I'm pleased you stopped by. This site is devoted to my main interests... Amateur Radio, Genealogy, and Blues Music.. mainly centered around the harmonica I play. One thing's for certain, the site won't stay the same long. As I pursue a particular interest of mine the site may change to reflect the most current project. And the site is designed primarily to generate discussion and the exchange of ideas centering on the interests above. So look around...and share some ideas, comments, or suggestions..

 

 

Amateur Radio Station KC9CS

Equipped for coverage from 160M to 70cm, using the Yaesu FT-847 Earth Station. The antenna for HF is a 3 element Mosley Classic 33 at 55ft. Above that is a 19 element 2M Cushcraft yagi (62ft.) and a 7 element 70cm Cushcraft yagi, both set for FM polarization. I'm active using the digital modes such as PSK-31 and computer RTTY/CW. One of the latest projects is improving the entire system to protect against lightning damage here in "The Lightning Capital of the U.S." -- west central Florida. A nearby strike a few years ago prompted the changes to the grounding scheme. While we never heard a direct hit (no thunderclap), the strike shattered ceramic floor tiles at the rear of the house, blew the phone company box completely off the house, took out 3 cable television boxes and 2 televisions, and a portion of the house panel box was damaged. Needless to say, the panel now has a full house surge system built in. The following pictures illustrate some of the improvements.

 

 

This picture (above) shows the coax grounding at the tower top. Each antenna coax is fitted with PL-259 connectors to a barrel connector which is secured into a bronze ground rod clamp. This clamp is secured to the tower with stainless steel screws and a stainless plate between the clamp and tower to prevent galvanic action against the tower. Each connection is weather sealed with 3M Super 33+ tape and covered with COAX-SEAL to prevent water infiltration. The tower is in its tilt-over mode here, so the picture appears sideways. The coax lines from the bottom of the barrel connectors are not shown here. Note also the black rubber shield which covers the thrust bearing.

 

 

This picture shows the coax grounding at the tower bottom. The plate is stainless steel and 2" Copper ribbon connects the tower to ground rods throughout the yard. Each cable coming down the tower is grounded at the top and base of the tower. The copper ribbon is sandwiched between a compression bar and the stainless plate with the use of a copper based antioxidant grease to lower resistance from oxidation. Underground the ribbon connects to UL listed 5/8" X 10'copper clad ground rods using Polyphaser rod to ribbon clamps and the copper based antioxidant grease. Again, these fittings are sealed with the 3M tape and COAX-SEAL.

 

 

This photo above shows the external bulkhead panel outside the house. Once again, the coax shields are grounded to the panel with barrel connectors secured on either side of the panel and if you look closely you can see the 2" copper ribbon that connects to the ground system. Behind the coax bulkhead you can see the red insulators that insulate the 3/8" copper bulkhead from the house. You can also see the 2" copper ribbon that bonds the external bulkhead panel to the internal bulkhead. These connections and the panel are covered with a fiberglass weatherproof housing (not shown).

 

 

Here you can see the inside bulkhead where the grounds from ALL the individual pieces of radio gear are connected, you can see the Polyphaser DC Block ground connectors which shunt the Center conductor to ground if peak voltages occur and the rotor cable connector which grounds the 8 wire rotor cable if peak voltages are sensed. I should have the rotor cable shunt on the outside panel ideally.  Note the panel is all copper, the green wires are the individual radio grounds and the low pass filter is bonded to the panel. Note the 2" copper strap that connects directly to the external bulkhead and the entire single point ground system.

 

 

As a backup antenna I use a Hustler 5 BTV ground mounted. There is a pattern of radial wire that was run throughout the back yard several years ago. The tower/single point ground work ties into the vertical ground as shown here.

 

This is the overall plan for the single point ground system. The tower, the vertical antenna, all ground rods, the external bulkhead (and internal) and the utility main ground are all bonded together. Over a dozen ground rods are used and over 300 ft of 2" copper ribbon. And a whole lotta diggin' was done!

 

 

Welcome to the Home Page of Bill Otten

Amateur Radio Station KC9CS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Licensed first as WD9AMW in 1975, I've been involved in Amateur Radio for nearly 1/3 of a century. The WD9AMW call only lasted about one year before an upgrade to Advanced and the new call KC9CS. Eventually, I made my Extra Class ticket and a VEC. During this time my interests in ham radio have varied....I had a lot of fun running QRP for a long time, then built a 2x4-400A amplifier and ran high power. Now that amp is gone, and it's back to a commercial "small" rig running 1000 watts on occasion but still having fun with QRP. Today, I'm enjoying some of the digital modes such as PSK-31 and SSTV, still some RTTY and love CW chats, and building my own gear--there's a 4-1000A amplifier being built for the pileups, and several QRP radios and accessories. Then there's the mobile rig. The car looks like a porcupine or hedgehog at times! Usually I can be found on the bands chasing DX and working CW with 2w from my SW+ radios and a Buddipole antenna. I've got the capabilities here from 160 meters all the way to 2.4Ghz running the satellite passes.

QRP ARCI #4112      10-10 #66439

Here’s a couple of my Small Wonder Labs QRP kits. Great little kits available from

 http://smallwonderlabs.com/ . The little SWR/Wattmeter is a NoGaWatt unit from the North Georgia QRP Club http://www.nogaqrp.org/