Station Automation
As a part of my long-term station plan, I wanted automatic band switching. So, when W9RE posted to the SMC reflector that he was selling his relay matrix, I jumped at the opportunity. NO9Z and I had previously gathered the parts to build KK1L’s 2×6 system. However, our friend who made the board was not able to load the Gerber drill file that KK1L had provided. NO9Z reamed his holes by hand. I wasn’t so patient; so, the W9RE box was a great opportunity. That liberated about two dozen nice American Zettler relays, though. These will be great for building other components in my switching system.
Sarah suggested this morning that maybe I should take it easy today since I looked beat. So, I started populating the KK1L controller board so I can use it to drive the W9RE switches. One of the greatest purchases I’ve made since becoming a ham has been my Weller WES51 temperature-controlled solder iron. I breezed through several hundred joints this afternoon no problem. In the last month, I’ve used two different loaner solder irons while on the road, both of which cost less than $10 and it shows. There’s nothing like having a well-cared-for tool that’s perfect for the job.
I’m missing a few parts. So, a trip to RadioShack is in order in the next few days. But, I hope to have this running in time for the Sprint. I have a lot of coax jumpers to make, which implies that I will be buying some connectors. I have hobbies burning my cash flow from every direction these days… I suppose I should try get one of the hobbies to start paying for itself.
