Bob Shelby, W7FPY

My interest in radio was sparked right after WW II by a Christmas gift from my parents — a small Hallicrafter S-41G receiver. As I went about my SWLing, I heard some people called hams and eventually met several of them.

The rest is history. Today I enjoy rag chewing and working with the local ARES as an Official Emergency Station.

The transceiver is a Kenwood TS-430S with an MFJ 986 Tuner and an Ameritron AL-811H amplifier. The HF mike is a Heil Classic, which duplicates a 1930 RCA studio microphone. My key is a Vibroplex Vibrokeyer with a Trac TE144 electronic keyer. I will soon be installing a Rigblaster M-8 soundcard interface.

Standby receivers are both Kenwoods; an R-5000 and an R-600. VHF and UHF coverage is with Icom’s IC-228H along with Kenwood’s TH-79A dual-bander HT and rfConcepts amplifier.

Accessories include an Autek WM-1 SWR/power meter; Autek QF1-A SSB/CW filter, MFJ 1025 noise canceling signal enhancer and MFJ SWR analyzer. HF antennas are a Mosely TA-33 Yagi tri-bander on a 35 foot tubular crank-up support; a Cushcraft R-4 vertical and a SPI-RO all-band dipole in NVIS configuration. VHF/UHF antennas are a Cushcraft 124WB Yagi and an MFJ 1754 ground plane vertical. Commercial power is backed up by Onon 4 kW and HONDA 2 kW gensets.

Amateur Radio has to share time with some of my other hobbies like fishing, but when I’m on the air, this station serves my needs very nicely.