OK1HWU

 

The equipment consists of one base transceiver for HF and VHF and one purely HF base-station transceiver. My dad and I use an ICOM 7400 as an exciter for our QRO HF DXing and for VHF Dxing and VHF contests. The other transceiver that we have more or less as a back-up radio is a KENWOOD TS570D. Our Heathkit SB-220 linear amplifier delivers a little under 1 kW on SSB on the upper HF bands but is now awaiting a major repair work.

As for antennas, we have a three element tri-bander Yagi for 20, 15, 10 mtrs, and a rotatable dipole for the three WARC bands. Recently, we have set up a G5RV for 160, 80 and 40 mtrs. All antennas are on a 14-meter tower that we erected in the fall of 1999. The tower has been designed by OK1WU, i.e. my dad.

As for 2 mtrs, it is primarily me who is VHF active, esp. when it comes to contesting. Thanks to the technical support of my dad OK1WU and Franta OK1WC, I am able to use either one or two PA0MS Yagi antennas simultaneously, each of which has its own little tower.  The IC7400 serves the purpose of being the main rig for contests and DX operations. It gives us 100 watts on HF and VHF as well. As a backup, we have an old FT290RII with a small 20-watt amplifier, which we had been using as our main rig up until 1996.

In the past VHF 2006 contest, the dream of running two small amps with two antennas simultaneously came true. Although the max amount of power was 60 watts out of one and 80 watts out of the other amplifier, it was still a breakthrough in my contesting activities and a new experience. I am hoping to push 90 watts out of each amp during the A1 (Marconi Memorial) contest.