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My Minimalist Station

                This past spring my wife and I made a decision to move to a smaller apartment that is handicap accessible. My only problem was what to do about my Ham Station. I will be an Amateur for 50 years soon and don’t want to stop now. So I had to come up with a plan to continue my hobby. At the time I wasn’t allowed to walk or stand for long. So I was confined to my recliner which was hard to operate from. So I came up with the idea of using a food tray like the one used in the hospital. In searching the Internet I found many trays on wheels which were use as portable computer stations.
                Now that I found the platform for my portable station, what equipment was I going to setup? I have equipment since I was first licensed in 1961. So I wasn’t going to use my boat anchors but what I decided on is my Icom IC-706MKIIG. Its compact size and versatile, it seems like a no brainer. Along with the LG Z-100 auto tuner, external speaker, flat key and a 12-volt/35-amp power supply with Battery Back-Up. All controlled by my Acer Netbook using Ham Radio Deluxe.
                I ordered a tray on wheels for $50.00. It came in about three days.   The box said "some assembly required? I Opened the box and low and behold it was ready to be assembled all 30 parts. I wondered where the "some assembly" came from? It was made of a combination of metal and wood parts, as well as 1000 screws, nuts and washers. After looking over the assembly drawings with all its tiny dashed lines and small print instructions I decided to wing it, after all its only 30 parts and I was an Engineer for over 40 years.
                I dove right in to it! Ignoring the L and R labeling whose Left and Right anyway. I started to assemble this kit after several tries I decided to take another look at the instructions, this time with a magnifying glass. I was able to decipher some of the instructions. Between that and the photo on the box I finally got it together, Hooray! Now on to the station assembly...
                First I adjusted the tray height and locked it in place. Next I needed a source of AC. I had a new AC strip with a 15-amp circuit breaker built in. I used two Ty-Raps to hold it to the vertical post. Then I mounted the 12-volt Power supply on the shelf resting on the bottom of the frame. On top of the power supply I mounted a 40 AH gel cell battery and charger.   The shelf was fine with all this weight but made hard to roll around. After wiring the Power Supply and Charger together, I ran a red and black 10 Gauge wires up to the IC-706 power connectors.
                The IC-706 was mounted on the middle shelf with the Z-100 antenna tuner mounted on top of the IC-706. I connected the Z-100 to the IC-706 with a short length of RG-8X coax and the remaining connectors between both units. I also attached a 12 inch section of RG-8X coax to the Z-100 with a barrel connector on one end. This is for changing antennas without having to remove the Z-100. Well, I’m half way there!
                Now, to hookup the Computer! Into the AC Power Strip I plugged in the Power Block for the Computer. Next run the Interface Cable from a USB Port on the Computer to the rear of the IC-706 "CI-V Remote Control Jack". Also plug in the External Speaker and mount it next to the Computer.    Add an LED Light, Flat Key, Headphones, Pen and Paper. Now I was setup to contact the world.
                Next Time "What about an Antenna?"

Rebuilding my Radio Shack is a work in progress. Building custom shelving for optimum operating comfort. The photo to the right shows a central power monitoring control panel. The three meters across the top monitor AC Input Voltage, Total AC Current and 60 Hertz Frequency. The two smaller meters monitor DC Input Voltage and Total DC Current. I Also there is a built in a Digital DC Voltmeter for testing. Below the Test Meter is a remote Key Jack with a selector switch to select which Transceiver the key goes to. Next to Key Selector is an AUX Antenna connector connected to the antenna selector so I can have easy access to all my antennas. Plus a 120 Volt AC socket. The smaller Panel to the right is a 5-position antenna selector and an UTC Digital Clock. Under the antenna selector is a MFJ electronic antenna selector used to select transceivers. Below that is an Icom V8000 2 meter Transceiver. The area next to that will contain a Flat Screen Display under that a Z-100 Tuner connected to the Icom IC-706MK2G Transceiver below it. Finally a mini keyboard and a wireless mouse garage under that to my computer under the bench.
On the far right is an IC-740 with an MFJ-949C antenna tuner.