This post has been a long time coming, but it’s finally here. A ham shack update! I should quick note this will be my last ham shack update for this setup… I will be moving into a condo sometime next month so everything will be completely different, and hopefully a lot cleaner looking. More on that soon.

Anyway, back to the ham shack update that I had promised. As I mentioned in the preview post, I’m using a Yaesu FT-1900R as a 2M base station radio. That is hooked up to the N9TAX Slim Jim 2m/70cm antenna. It does an okay job, but the issues I’m having I believe are related to where my shack is located (an issue soon to be fixed when I move next month!). Also, as mentioned last time, I purchased another FT-1900R that I just installed in  my Taurus this weekend. Pictures and post to come soon on that.

Now, onto new business. As I wrote last time, I had just gotten a Kenwood TS-50 (10m-160m HF Mobile radio) from a club auction. I have since gotten the “accessories” I need for it to run great.

First and foremost, I got a tuner for the radio. I really wanted the AT-50 automatic tuner from Kenwood that is designed for the TS-50. Unfortunately  the only ones I could find on eBay were well out of my budget. So much for that.

However, I did score something else. I got an MFJ-925 Intellituner, a generic automatic tuner. This tuner will work on any radio by either transmitting on low power in CW or AM, or via it’s universal interface. The universal interface is designed to work with the automatic tuning functionality of just about any radio from Yaesu, Icom, Alinco, and yes, Kenwood. The MFJ-925 and the adapter cable (and a jumper change) later, and I was auto-tuning away. I have that hooked up to the 20m Bazooka I got from KDØLHB and I can tune up on just about every band except for 160m. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Not a whole lot else has changed, other than I did get myself another Baofeng UV-5R+ handheld.. I did this so my other one could stay in the car, but I just got my other Yaesu FT-1900R installed in my car this weekend, so that is no longer an issue.

Down the road

Lots of things are happening down the road. As I’ve mentioned a couple of times now, I’m moving into a new place next month. It’s a 3rd floor condo with a balcony, away from downtown. As much as I love living in Downtown Fargo, the RF noise in this part of town is horrible. Getting away from downtown, along with having balcony antennas, and being an additional 20 feet off the ground, should make things a lot better ham radio wise. Plus the new place is only couple blocks from work, another plus.

Got any comments or ideas for my new ham radio setup? I would love to see them below. I am for sure going to have a separate desk and computer for my ham radio. This will not only give me more operating room, plus then I can separate my work from play in my new office setup.

As it stands right now, I’m thinking I may do a video of my current setup, both computer-wise and ham radio wise. I would like to document what I had setup, and I may as well share it with viewers while I’m at it. I’ll be sure to post a link to that if and when I get that far.

73!

- Jake

Something very exciting happened last week. I was asked to be a guest on GFQ’s This Week in Radio Tech, a weekly video podcast about radio engineering. I talked a little bit about being a young radio engineer and how I’m slowly learning the ropes, and also how coming from the IT side of things makes things different.

I had lot of fun talking with hosts Kirk, Tom, and Chris. As someone who has been watching the podcast for over a year and a half it was very cool to not only get to talk to the hosts, but have them interested in what I do as a young/new broadcast engineer and how I’m slowly, but surely, learning how things work. It was a blast!

Check out the video above (the whole thing is 1:20:00 or so and I’m on throughout, but the segment featuring me starts at about the 50:00 mark), and thanks to Kirk Harnack for inviting me on the show!

TWiRT 159 – Jake Bechtold [This Week in Radio Tech]

A convoluted title, I know. It’s been a while since I’ve made a blog post… I’ve been sick, building new computers, fixing old computers, de-icing FM transmitters… the works.

I figure it’s about time I do a Ham Shack Update. For my latest addition to be complete, however, I’m still missing a few parts that won’t be here until the end of the week. So I thought I would give a sneak preview of sorts. Continue reading →

Everything comes full circle.

When I was 13 or so, there was a cable network called TechTV, featuring shows about technology, gadgets, and geeks. I was just becoming a geek at that point in my life (scary to think that was almost 10 years ago already) and I could relate to what that channel had to offer.

