Like many shacks, mine has a number of different audio sources.  When you're trying to pick a signal out of the noise, or even just trying to sort out which computer made the "ding" sometimes it can be challenging.  My solution to this problem involved some VU meters, an Arduino Uno, and a relay board.  This one is easiest to describe by just showing you, so check it out:

The code that runs on the Arduino to do this is still a work in progress, but if you'd like to grab a copy or dabble, you can snag it from one of my github repositories. (More on this later - but I just started a github to enable sharing all the technical details about the shack!)

The parts I used are below.  Clicking them will take you to Amazon so you can snag them for yourself:

​Enjoy!

This one had a saga...I gave the "real-time" account on twitter as I worked on it over several weeks, but here's the short version: Due to being busy, it took me a while to get it up.  Once it was up and tuned, but before I even made a single QSO on it, a storm brought down the tree holding one end up, so I had to start over.  Good news - it's now in the air!

     This was another "from junk" antenna, that I built, basically because the antenna deities told me that if I built a giant ground plane (chicken coop) I had to put an antenna on top of it to keep them happy.  It's made from an old fiberglass extension pole (spray painted black) with a wire running up the middle, and a short whip on top that I can slide in and out to make it tuneable.  

     I had read about "one cut tuning" in an article on ham universe a while back, but it basically goes like this:

Cut your antenna to length using the standard formula of 468 / frequency (in MHz)

1. Make note of the exact length of each half of the dipole.  It's easiest to work in inches or centimeters.  We'll call this (L1)
2. Put the antenna up into its final position.  Note the frequency where the actual SWR "dip" is.  We'll call this (f1)
3. Make note of the "desired" frequency - i.e. where you want the dip to be. We'll call this (f2)
4. New Length = (f1)/(f2) x (L1).
5. Trim (or fold back) so that the antenna halves are your new length.
6. Put the antenna back up, and go get on the air - you're done!

The things I was curious about, that I couldn't find anywhere, and my newly discovered answers were:

1. Does this work for a fan dipole, or does the interaction between elements screw things up?
   1. For me, Yes, it works!  The "new" frequency ended up being a little bit off from my target, but it was close enough that I was still under 3:1 everywhere I wanted to be on 80m, and under 2:1 across all of 40m and 20m.
2. Does this work for a vertical, when you're basically only working with half an antenna against a ground plane? 
   1. For me, Yes!  I did the exact same method for the length of the vertical, so I only had to put it up once, bring it down to tune it, and then put it up for good.

Done and done!

     Luckily for all of you, I'll also be making an appearance on an upcoming episode of Ham Radio Workbench to talk about my shack build, so rather than write too much about it, just make sure to tune in and hear all about it!

    To accompany what you'll be able to get via the audio in the podcast interview, here's a "history in pictures" to browse as a visual highlight of past and present state of the shack during the last several years.  Enjoy!

   In my very small amount of evening free time in the last months, I managed to work on a couple little projects in my hamshack.  Both of these things are related to the small workbench area I built for myself.  I purposefully kept the workbench on the small side, because I've found that keeping a space small forces me to be deliberate about organization and tidiness.  The end result, is that I end up with more usable work space, because I keep it clean, then I would have with a giant workbench covered in debris (Although I'm far from perfect in that regard...)

   The first of these projects was re-wiring an old task lamp.  My wife's grandfather passed away a few months back, and one of the things in the pile of stuff that we had to go through was an old desk lamp.  It was a really neat looking florescent fixture, being made of all metal, with a nice heavy base.  It looked old, so I figured I'd better inspect it before using it - I was glad I did!  It turns out that it was made in the 1950's.  I know that, because the base, where the open-frame (!) ballast was located, was stuffed with newspaper (!!) dated 1951, to hold the ballast in place.

     The newspaper had the requisite singe marks on it from where things got a little toasty at some point.  The wiring was also all cloth-covered cord that was fraying all over the place.  I pulled all the old wiring out, and did away with the florescent fixture parts.  I replaced the wiring with modern wire appropriate for the task, added a new switch on the base, and instead of a florescent fixture, I attached 3 strips of led lighting from wired communications onto the light reflector.  I now have a neat vintage looking task lamp, but one that runs on the same 12 volts as my other shack stuff, and won't burn down my house if I have it turned on for a few hours!

     The other task that I've completed recently, was to get some organization in place for my small parts that I use most frequently at my workbench.  Step one of that project was to grab a sheet of metal from the hardware section at the big-box-home improvement center, and step two was to snag a 20 pack of magnetic spice jars from Amazon.  Presto - small parts organization!

     And lastly, what better way to exhibit both of these items, than to showcase them being pressed into service by a future member of our ham radio clan, hard at they're work!