QTH from October 2021
My radio site is located about 6 miles (10km) from my home QTH. The site is elevated, with a good take-off in most directions. Importantly, the site has no perceivable man-made noise and I am starting to build it up as a remote QTH using 4G connectivity. There are many challenges but it is an interesting project.
Worked All Britain (WAB) square: SJ30; Grid Locator QRA: IO82mo IOTA: Eu-005 Great Britain mainland; CQ Zone: 14; ITU Zone: 27.
The photo to the left shows my HexBeam and the elevated view to the north.
Station antennas:
160/80m : 55ft vertical with capacity hat loading
80/40m: Dipoles at 40ft
40m: 1/4 Wave Vertical
30m/60m: Modified Butternut HF2V
20m-10m: Hex Beam up at 12m
6m: 5 ele Yagi
Photo on the right is the equipment rack. The equipment is rarely used from this position - it is only used remotely so access to the sockets on the rear of equipment is the priority, rather than access to the front panels.
The top shelf is the comms, power control, site security and networking.
Below that is a relay box, controlled over the internet to switch equipment on/off and to select antenna. The rotor control box uses an ERC interface for remote control. Also on that shelf is an environment monitor and a serial to Ethernet server that gives remote control of the rotor and amplifier further below. There is also an Elecraft KX3 which is used for data modes.
The third shelf down has an Elecraft K3, Remote Rig unit, power supply and 12v DC distribution block.
Self 4 has an Expert 1.3K amplifier. The bottom shelf is reserved for future equipment.
Remote control of the K3 radio is via Remote Rig RRC-1258 MKii units with an Elecraft K3/0 at the control end and full IP access to all the equipment
QTH from November 2020
Worked All Britain (WAB) square: SJ20; Grid Locator QRA: IO82np IOTA: Eu-005 Great Britain mainland; CQ Zone: 14; ITU Zone: 27.
Plealey, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire.
The picture below was taken in November 2020 during the CQ WW CW contest.
QTH From December 2000 to November 2020
Worked All Britain (WAB) square: TQ16; Grid Locator QRA: IO91UJ; IOTA: Eu-005 Great Britain mainland; CQ Zone: 14; ITU Zone: 27.
My station was located near the historical village of Thames Ditton in Surrey. It is a built up area, with many of the residents commuting into London every day for work. Indeed, nearby rail station in Surbiton is one of the busiest commuter stations in the UK.
Space was at a premium, hence I only had a small back-garden for antennas. Fortunately, the ground is of high conductivity clay and vertical antennas work well here.
The G4IRN shack with K3 transceiver and DX4Win logging.
Can you see the Butternut HF2V, the Cushcraft R5 and the Wellbrook RX Loop antennas?
QTH from September 1981 to July 1983
I was resident at the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) College of Telecommunications Engineering in Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes.
There were several training establishments in the park - BT and Government Communications being two others.
The NATS training block is now partially occupied by the RSGB's National Radio Centre.
There was a small radio shack where I kept my TS-520SE and I had a 160m dipole on the roof where the RSGB's SteppIR antenna is now mounted.
QTH from September 1979 to September 1981
The station was located in the family home in Stretford, Manchester.