In 2004, the channel was bought by Comcast, merged with their gaming channel, G4, and basically ruined. All the hosts were fired and any show with good content was cancelled, except for one called The Screen Savers (which was their premiere show), which they mutated and turned into a different show called Attack Of The Show. It was at this point I stopped watching the network. (It was also about this time that TSS host Leo Laporte at started TWiT and host Kevin Rose has started Revision3, and things we’re great!).

Fast forward to October 2012. After years of failing, Comcast announced they are turning G4 into Esquire, a network targeted at metrosexual men (can’t wait to see what kind of comment spam I get from those two words!). As a result, original programing on G4 was canceled effective this week, including Attack Of The Show.

Now, about six weeks ago, Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton on TWiT (who were both hosts on The Screen Savers) threw around the idea of them being featured on the last episode of AOTS, pulling a Bob Newheart type bit, and going with idea that the whole merger thing was a dream. Leo didn’t think G4 would go for it and frankly neither did I. (Exact segment link)

Well, AOTS officially ended on Wednesday. And it actually did happen. Leo and Pat got the last laugh and poked fun at the whole merger that happened in 2004 and how G4 had went down the tube. Anyone that is an AOTS fan wouldn’t get the humor, and anyone who was never into TechTV or The Screen Savers doesn’t appreciate it. But for me, a hard-core TSS fan from back then, seeing Leo and Pat on TV and hearing the old TSS theme one last time was epic. It was trip back to age 13… during a summer that was an absolute hell (that story a different day) it was a show that made the geek that I was back then excited inside again.

Video below. Enjoy.

Edit 1/28: Well that didn’t take long. G4 pulled down the video I had emedded. Too bad for them I found another one!

As you probably saw a few weeks ago, I got a nice AM Broadcast DX in my Taurus. I was able to pickup WSM-AM pretty darn clear from my car in Fargo. As any ham would do, I sent them a QSL card, modifying fields intended for a QSO confirmation to a reception report.

It’s been about two weeks since that happened, I’m happy to report that not only did I get a QSL card back from WSM… I got a nice little care package!

Contents included a nice little thank you card, an info card about their app, an info brochure, a WSM sticker and, coolest of all, a WSM guitar pick. Thanks to WSM for sending a response back to my QSL!

I was hoping to get a post up sooner than this, but things have been way too busy the last week or so. I’ve finally got a chance to get caught up.

As you may have seen in an earlier post, I’m very much wanting to get on HF Amateur Radio, but currently lack the equipment to do that. So seeing as I’m HF-less, this caught my eye. I subscribe to WDØAKX on YouTube and a few days ago he posted a video of his 10M Beacon as heard from California via an SDR, or Software Defined Radio, which is basically a computer that capable of receiving (and in some cases can also transmit) on Amateur Radio bands. Some of the SDRs also have the ability to be controlled via the web for web users to freely use. Here’s where the fun begins. Continue reading →

I thought this was worth sharing… I was poking around on the AM dial earlier tonight and was able to pick up WSM-AM from Nashville, TN from in my Taurus in Fargo, ND. I’ve been able to get it before but this is the clearest I have ever heard it. As the crow flies, Nashville is 910 miles from Fargo, which in terms of Ham Radio isn’t all that far for a DX, but for an AM broadcast station getting picked up with just a regular car radio and factory whip antenna, not to mention all the other AM broadcast band noise going on, is doing pretty good. Video below.

This is a post series I would like to start doing on the site. Since I now have a General Class Amateur license and am working towards my Amateur Extra… plus I’m slowing getting some more ham gear, I thought this would be a great way to not only document my ham setup, but to also give ideas to new hams who are looking at creating their first shack… especially those who are in an apartment like me and are limited for antenna space. Continue reading →

Okay, it’s been done for almost two months now, but I finally got around to posting the finished product.

As you may have seen in September, I mentioned I was helping with a studio re-build for the campus station I used to work for when I was in college, KNDS 96.3. I’ve cut back the amount of work I do up there, seeing as I’m not a student at NDSU anymore, but I still check on their equipment periodically and… uh… rebuild their studios haha.  Continue reading →