Fitting Out More of the Shack and Antenna Install by Stephen M5SJM

 

The Antennas

Background

So for starters let me explain the plan for my antenna install. At the QTH there is no space for a mast / tower in the rear garden. So what ever I chose, I had to have it house wall mounted. Starting at my previous QTH I was also in a similar situation where I was planning a more substantial wall mounted mast. So in preparation for that I had purchased a pair of ‘Rotator Platform brackets‘ These enable me to mount a rotator onto the side of a pole while also using a thrust bearing.

The New House Setup

So the first thing to do on the house was to get a pole mounted to it. In this case I had to mount it to the back of the house as I have no access to the side. But there was also limited space on the rear due to to the conservatory and the shack room.

Here you can see the already mounted weather sat pole on the wall closest to the camera. This will most likely be temporary and will be moved to the right of the top right hand side window.

So, for the mast on the house. I have chosen to mount it to the right of the drain pipe that you can see on the back of the house.

Here you can see I have mounted it using a set of T & K’s. In this case I have put the T at the bottom just to get the maximum separation between the two brackets. I will probably add a second K to the pole for extra support although my current brackets seam to be an odd size.

Mounted onto the short pole that you see in the image above will be the rotator platform brackets that I mentioned earlier. I have mounted my rotator on these brackets in preparation for fitting.

I am just waiting for the U bolts to arrive to fit these.

The Shack

Now, since my last post I have had a bit of a tidy up. The majority of things are now unpacked and in there probable final positions. The ATV (Amateur Television) equipment has been positioned on the shelf. My Lime Mini has been connected to the Portsdown, which has been moved to the top shelf. Next to that is the analogue video switching selectors, the camera, 23cm PA and my small video overlay box.

Excuse the collection of handheld chargers in the background. I need to find them a proper home.

Also in the image above you con see I have fitted the rotator controller ready for the installation of the mast.

With alot of the mast equipment now unboxed, I have been able to tidy both the desk a bit more to make them a usable space for projects etc…

The next major step will be to get the main mast mounted and acquire a 2m / 70cm rig for SSB use which will hopefully fit in that gap beside my HF radio.

Remember that all my QSO’s are recorded on my Log which is available on this site here or here on QRZ.