Originally licensed in 1978, I have been interested in radio since I was very young. For many years, I worked with high-power broadcast transmission systems.

Interests: QRP, CW, VHF, Microwaves

Organizations: ARRL, CWops #878, NAQCC #3974, FISTS #14678

The current Home station:

HF:

Elecraft K3, SPE Expert 1K-FA amplifier.

VHF: Elecraft K3 for 6m, Kenwood TR-751A with RF Concepts 150W amp for 2m, Kenwood TR-851 for 432 MHz. Homebrew W1GHZ-design transverter for 902 MHz.

Antennas:

HF: Force12 XR-5 and Delta 230/240 yagis on 20m tall Rohn 55G tower, 80m dipole, 160m top-loaded vertical.

VHF: M2 6m5 for 6 meters, M2 2m9 for 2 meters, 12-element JayBeam for 432, loop yagi for 902 MHz on 12m tall Rohn 25G tower.

RX: K9AY Loop system

My HF tower. Force12 XR-5 and Delta 230/240.

My VHF tower. M2 6M5, 2M9, 12-element 432 JayBeam.

Mobile:

Yaesu FT-857 with "little tarheel" screwdriver antenna

I built my K9AY receiving loop system using a wood pole in my back yard. I used PC boards from Far Circuits to construct the switching matrix and the filter/preamp.

The remote loop select and termination select relay box.

The selector box during construction. This also contains a preamp with bandpass filter.

Completed selector box.

Remote loop select/termination select relays mounted at the loop base.

The completed loop array. It is built around an 8m tall wood pole.

The performance of this loop is outstanding. I can now hear many stations that I could never hear before. Were I to build another one, I'd probably purchase the switching matrix from Array Solutions. It doesn't cost much more than the parts to build it, and it saves lots of time.