Ham Radio at the Hack Factory
We are in the process of building a ham radio 'shack' at the Hack Factory (the Hac Fac Shack?). A 20-meter vertical antenna is up on the roof. Other antennas will go up over time. 2-meter/70cm vertical antenna may also go up soon.
* Kenwood TS480hx 200 watt HF/6 meter transceiver
* Ettus Research USRP1 Software Defined Radio
* LDG AT-200 Pro autotuner
* a Windows 7 PC loaded with some ham software – Ham Radio Deluxe, WSJT, and some others I probably don't know about yet
* USB Sound card and serial interfaces between the PC and the TS480
* Cushcraft R5 20-meter - 10 meter vertical antenna on the roof
* Icom 2m 50w VHF transceiver
* 2m/70cm vertical antenna - not installed yet
* 2m Yagi antenna with rotor - not installed yet
All of this is JRSPhoto's equipment (with the exception of the USRP1), which he's kindly lent to us. If you have any questions about this project, his contact info is here. Thanks John!
The USRP1, several daughterboards, and antennae have been loaned to TCM by smittex.
You must be licensed to use the ham radio equipment!
- Federal law requires you to be licensed to transmit on amateur radio frequencies. Bring your license with you, it'll be checked if any of us feel the need to do so. Also make sure that you're transmitting on frequencies allowed by your license class.
- You need to get John's permission to use the station. No exceptions! This is some very nice equipment, and we don't want it to go away.
Curious about ham radio?
Hit up John or Scott (aka danbackslide), we'd love to show you some of the cool things you can do with the radio!
How can you help?
- Antenna installation - we currently have a single HF vertical antenna. The roof as space for many more!
- Station grounding
- Setting up the VHF/UHF station
- Setting up APRS at the shack
Things we would like
- Additional 50 ohm coax for more antennas. Minimum length would be 70 feet
- Antenna switches
- A dual band 2m/440 radio or single band 440 radio
- A 2m/440 All-Mode transceiver
