SDRZone 2017 Heyday

Here you can find a true SDR only site for exploring and intriguing Hams.

See live Shack SMeter:http://www.myqsx.net/ni0z/

Affiliations - ARRL , W0ERH,OMISS # 7871

Background: I have a degree in electronics, was a communications repairman in the Army Signal Corp many years ago and a currently a long time Information Technology & Cybersecurity Professional. I have obtained an Extra Class license and still enjoy learning something new every day. There is no substitute for experience in this hobby and I find the challenges worth the while and very rewarding in terms of enjoyment.

HAM Activities: Much of my time currently is spent building out my station, working on SDRs and SDR software reviews for SDRZone.com

Local to the KC Area, check out Larry's List 

I have come a long way on building out my station and believe it or not, the picture below was a from quite a few versions ago. The key goal learned through observation and monitoring was to minimize the number of times the wires touch. The baker racks you see to the rear and right in my station have been a life saver!  Also, grounding my station with a real grounding network running through the yard very significantly lowered my noise floor from almost S8 to under S4.

Hex Beam on a GME Roof Tower - survives storms very nicely!

In the beginning, there was a desk - October 2011

I like to explore the airwaves, listen, make new friends, rag chew and see just how far away I can hit given the limits of my antennas. Longest DX to date is South Africa long path at 15,890 miles.

The picture below shows and Anan 100D monitoring 5 bands (left) while a Flex 5000 is used for operations.

HAM Gear: My main rig these days is the Expert Electronics MB1, Soon Anan 7000DLE MKII Black along with an Elad FDM DUO, and QS1R for skimming.  I run an Elecraft KPA 500 and KPA 100 (For DUO) Amp, LP-100A Wattmeter and a  Elecraft KAT 500 Antenna Tunner as my main rig. A G5RV runs straight to the second receiver as a dedicated receive antenas. The primary Reciever is serviced by a K4KIO Hex Beam on a GME Roof Tower at 35 feet atop the house. This setup allows for operation on most bands. I also runVHF/UHFwith a ICOM IC-9700, A Diamond ZDM-X6000A, and a dual bander Dr Fong Antenna. 

Below is a past wiring diagram showing the high-level connectivity of the equipment and Antennas. This will soon be updated to reflect the new rebuild of the shack and current radios.  Little less complicated these days. :)

The NI0Z SDRZone shack computer, Hamzilla2, is a powerful 14x2 core 3.ghz. The machine insides are pictured below. You can read and learn more about choosing and building your own PC at sdrzone.com.  I build my own systems for high performance to handle the load i toss at them with ease and longevity. Full specs and a recent benchmark below.

As far as SDR's go, they were really my driving passion to get into Ham Radio.  The Flex 5000A was truly a facinating multi-dimensional radio and my first SDR. The ability to tweak, tinker and learn with it truly offered me many hours of enjoyment. I moved on to the Anan series of radios which I still love and enjoy.  The MB1 now takes the SDR out of the Experimentation phases and offers users a full featured world class SDR based transciever in a very attractive tradition transciever package.

Software Defined Audio: I have been integrating some audio processing equipment to improve the sound of my transmit and receive audio fidelity.   Its been an addiction in itself setting up the equitment and analyzing the audio.  Audio is the ham radio experience in large part and so exploring it in depth and how it differs between radios has been very enlightening. 

This is the rebuild underway, long ways to go still!

Audio Processing up top, monitors will be added for it.

Just Me: While I love technology I also love and enjoy nature as well. camping, hiking are two activities I find peace in and I wish there were more time in life to enjoy them more. Perhaps I can tie it all together someday if I have the good fortune of being able to retire. I once dabbled in professional photography and had the great fun of being able to shoot landscape and stills for a few small independent films and even a few weddings at my pinacal, along with a few merit awards with the PPA. You can find some of my images on the net if you look. I have included several photos below for the 30 miles area around where I live.I am also a former passionate amature astronomer having delved into the deep skies, CCD imaging from a backyard robotic observatory working to dscoverasteroids and at present still enjoy general observing with a more traditional computerized telescope.

Thanks for visiting my profile and I look forward to meeting you on the airwaves!

e-mail: myfirstname at AM4L.com

NI0Z formerly general class KD0PKO licensed on 8/22/2011 & extra class AC0XO licensed on10/12/2011