Yes, I am an Olde Farte - 1st licensed in 1963 as WN7BGM (1-year Novice ticket), then as a Technician until 1989, when I finally upgraded to General as KC7CKW. In 2004 I staggered through the Advanced Class test and was assigned KJ7QT.
We live in a quiet neighborhood on a small lot, so antennas can be er, ah, uhm - 'challenging' - the current setup is a Cushcraft R-7 vertical a 10 foot stand on the back patio (foreground), and a 2-element Delta Loop beam for 10, 12, and 6 meters on a 25 foot mast in the side yard (background).
At some point we'll rebuild this homebrew bamboo hex beam that gave great results from our last QTH, and mount it to a rooftop mini-tower.
Yes, this is a messy picture - but hey, 'fess up -how neat are most of the operating stations out there REALLY?
Before I go blathering on about the technical Bravo Sierra, take a moment to admire the strong, stylish, and useful equipment shelving set designed and built by a local fellow, Dexter Yates, K7IH - the man is a bloody genius with welded Rebar. He makes furniture, shelving, art pieces, and really hefty tower supports and braces from this humble material. Can't say enough good about this craftsman's work, he's a blinking artist who needs to learn how to charge more.
Primary radio is a Yeasu FT-1000D, for 40-10 meter HF, with a Ten-Tec 1208 transverterdriving a homebrew 100W transistor amp for 6m. Two MFJ roller tuners handle the antenna switching, tuning, and SWR/power metering chores. The main microphone is a Heil 'Classic' on an adapted panotograph arm, a modified AstaticD-104 with an electret element is on standby.
Three noise reduction units are in use here, a JPS ANC-4 external RF mixer does a creditable job on killing local line noise, an MFJ-784B makes foreign DX copyable on a vertical antenna, while a Timewave DSP-59+ works well for CW or RTTY.
The backup radio is a Henry Tempo 2020 transceiver that works quite well for a tube hybrid, but it doesn't have the WARC bands.
Since we're always nattering on about motorcycles, here's some shots of our daily transportation - a 1999 BMW R1100GS hooked up to a WWII russian ammunition carrier body. This rig is a blessed tank - sturdy, reliable, comfortable, fast, gets almost 40MPG and is a hoot & a giggle to ride.
Of course, now that we're re-tired .
there's always a comfortable seat for our friends .
and we continue to appreciate 'Snappy Dressers.'
By popular demand, here arepictures of our liveaboard boats
This is 'Nonchalant' at anchor in British Columbia - she's a 50' Classic wood motorboat built by the Boeing Aircraft Company of Canada in 1930. Single 6-71 GMC diesel engine, teak house, cedar over oak hull, a perfect cruiser for the Pacific Northwest. Sadly, after living aboard for 10 years, we had to sell her and we now live ashore.
This is 'Santorini' a 48' steel motorboat, built in 1970 by the Balk Shipyard in Edburg, Holland. She has a single 'Samofa' diesel engine with a range of almost 4000 miles, and is very heavily built for off-shore cruising. 'Santorini' is currently moored in Legard, France about 30 Km from Nancy, and we spend most summers wandering around the French canal system drinking, eating, and causing mass confusion.
Cheers es 73
Jim
