I've heard people say the basement is the best place anyway. Being below
ground tends to suppress some TVI, etc., undesired RF radiation from the
gear...you want all the radiation to come from the antennas!
One local did regret having his station in the basement, though...no
windows...often felt cooped up, didn't know if it was day or night,
snowing or sunshine, etc. I very much enjoy having windows on three
sides of my hamshack...can watch the sun come up and go down. Other than
that, being downstairs is probably a plus. Also, closer to "ground."
I've heard people comment that having your station 20' above "ground" is
not helpful.
If you're building the house from scratch, consider having the builders
install ground rods below the basement concrete slab. I've heard of this
being done. Sounds like a slick idea to me...don't know if there are
negatives.
Power etc. requirements depend on just how big a station it'll be --
multi/multi requirements are considerably more than a single op using one
(or even two) radios. But, if you can, treat yourself...have your
electrician doing the initial installation do the "heavy up" right at the
start and give yourself plenty of capacity. When I had an electrician
here once doing other work I asked him to run a power strip around two
sides of the hamshack room, making every 5th plug 220. Sometimes I wish
I'd had it be every third. I hate it when the power cable from an amp
won't qiute reach to the nearest outlet!
Don't make the mistake (my opinion) of putting the ham desk against the
wall or in a corner -- worst case is having it be a custom made
built-in against a wall. Best approach is to have plenty of room behind
the desk to walk around back and plug and unplug stuff. I've even
speculated the ultimate may be to put the desk (or big conference table)
smack in the middle of the room, especially if it's a basement room or
something with no windows, so windows, view, etc. aren't a
consideration. A 20x20 room should be a luxurious amount of space for a
single op and probably even for a multi-single type operation. Obviously
you don't "need" that much room, but it's nice to have!
73 - Rich Boyd, KE3Q
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