Hi Folks!
I did something a bit different when remodeling our home over the last year.
My shack is on the third floor and one wall is next to one of my towers (The
45 ft ROHN 25 + 20 ft x 0.375 inch masting)
.
Design considerations for this new shack/office of about 10.5 ft x 13 ft
included short coaxes, a big operating desk (10.5 ft x 3.5 ft) for radios
and computers for bands from 160m through 13cm, a side desk for laptops,
printers and paperwork, shelving over the operating position for secondary
equipment, more shelving for "stuff", a sitting areas for chatting, reading
or TV watching, a sunny window, a whiteboard and bookshelves for books.
Since we were having the house insulated with 1.5 inch foam board and
Tyvek(TM),
I made a "sandwich" of 0.75 inch plywood and had it covered by the siding
guys with aluminum trim flashing in a color that matched the rest of the
trim. Since this is WAAAAY up high on the house, next to the tower, it
feeds directly into my shack/office.
On the inside I filled the space behind the "sandwich" with 2 x 4 studs, one
next to the other and then finished with a 0.375 inch aluminum plate
terminating plate on which is mounted my PolyPhaser and other brands of
lightning arrestors. From there, the coaxial jumpers go across a "cable
tray" of white shelf angles to the individual radios, amps or switches.
Since I was drilling holes for my coaxes to enter through the wall, I also
fed through a 2 inch insulated ground braid that is bonded to the tower, the
plate, the operating equipment in the shack and the ground rods at the base
of the tower. There are six ground rods over the 37 ft of wall either
provided by me, the electricians or various utilities, all of which are
bonded together. In order to pass the ground braid outside through its
hole, I just drilled a 1 inch hole through the flashing, the plywood
sandwich, the 2 x 4s and the aluminum plate and then curved the braid as it
went through the wall.. I use Hilti spray foam from Home Depot to seal up
the holes on each side. It pops out when I replace the coax.
The outside holes can be simply filled later and covered with a piece of
matching trim flashing to make it look pretty.
While I was at it, I had the electricians put in two separate 20A 120V
circuits for the normal wall outlets (one on the 3rd floor sub-panel and the
other directly to the basement main panel) and recessed lighting for the
shack. I used low voltage (four) lamps over the operating desk and one
standard one for the sitting area each set on a dimmer. I paid attention to
the depth of my operating desk and had the line of four lamps placed over
the area in front of the radios, not over the radios. Its dimmer/switch is
next to the operating position. The main dimmer/switch is by the door per
NEC. There is also a wire mold with two 20A 120V circuits in the back of
the main part of the operating desk mounted fairly high. Each of the dozen+
outlets alternate circuits. Finally, in each corner of the main operating
desk, there is a 20A 220V dedicated circuit outlet for amplifiers.
One point about the room lighting and power. You'll note that there are two
sources of power for each, at least one directly from the basement main
panel and the rest from the third floor sub-panel. This is so that the room
is never dark or without a working outlet. Two circuits per room (minimum)
is something I started when doing my initial rewiring of our home 21 years
ago and it has proven to be wise many times when a breaker is popped. Also,
all circuits are at least 20A...yes #12 costs more, but the labor is the
same, just do it.
There is a smoke detector in the shack and a combination smoke/CO2 detector
right out in the hallway immediately outside the door.
I had a second AC duct run in to the shack which in ABSOLUTELY the minimum.
I could use more AC because other the combination of the computers alone in
a top floor southwestern exposure makes it a bit warm. The only window is a
large wide double-hung that is only 18 inches off the floor, so it gets
opened fairly often even in November, to vent extra heat. A light washable
curtain is a big help here to cut down afternoon light.
The last feature of the shack is the rotatable mast going through the roof!
It goes through a 4 inch PVC roof vent and has two three inch stretched
(carefully!) over the 3.5 inch mast. The corner of the L shaped desk is
near the center of the house and just a few feet to the rear of the
centerline. The back part of the house was raised up to be a 1:12 full
dormer. It is almost flat and has my office shack and my son's room below
it in the rear of our house!
The very nearly flat roof makes it VERY DESIRABLE to work on antennas! I go
out the door of my office/shack into the hallway, open the window next to
the tower, step onto the tower (YES! I wear a harness with rabbit ears for
safety...I'm a BSA Climbing Director!) and climb up 10 feet onto my roof! I
can then continue up the tower or clip into a safety cable going to my 3.5
inch 0.25 wall rotatable aluminum mast to work on things over there!
