The Radio Farm Station

The primary use of Radio Farm station is to compete in HF/VHF/UHF contests. The Radio Farm station is located on a 200 acre farm, allowing plenty of room for creatively large antennas.

The farm is located in grid square EN42 at an altitude of 990 MSL. The height above average terrain is reasonably good. The closest neighbor is approximately 0.5 mile (~ 0.8 km) away.

The station currently has 2 permanent towers, one at 55 feet, and one at 95 feet. Temporary towers and other supports are erected for various contests. There are plans for installation of 2-3 more permanent towers.

The station equipment is supplied by those participating in any given contest. The "club" itself owns very little equipment. This is particularly true with VHF events, as all bands above 432 MHz are equipped by those bringing out their entire stations. (i.e. the rovers that can't commit sufficient time to rove.)

Here's a summary of typical station configurations.

160 Meters (1.8 MHz):

Transmit: Inverted L antenna, top at 95 feet; 100 Watts Receive: Inverted L, Two 600-foot bi-directional beverages.

80 Meters (3.5 MHz):

2 sloping dipole antennas, high end at 95 feet. Beverages on receive; 1500 watts output

40 Meters (7.0 MHz):

3 sloping dipole antennas, high end at 95 feet. 1/4 wave verticals; beverages on receive; 1500 watts output

20 Meters (14.0 MHz):

Tri-band beam (manufactured by T.E.T.) at 98 feet, 1500 Watts.

15 Meters (21.0 MHz):

Tri-band beam (manufactured by T.E.T.) at 98 feet, 1500 Watts.

10 Meters (28.0 MHz):

Tri-band beam (manufactured by T.E.T.), at 98 feet, 1500 Watts.

6 Meters (50.0 MHz):

5 element beam at 104 feet, 1500 Watts

2 Meters (144.0 MHz):

Stacked pair of 14 element beams at 55-65 feet, 200-300 Watts

222 MHz:

Stacked pair of 13 element beams at 40-48 feet 40-150 Watts

432 MHz:

Stacked pair of 22 element beams at 42-46 feet 40-150 Watts

Other antennas have been set-up over the years, including a 10 meter "sterba" curtain array, an 80 meter full wave loop, a 7-element 10 meter yagi, a 40 meter vertical yagi, a "V-beam", etc.

A "four-square" 40 meter antenna is planned for the 1997-1998 season. This is an array of 4 verticals with a switched phasing harness.

Transceivers that have been used at the farm include Kenwood TS-530, TS-820, TS-930, Icom IC-735, IC-765, IC-737, IC-551, IC-271, IC-471, Yaesu 726, 736, Collins KWM-2, KWM-380, and others.

K0DAS's home-brewed amplifiers are our main-stays. These provide us with 3.5 MHz through 50 MHz. We occasionally use an Heath SB220, and have used an Icom IC-4KL in the past.

Other station details

Links to various descriptions of the station details:

• A great circle map of the globe centered in EN42.
• Rotator tricks lists our "standards" for wiring the rotators.
• An event calendar lists operating events and indicates which ones the station will be active on.
• More to come ...