Some shack pics:
My FT-857D with LDG AT-100Pro ATU, Palstar SP30 Speaker, Yaesu MD-100 Microphone, Yaesu YH-77STA Headphones, Kent Twin Paddle Key, MyDEL MP-8230 22-25 AMP Power Supply:
http://www.lrgsoftware.com/mike/m0saz_shack.jpgMy Antenna "farm", Diamond CP6, Diamond X-50N, 20M End-fed Long wire connected to Tuner via LDG 1:1 Current Balun:
http://www.lrgsoftware.com/mike/m0saz_cp6_x50_eflw.jpgA closer look at the CP6, notice how the far left radial has the adjuster almost all the way in! I managed to get 200KHz of bandwidth on 80 Meters using this configuration and the AT100Pro. (3.5-3.7MHz - for 3.7-3.8MHz I can use the long wire). For those who don't know the CP6 is very narrow on 80 Meters, but with some help from the tuner, I managed to get 2 thirds of the band:
http://www.lrgsoftware.com/mike/m0saz_cp6.jpgA closer look at the Diamond X-50 and the end fed long wire:
http://www.lrgsoftware.com/mike/m0saz_x50_eflw.jpgThe long wire goes to the bottom of the garden, attached on the far-most linen line post. The long wire "hot" end is made from the inside of RG58:
http://www.lrgsoftware.com/mike/m0saz_eflw.jpgNot having a lawn at this QTH means the counterpoise for the long wire is less than ideal, but electronically better than nothing. It is 6mm earth cable, connected to 4x meter long earth rods, 3 are galvanised and one is copper coated steel:
http://www.lrgsoftware.com/mike/m0saz_counterpoise.jpgTook a couple of shots from the alleyway, as the sun was behind me:
http://www.lrgsoftware.com/mike/m0saz_cp6_2.jpghttp://www.lrgsoftware.com/mike/m0saz_cp6_3.jpgThe feeder on the CP6 and the long wire is RG-213, and I have put a snap-over ferrite clamp on each end, as close to the PL-259 plug as possible. The collinear is fed with Westflex 103 and is connected with N-Type plugs at both ends.
The PL259 plugs I got were excellent, they had a compression-type fitting to the back of them, like an N-Type. I got some basic ones too, but opted for the pro looking ones, once I worked out how they went!
Sorry the pics are a little grainy, they were taken on my camera phone. Will let you know how well the setup is working when the conditions are right. I may put out a few YouTube videos of any interesting QSOs.
Lastly, for those interesting in modifying radios:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2tUPeQsKHo
