While I was in hospital for a month being treated for bowel cancer back in 2015, my DX/Contest station took two lightning strikes, which destroyed every bit of radio gear in my free-standing ham shack

The ham shack itself was damaged enough that repair was impractical, so I tore it down completely and decided to start over.

After 9 years of tending other issues on the farm, and with my cancer under control, it was time to build a new shack!

For 2024 I decided to build a new shack in a corner of our hay barn!

My new setup is simple, an old Icom mobile for the local repeaters, and a Kenwood TS-440s for HF work. The Kenwood, as before with my FT-1000, is controlled directly from my Linux computer, so I don't need to even look at the radio to operate it.

My computer is a quad core Intel running Linux Mint 21.3 for general use, logging, and radio control.

Since I'm no longer chasing paper or contest bragging rights, it just makes sense. I still have my wonderful CW Touch Keyer for my favorite Morse code contacts!

New Mobile Station

I have a dear friend and second cousin who like me is an amateur radio operator in a wheelchair. Several years ago a stroke rendered him unable to move from the neck down and he is now in a nursing home.

He had a 2000 Ford E150 at his house, sitting for over 7 years undriven. When he offered it to me last year, I set out to get it running and turn it into a mobile ham shack, so I could take it to his nursing home and let him play radio too!

I had the van, which I call The Beast, towed to my QTH and started repairs. $5000 and a lot of hard work later, I've got a great wheelchair van with HF, VHF, and UHF ready to start calling CQ!

Here's a look at the radios, mounted on the engine cover. The mount is set up so that it pops off the cover and will mount on the rear of the driver's side seat so my friend can see the displays

The radios, a cheap Chinese dual band for 2m and 70cm, and an Icom 718 for HF. You may also notice the screwdriver antenna controller. We're set from 80 to 6 meters!

The Tarheel screwdriver antenna is mounted to the drip rail behind the driver's window. It's on a linear actuator mount I built years ago, so I can retract it when going through drive-throughs or low hanging branches. Signal reports are great, and everything is working just wonderfully!