Amateur Radio Shack

Explore the inner workings of the 2M0SQL Shack

HF Station

The HF position has changed a lot through the years but currently comprises of a Yaesu FT-950 (plus IF-2000 board connected to an RF Space SDR-IQ) with a Heil Pro-set Elite (DX Insert) headset & matching footswitch along with MFJ Manual & LDG Automatic ATU and a Signalink USB for digital modes.

The position has a dedicated computer all the amateur radio programs you are ever likely to need including Win-Test, N1MM+, FL-Digi, WSJT-X, MixW, CW Skimmer and Cloudlog (my own logging application).

  • EAntennas Multiband Dipole for 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m.
  • Homebrew Multiband Dipole for 30m, 17m, 12m.

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Groundstation

Fixed Home Ground Station

The VHF/UHF position is primarily a ICOM IC-910HX which has a Sennheiser PC-350 headset with two ZLP electronics data interfaces.

Antennas are Wimo X-Quads for 2m & 70cms and 23cms Helix with polarisation switching and SHF Electronics preamps, these are controlled using a Yaesu G-5500 rotator and connected to the PC via a ERC-M interface which allows automatic tracking of satellites using SatPC32.

Portable Satellite Operation

When operating portable on the AMSAT Low earth orbit satellites I use two Yaesu FT-817s with a Arrow Antennas Arrow II 2m & 70cms yagi with LMR240 coax plus a simple audio recorder for logging.