Here is how I have re-arrange my amateur radio station W5EHS. I wanted more room for the new screen as I needed the screen to be low enough I didn’t have to bend my neck too much to see it. I did have it on top of the computer but it was far too high.
I just finished a contact on 7.035 MHz AKA the 40 meter band. I used a digital mode called PSK-31 where I type on the keyboard. The computer and its sound card do all the conversion to what the transceiver in the middle needs to transmit the signal. I am running about 30 watts of power output.With that I can reach anywhere in the world depending on conditions like sunspots and time of day.
I just read that in 2012 an all time high record (709,500 – QST pg 79, March 2013) was set for the total number of licensed amateur radio operators in the USA.This technical hobby is still alive and well and some of it is due to the digital communications I am using here. After 44 years I still love the hobby.
The keyboard in the picture was very cheap (probably $15.00) and was being affected by the radio waves. I am now back to using my RF proof keyboard with no more extra characters being printed.This keyboard made my text typing look very “fat fingered” with multiple extra letters. I switched it just after I took the picture.Nothing is ever permanent for long so it is certainly going to change again. A lot of the fun is experimenting with the station equipment.
That’s the Linux OS computer to the far right I call “Sandbox” I really enjoy using it to run ham radio programs and running different setups.