Like these web pages, my equipment and its layout are constantly changing.  I can't leave well enough alone....I move the operating
position around to try new equipment and different arrangements, always looking for the "perfect" setup!  I do the same with antennas,
changing at least one per year.  So, what you see below must be considered only temporary....the next time you view this page the pictures
may be different.

                                                                              MAIN OPERATING DESK at the FARM

         The radio is an ICOM 756 PRO II which is really fine for chasing DX on any band.  The monitor
         on the shelf is connected to a slow pentium which I use for contesting and spotting.
         The unit next to the monitor switches the verticals, remote coax switches, an open wire dipole
         and loop.  Beneath is the Beverage control unit with the main station antenna routing switch panel
         to the left.
 

                                                                                  VINTAGE EQUIPMENT

                                   This is one vintage radio position showing part of my collection.  All radios
                                   have been refurbished and are in operating condition.  Switches permit
                                   matching a radio to the main speaker and the antenna line.  Currently,
                                   the Navigator is paired with the Drake 2B.  The HRO will eventually be
                                   paired with a 10 watt homebrewed transmitter.  The Johnson Speedex is
                                   a great bug, comparing very  favourably with the Vibroplex Champion.
 

                                                                                    MAIN VINTAGE OPERATING POSITION

                                                       Vintage operating position with Collins 75A-4, Johnson Ranger,
                                         Harvey-Wells Z-Match and Hallicrafters SX-25 Super Defiant.
                                         The SX-25 is surprisingly stable and sensitive, and I use it for
                                         general listening.  The 75A4 has been extensively re-worked
                                         with new mixers, front end and other mods suggested in the pages
                                         of the Collins Compendium.  It is a terrific receiver with these mods.
 

Living on a farm has its advantages when installing antennas.  Besides having room for a modest tower for HF beams, verticals for 160,80 and 40 and various dipoles, inverted Vs and such, I have been fortunate to be able to install a number of Beverage receive antennas in our pasture and across the neighbour's field.  In the past, I installed these antennas after my neighbour finished working the fields, usually in late November.  However, a couple of very wet autumns prevented me from erecting these antennas until late December or early January and so I am currently installing permanent Beverages to cover the directions previously handled by the temorary wires.

This job requires the installation of very long feedlines, some up to 800 ft in length.   To keep losses to a minimum I have started using surplus 75 ohm cable TV hardline, and have already installed several lines of a few hundred feet each.  Some of this is buried (using Comcast 5/8" flooded cable) while the rest is strung along fence lines to the Beverage matching transformers, as you can see in the picture below.
 

                  FACING NORTH-NORTHEAST                                                                                     EAST BEVERAGE SWITCH BOX

         The 28 degree Beverage permanently installed on                                         This remotely controls five antennas in the pasture,
           10 foot cedar poles.  It is  670 feet long but                                                        all fed with hardline and RG-6 jumpers for ease of.
           will be lengthened to 880 ft in the near future.                                                  connection.  The buried feed to the receiver is at bottom right
                                                                                                                                                (note that no connector is used-blue wire is the feed, while
                                                                                                                                                the white wire is ground and connected with a compression clamp).
                                                                                                                                                Relays are rugged 30A types and the relay board is removeable
                                                                                                                                                for servicing.  Antennas are grounded when not in use
                                                                                                                                                and there is provision for feeding 12VDC on the lines
                                                                                                            to each antenna for directional relay control.

                        EAST BEVERAGE RELAY CONTROL BOX SHOWING
                               HARDLINE STRAPPED TO THE FENCE and CONTROL                         ONE BEVERAGE TERMINATION
                               CABLES                                                                                                                SHOWING TRANSFORMER
                                                                                                                                                               ( in box),  and HARDLINE FEEDS
 
 

                                       TOWERS                                                                                                                VERTICAL CONTROL BOX

 Nothing fancy here!  A Hy  Gain 204BA on the bottom                                                    This is the "business end" of the lowband vertical.  The
 with a homebrew 10 meter 3 element above. The tower                                                    160M matching coil is at the bottom with the 80M net-
 is 56 feet with a number of dipoles and inverted Vs hung                                                work above.  The antenna, described fully on another
 from it.  The 204 BA is being replaced with a Mosley CL33                                           page has a 2:1 SWR bandwidth of about 100 khz on 160
 and the 10M beam will become  a 4 element 6 meter beam.                                             meters and about 90 khz on 80 meters.  Use of large relays
 Just visible at the right edge of the picture is a 56 foot                                                   eliminates potential problems on 160M
TV tower which is about to become a "VHF/UHF tower".