when 6m activity picked up could be switched over and become a 52.525 remote base. It will use a partly modified GE Mastr II mobile, which will be capable of transmitting and receiving on both the 6m repeater output frequency and 52.525 MHz, for true remote base as well as repeater operation. 6 meters will encode 82.5 Hz CTCSS but will receive in carrier squelch so you can listen for those 5-minute band openings on 6.

Finally, the 10 meter remote base. This will operate on 29.60 MHz simplex (carrier squelch), and will receive at all times so you can listen for those 10 meter band openings. It will also be capable of switching to other simplex 10m frequencies.