One of the first orders of business has been getting the IC-9700 back on the air. The transceiver has been on the shelf since last summer when we moved. It anchors my satellite station which includes the M2 LEO-Pack antennas, a G-5500 azimuth and elevation rotor, and an S.A.T. - a small self-contained antenna rotator and radio controller.

I’ll have to wait a month or two for better weather to get the satellite antennas up. In the meantime, I’ll install my tri-band vertical on the back of the house using a 30-foot mast this week. This will permit me to resume using the 9700 for local repeater activity as well as to see if I’ll be able to access any of the 1.2G repeaters in Indianapolis, about 45 miles away. I’m not optimistic, but you never know, and being linked via 23cm with a larger community is a high priority.

The vertical might not cut it, but I also have Yagi’s for all three bands that I plan to install on another rotor - when the weather improves.

Other work this week includes re-organizing the shack to improve the layout. I also need a better plan for getting the feed-lines thru the wall. The approach I’ve used for the HF cables isn’t suitable for the higher frequencies that will be used and the entry point will need to change. After that comes more grounding and bonding work along with better lightning protection…

Lots of work ahead. I need a list.