The mast goes through two inside mounted bearings (one wood plane bearing
and one vertical load bearing to a rotator mounted on the floor under the
big desk. All of this is tied into the rafters, and the two walls joined in
the corner of the office/shack. The mast sticks up 13 ft above my 32 ft
house. There is enough room to spin an old Cushcraft 3219 (no comments
please, it is not what I use!) and clear the tower!
For those who think that I live in the country, on a big lot, WRONG! It is
a 40 x 100 ft lot with a drive up the side to a garage in the back corner.
I have two 15 ft towers with 20 ft of masting each holding up two ends of a
V-dipole which starts on a 12 ft fiberglass sidearm on the ROHN 25 over my
drive. Later I'll add another support on the vent pipe to make it into a
rectangle. There is also an Alumna T140 tower on a home-made tilt base of
two 16 ft 8x8s along with a long mast on top.
Right now I'm stripping the other (45ft ROHN 25 + 20 ft x 0.375 inch mast)
tower on the side of the house of an old set of antennas and I'm getting
ready to start replacing just about everything except the 10 element 50 MHz
KLM yagi which is staying on the ROHN tower.
For thirty years I've wanted a shack like this and while I'm still playing
with the exact antenna configuration and operating position(s), I feel very
blessed with a patient wife, Nancy, N2FWI and to be able to "play" with
these neat toys in an decent environment. I work from home as a Systems
Engineer for AT&T Labs, so I spend A WHOLE LOT OF TIME in this room, so
while it will probably be another year before I'm reasonably operational on
most bands, but there's plenty of aluminum and steel under our deck, and
along side and in the garage. After all, until these basics are done,
carpet or finished flooring is not a good idea anyway.
All in all, it sure beats long coaxes (with their costs in $ and db) to a
dank basement!
Now if I only could have this on a hilltop!
:-)
73 & Thanks!
Gordon Beattie
w2ttt@arrl.net
201.314.6964
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of K8RI on Tower talk
Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 12:23 PM
To: TOWERTALK@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Things to consider while my house is being built
> You can still put in some sleeves through the rim joists. This will keep
I actually think this is a better way to go. Grounded metal box with face
that opends on the outside, put your bulkhead here, and easy entrance into
the hours. The underground concuit curves upward wnd into the bottom of the
box. I wish I had gone this route instead of going through the basement
wall.
Roger Halstead (K8RI and ARRL 40 year Life Member)
N833R - World's oldest Debonair CD-2
www.rogerhalstead.com
> the sleeve further above grade. If you plan on having wrap porches make
> sure you get the sleeves or your access into the house prior to the deck
> being installed.
>
> Make sure you run lots of outlets and 220 for an amp or future amp.
>
> I wish I had installed a couple of ground rods in the basement floor prior
> to the pour.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Wolfert, William R.
> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 8:33 AM
> To: 'towertalk@contesting.com'
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Things to consider while my house is being built
>
> Larry
> A shame your walls are poured. The easiest way to get outside cabling
> inside
> (to the basement) is to have the cement contractor put (a) some PVC
> sleeves
> in the concrete forms and then pour the wall. Your builder does this for
> the
> drain line and water service. A next consideration is to maybe use one of
> your basement windows. Most builders install at least 2. Code may vary,
> but
> in Central Ohio only 1 is required. I noticed you've received many
> excellent
> suggestions. If your shack is going to be in the basement, then prior to
> the
> floor being poured, drive a few ground rods in your select location and
> you
> have a short ground connection for the shack. A general electrical
> suggestion is to have your whole house wired with #12. It's a very small
> amount extra for wire but it helps your lighting circuits to not dim every
> time the heater, dryer or A/C kicks on. And of course the separate breaker
> box suggested should be on its own feed from the meter. Not a sub-box off
> the main panel. Regardless of the size of your shack (read amount of boxes
> to power) the separate panel is a good idea. Lastly to amplify something
> already suggested, whatever size conduit you plan to bury, MAKE IT BIGGER.
> If you think you need 3", go with 4. If 4", go with 6. Only when you pull
> the cables will you curse the fact that you didn't make the pipe larger.
> The
> extra initial cost of the pipe will dwarf compared to the aggravation you
> will face with a "hard pull". Good Luck.
>
> 73s
>
> Bill WR8K
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: W9NTK [mailto:w9ntk@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 8:08 PM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Things to consider while my house is being built
>
> Hello,
>
> Besides figuring out a way to bring in the coax and rotator cables, what
> other things should I consider (from a ham radio perspective) while my
> house
> is being built? My builder poured the basement walls today.
>
> I've been inactive for quite some time now, but plan to get on the air
> again
> in the next year or two.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Larry
> KS9J
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
> any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
> any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
> any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
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