{"id":6,"date":"2026-10-28T00:05:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T00:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/k0axx.net\/?page_id=6"},"modified":"2026-10-28T00:05:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T00:05:27","slug":"station","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/k0axx.net\/?page_id=6","title":{"rendered":"The K0AXX Station"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATION NOTEBOOK \/ EM20VJ<\/p>

The station centers on HF DX, VHF\/UHF weak-signal operation and RF engineering. This page separates equipment on hand from antenna-system ideas under development. Descriptions are a planning snapshot, not a claim that every proposed configuration is installed or on the air.<\/p>

Operating coverage<\/h2>
Band group<\/th>Interests and system direction<\/th>Notes<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
160\u201310 m HF<\/td>Wire antennas, DX, Field Day, practical vertical arrays<\/td>Emphasis on antenna efficiency and low-angle HF radiation<\/td><\/tr>
50 MHz \/ 6 m<\/td>Sporadic-E, FT8, CW, SSB, meteor scatter<\/td>Directional Yagi development and path awareness<\/td><\/tr>
144 & 222 MHz<\/td>Weak-signal terrestrial, meteor scatter and EME experiments<\/td>Low-noise receive chains; antenna height and horizon evaluation<\/td><\/tr>
432 MHz<\/td>Terrestrial weak signal and contest operation<\/td>Directional Yagi and feed-system improvements<\/td><\/tr>
902 & 1296 MHz<\/td>Long-path terrestrial and microwave experimentation<\/td>Phased antennas, power dividers and feed-loss control<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>

Radio and IF equipment<\/h2>

Equipment currently available or used in station planning includes the Icom IC-7300, Kenwood TS-2000, Yaesu FT-857D, Yaesu FT-817 and Xiegu X6100. Transverters provide access to several UHF\/microwave bands. The FT-817 is particularly useful as a low-power IF platform for experimentation.<\/p>

Antennas and tower projects<\/h2>

The current station project includes a directional 6-meter Yagi, long-boom 2-meter and 222 MHz designs, a 19-element Cushcraft antenna for 432 MHz, and Directive Systems antennas under consideration for 902 and 1296 MHz. Mounting arrangements, heights and stack spacing remain subject to installation and testing.<\/p>

The installation uses a mixture of 7\/8-inch and 1\/2-inch hardline, flexible rotor-loop cable, coaxial RF relays and low-noise preamplifiers. At the higher UHF bands, small losses in connectors and jumpers deserve the same scrutiny as a major antenna change.<\/p>

Low-noise reception<\/h3>

Antenna-side preamplification, a well-chosen noise figure and careful transmit isolation are priorities. A high-gain LNA cannot recover signal-to-noise ratio already lost ahead of it.<\/p>

Read the RX guide →<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Transmit\/receive protection<\/h3>

Sequencing and coaxial switching protect costly preamps and transverters. Isolation requirements rise with amplifier power and frequency.<\/p>

Relay and sequencing article →<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Station pages and technical notes<\/h2>
01<\/span>

Antenna Fundamentals<\/a><\/h3>

Wavelength, polarization and installation<\/p><\/article>

02<\/span>

Feed-Line Loss<\/a><\/h3>

Loss in dB, power budget and coax choices<\/p><\/article>

03<\/span>

Low-Noise RX Systems<\/a><\/h3>

LNA position, noise figure and gain<\/p><\/article>

04<\/span>

RF Relay Sequencing<\/a><\/h3>

PTT order, isolation and LNA protection<\/p><\/article>

05<\/span>

Power Dividers & Stacking<\/a><\/h3>

Amplitude, phase, spacing and verification<\/p><\/article>

06<\/span>

Terrestrial Path Planning<\/a><\/h3>

Radio horizon, terrain and atmospheric paths<\/p><\/article>

07<\/span>

VHF\/UHF Propagation<\/a><\/h3>

Sporadic-E, meteors, tropo and EME<\/p><\/article>

08<\/span>

Common-Mode & RFI<\/a><\/h3>

Chokes, shielding and measurement<\/p><\/article>

09<\/span>

Rover Operations<\/a><\/h3>

Field layout, IF choices and antenna systems<\/p><\/article>

10<\/span>

K5QE Presentations<\/a><\/h3>

Marshall Williams: original papers and slide decks<\/p><\/article>

11<\/span>

Field Day<\/a><\/h3>

Portable station planning and operating<\/p><\/article>

12<\/span>

HF Contesting<\/a><\/h3>

CW, SSB and digital operating strategy<\/p><\/article>

13<\/span>

VHF & Above Contesting<\/a><\/h3>

50 MHz through microwave grids<\/p><\/article><\/div>\n

Equipment, ratings and antenna details are engineering discussions and may change after measurement. Follow manufacturer data and RF safety requirements when constructing or operating equipment.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bands, equipment, antenna plans and operating philosophy for K0AXX in EM20VJ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/k0axx.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/k0axx.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/k0axx.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/k0axx.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/k0axx.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/k0axx.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/k0axx.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}