Biography

Had a long background in AM/FM and internet broadcasting and BCB/SWL'ing before becoming an amateur radio operator. Cannot even imagine how many hours I spent listening on that Kenwood R-5000 over 26 years and logging 2,800+ SW broadcast stations. Operated an Internet radio station for a while, 2001-2007. Amateur radio is just my latest adventure in a lifetime of radio, starting with that crystal set as a 10 year old.

Interests / hobbies: Amateur radio, astronomy, astrophysics, broadcasting, buying and selling on Craigslist, car shows, cinematography, computers, cycling, home theater, live music venues, movie collecting and critique, music, music production, operating systems, photography, scientific discussion, travel, vintage aircraft (DC-3, B-17) and volunteer work.

Now have a dedicated radio room with a view to the left of the hills on the other side of the Holston River Valley and the back yard on the right. When the air has extreme clarity, I can see over to the mountains in the Cherokee National Forest.

Equipment

Station layout has been slimmed down. Gone are the big iron radios. This year, going for something more minimalist. Here is the transmission chain: Heil PR-781 microphone --> Kenwood TS-590SG 70th Anniversary HF rig (audio low cut 100, audio high cut 2700) --> Elecraft KPA500 amplifier --> Elecraft KAT500 antenna tuner --> My Antennas EFHW-8010-2K. Returned to to Kenwood because I missed the audio receive quality. TS-590SG corrected issues in the "S" and offers improvements in the receiver and transmit audio quality. Tighter skirts on the down conversion filtering is most noticeable. Gone is the AGC pumping on 20 Meters when a strong station is nearby. Transmit audio does not have the pinched up sound and ALC was fixed.

This is primarily a monitoring station. A new addition is an AirSpy HF+ running with Gqrx open source software defined radio for a second independent receiver / waterfall. The AirSpy HF+ has delivered outstanding performance at a $200 price point. A PAR Electronics BCST-HPF switchable high pass filter keeps a couple AM broadcast towers less than three miles away in the valley out of the front end. Spend a great deal more time listening while working or chatting on the net in ##hamradio and ##linuxmint on freenode IRC network than conversing.

Main HF antenna is an end fed 80 M half wave (My Antennas EFHW-8010-2K) in a modified inverted-L configuration. Fed at 22 feet and then up vertically to 55 feet on a fiberglass mast and then sloping over with the end point supported by a 100 foot tree. Antenna details are featured in the pictures below near the end of the photo gallery. Pictures show better than can be described here.

Dedicated receive antenna is a Wellbrook ALA1530LN Active Magnetic Loop Antenna mounted in the back yard for BCB/160 M/80 M/40 M/SWL. Works extremely well to null out the noise and adds directionality to receive on the lower bands. Allows reception on the Kenwood TS-590SG down to 60 KHz. Its really cool to see all the NDBs on the band scope with the AirSpy HF+. Saves a lot of tuning around. Enjoy listening everywhere but the advent of trunking technology kind of ruined it for public service.

VHF/FM rig is a Kenwood TM281A into a Diamond Antenna CP22E Base Station antenna on a 35 foot Rohn mast.