STATION
RADIOS — ANTENNAS — SHACK — OPERATING STYLE
ON THE AIR | RIGS 7 ANTENNAS 9 AMP FL2100B SHACK NOMINAL
Radios
RadioRole
Yaesu FTDX10 Main Main shack rig. Runs 20m/40m digital modes most of the day, switches to 3.916 MHz SSB every night for the local Freewheelers & Trivia net. CyberRig log →
Icom 718 Backup Offline backup rig with an external tuner. Earned my first DXCC on FT8 during COVID, paired with a since-retired attic antenna. Attic antenna notes →
Xiegu G90 QRP QRP travel/portable rig. Lives in a custom ammo-can enclosure with its own LiFePO4 battery box for backyard operating. Go box log → · Portable ops →
TYT TH-9800 ×2 Mobile Dual-band mobile rigs — one in the truck, one in the shack. The shack unit runs EchoLink, VARA FM Winlink, and the WY6Y-7 APRS digi/IGate. APRS digi log →
Yaesu FT70D Handheld VHF/UHF handheld for backyard portable ops.
BTECH UV-PRO Handheld Handheld with a built-in KISS TNC for on-the-go packet and Winlink. Setup log → · Email over air →
Yaesu FL2100B Amp HF linear amplifier, inherited from a Silent Key estate. My first amp. Runs on 110 V for now, pairs with the FTDX10 when the band needs a push. Not a daily driver for remote digi; more of a “when I mean it” box.
Amp, tuner & interfaces
GearRole
Yaesu FL2100B Amp Tube linear for the FTDX10. SK-estate pickup, first amp in the shack. Same unit listed under Radios so it does not get lost in the list.
MFJ-994BRT Remote tuner Remote autotuner on the primary HF path. Windowline from the 80m all-band doublet hits a 1:1 balun, then this box, then long coax into the attic. Bias-T can feed it from a battery pack for backyard portable. Also used with REMOTE TUNE from CyberRig (~20 W AM carrier) when matching the external system. Portable log →
FTDX10 internal ATU Built-in Radio’s own antenna tuner for antennas that do not need the remote box. Separate control in CyberRig from the MFJ REMOTE TUNE path.
DigiRig Interface Sound card + PTT/CAT path for the shack TH-9800: EchoLink, Direwolf APRS digi/IGate (WY6Y-7), VARA FM Winlink. (SignaLink swap for this radio is on the bench list, not live yet.)
RTL-SDR Blog V4 RX Wideband receiver dongle on the shack PC. Feeds CyberSDR WSPR on the 133' EFHW and doubles as the CyberRig panadapter when borrowed. CyberSDR → · CyberRig →
Antennas
  • 80m all-band doublet Primary HF — 110ft end-to-end out in the woods, ~93ft windowline into a 1:1 balun, then the MFJ-994BRT remote tuner and a long coax run to the shack. "A real barn burner." Recommended by elmer KX0U. Portable with the doublet →
  • Emcomm III-B end-fed (Chameleon) — usually paired with the FTDX10; also travel, camping, and Winter Field Day. One of the two switched permanent HF antennas. Tree deploy → · WFD →
  • 133' EFHW — flat-top in a tall backyard tree, primarily feeding the RTL-SDR for CyberSDR, with backup-HF duty if the doublet ever goes down. CyberSDR log →
  • 2m/70cm J-pole (attic) — storm-weather backup VHF/UHF down to the study. Why attic first →
  • Tram dual-band base antenna Primary VHF/UHF — outdoor on the pergola, ~30ft AGL. Shack TH-9800: EchoLink, APRS digi, local repeaters. WY6Y-7 →
  • Hidden vertical — 17ft whip + radials on a tree sapling, deliberately inconspicuous, feed into the study aux shack (G90 / CW practice).
  • Mag loop — home-built, 40m–10m, Johnson 154-9 air variable. Build log →
  • Portable kit — 17ft whip, homebrew 49:1 EFHW, Wolf River coil + whip option, and a novelty 40m dipole built from a popsicle stick and lamp cord.
  • Remote antenna switch — Pi Zero selects Doublet / Emcomm / Aux from the shack (idle more often since the amp era shifted how the HF path is parked). Switch log →
From the Log

Longer write-ups live on the build log. A few station-related ones:

Shack

Main shack is up in the attic (the nerdcave), with a small window AC unit keeping it livable and a proper single-point ground system outside: bonded to the service entrance, #6 copper up to a bus bar, every piece of gear grounded, lightning arrestors on coax entering the room. HF path through the FL2100B when needed; FTDX10 as the everyday exciter. Most operating is remote via VNC into the shack PC (~95%), including digi modes and remote SSB.

A second shack in the study handles CW practice and the G90 on the hidden vertical in comfort. The backyard is for ammo-can portable ops (often with the dog). Truck carries a TH-9800 and the rest of the mobile kit.

Operating Style

Self-described "ALL MODES" — SSB, FT8, PSK31, Winlink, and increasingly FreeDV, often more than one at a time. Net Control for the MORI Tech Net on the Aeronautical Center Amateur Radio Club repeater (146.985 MHz, PL 141.3) out of Oklahoma City. Still working on CW — actively learning, not there yet. Elmer: KX0U.

QSL

Logs go up to QRZ and LOTW after every session. Direct QSL cards are always welcome — no return postage needed. Full details on my QRZ.com page.

ON THE AIR 73 DE WY6Y
WY6Y
Amateur Radio Station · Stephen Houser · Edmond, Oklahoma
QSL CARD — CONFIRMING TWO-WAY RADIO CONTACT