My shack photo

[unit248]

I think I've finally run out of toys to buy for my shack, so it's time to post a photo.

Equipment show includes the following:

Left side (old station):

Kenwood TS-850SAT transceiver
Kenwood DSP-100 accessory unit
Kenwood SP-31 speaker
Kenwood MC-60A desk mic
MFJ-962D antenna tuner

Right side (new station):

Kenwood TS-950SDX transceiver
Kenwood RM-1 remote unit
Kenwood SM-230 station monitor
Kenwood PS-52 power supply (for the TS-850 -- the TS-950SDX's supply is built-in)
Kenwood MC-43 hand mic

Audio gear:

Heil boom mount
Behringer B1 condenser mic
Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer/pre-amp
Nady 31-band analog equalizer
Behringer MDX1600 Autocom Pro speech processor

Both the TS-850SAT and TS-950SDX have built-in antenna tuners. The MFJ-962D is only being used as a glorified antenna switch right now, to select between my off-center fed dipole and 'hacked together' vertical antenna.

If you look carefully at the background off to the right, immediately above the TV in the living room, you can see my Kenwood TS-430S transceiver. This was my first HF rig, purchased back in 1989. Sadly I didn't have room for it once I got the TS-950SDX, so I had to put it on display. The PS-430 power supply for it is visible on the shelf immediately below the TV.

Sitting on top of the equalizer is an MFJ-655B. This is a combined eq/compressor/noise gate device that I purchased before getting the other audio gear. It turned out to be a bad purchase: I could never get decent audio out of it. The only reason I still use it is that it provides an aux audio input that lets me easily connect the other audio gear without having to make a special cable. It also lets me keep the Kenwood MC-43 hand mic connected so that I can use it as a hand switch.

The screen sitting on top of the station monitor is an Exopc Slate tablet computer, which is running some control software for the TS-950SDX. (I've moved it since taking this photo.)

Not shown is my Kenwood TH-F6A 144/220/440 HT. I left it sitting out in the living room somewhere when I took the picture.

-Bill

 

[Highlander_821]

Very nice.

 

[Quiksilver]

Top Shelf!

 

[TonyV225]

Nice looking setup I see your into the audio gear.

 

[26AC148]

Awesome radio shack you have there

 

[unit248]

Nice looking setup I see your into the audio gear.

I try.

The audio gear I have is actually pretty minimal. The Nady EQ and the Behringer MDX1600 cost $79.95 each, and the Behringer mixer was only about 40 bucks. The most expensive part of the chain is the mic, which retails for just under $100. (That price includes the mic, wind screen, shock mount and padded carrying case, which seemed to me like a good deal.)

I keep thinking about whether or not I want to replace the mixer/pre-amp with a MIC2200 and swap the EQ/processor combo for a DEQ2496, but so far I've been able to resist the temptation. I know this is heresy, but you have to draw the line somewhere, right?

The crown jewel in the collection is the Kenwood TS-950SDX. In my opinion, this is the Cadillac of Kenwood radios. The TS-2000 has more features, but the TS-950SDX sounds better on the air. It's well known for its amazing ESSB audio capabilities. What's not that well known is that it can be made to sound really sweet on AM as well. It uses DSP for AM and SSB modulation and filtering, and if you tweak it right you can open it up to nearly 7Khz of TX frequency response. The sad thing is that most people I talk to on 11 meters don't have a good enough receiver to appreciate it.

For a while it seemed like HiFi AM was a non-starter with this rig. Normally, if you set the menu options to open up the audio response all the way, there's no carrier when you try to transmit in AM. But I discovered by accident that there's a simple trick to fool the DSP unit into working right. I've since made a firmware mod to the rig that gets around the problem entirely, and now it "just works" on AM with all filter settings, with sparkling clean audio in HiFi mode.

-Bill

 

[Robb]

I think you have done just fine. Your setup works for you. So long as it allows others to hear you better, then I'm sure that you may wll have more QSO's.

The audio bug can bite you. Beware. It can easily become as expensive as the radio habit. I think that mics are always the weakest link. If you want to improve your sound and only change one part, I full recommend an ElectroVoice RE-20. This the most popular mic used in the broadcast business today - commercially. You will find them in more radio and TV broadcast stations world wide. About $300/used - if so bitten by the 'bug' . . .

 

[gamegetter]

nice set up for sure.