Amateur Station ON4DMD

If you want to build an HF station, most of us will quickly run into space constraints. For me, the challenge was that we live in a cohousing community: 15 other families and I share a site where every housing unit, and therefore also every private garden is small. There is, however, a larger shared space and garden. More information about our community can be found here: Kerselaar Oostakker

Building antennas in those shared areas isn't straightforward. My desk, though, is located in a shared space that I share with the neighbors. Fortunately, we have a stable IP network connecting all locations across the cohousing site, and that's where the solution came from.

A Remote Station

I solved the problem by building a remote station. An IC-705, along with all its peripherals, sits neatly tucked away in a cabinet. From my PC, I connect to that station over the network using wfview.

I started this blog to document my adventures as a (re-)beginning radio amateur. At the time of writing, I can already listen on the bands via wfview. Transmitting doesn't work yet. I'm still dealing with some EMI issues I need to sort out first. More on that soon.

The Antenna

Right now I'm using an EFHW tuned for 40m, with a loading coil and extension for 80m.

I put up a pole in the garden, but the garden is only 10m deep, so the rest of the wire runs over the house. Far from an ideal setup, but there's still plenty of room for improvement here too, and I'll definitely be writing more about that on this blog.

Why QRP CW

Given the limited space, the proximity to the neighbors, and the need to keep my budget in check with 3 the children, I've decided to focus on QRP in CW. Less power, less impact on the neighbors, and a nice technical challenge to still get out there with just a few watts.

To be continued.

73, ON4DMD