Seeing the big picture

The new setup
Old setup
 On Friday my new P3 SVGA card came in this cool add on allows me to move the band scope that is on the P3 up to a large monitor. This has been an add on I had been looking forward to for sometime. The SVGA card from Elecraft fits into the P3 and took about 20 minutes to complete the installation. It was then
New P3 SVGA

time to give it a whirl. As a side note I kept a monitor that I was not using but knew I would use it some day. Well the day came when I needed a monitor for the SVGA it's great when I can reuse! The P3 was hooked back into K3 I then powered up the K3 and P3.......BUT the monitor was blank!!! Well lets reboot and try again.....NOTHING..........It them came to me go to the Elecraft site and update the P3's software. I did that and low and behold the monitor came to life with a great looking band scope! It sure is nice to have a scope up close and personal. Now Elecraft has plans to add mouse control, RTTY and CW decoding and more suggestions are piling in. When I added the new monitor I had to do some moving of equipment on the desk. The LP-100A, MFJ 1026 and the LDG switches all found a new home. The monitor was mounted on
moveable arm so when not in use I can move it out of the way.  When the final position for all the equipment
P3 apart and ready for SVGA
 was found it was better than the old setup. All my ham equipment is on the same level and easier too view and adjust. Also it was due time to label all the cables and wires at the back of the ham gear. There has been many a time when I have removed cables to only have to re-connect them later that day and sure as shootin somehow I messed it up  with some very strange results. I pulled out the P-Touch label machine and tagged all the cables. It was a job that was long overdue and had to be done.  Now that I plan on making the Elecraft K2 portable I will be removing it from the desk along with all the hookup cables. Once I am done my portable op's the K2 can be hooked back into the desk position via the
SVGA installed

labeled cables. My next project is to investigate logging software, radio control software and propagation software. I have been using a hodge-podge  of software and I want to clean up the software end of my ham hobby so now it is time to look at some of the free ham software out there....any suggestions would be great!
View on the monitor
Monitor out of the way

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

4 Responses to “Seeing the big picture”

  • Byron N6NUL:

    Very nice looking shack. Thanks for posting the pictures.

    73, Byron N6NUL

  • Mike VE3WDM:

    Thanks Byron and thanks for stopping by the blog and taking the time to comment.

  • Byron N6NUL:

    Well, Mike, I just finished my own KPA100/KAT100 pair Sunday, so any photo that includes my chosen radio gets my vote!

    More seriously, I like the very clean look and layout of your operating position. Really excellent. I hope to achieve as clean a setup in my new shack.

    Byron N6NUL

  • Mike Ve3wdm:

    Good morning Byron, it’s great to have the KPA100 and KAT100 remote mounted it allows you to just pick up and go with the K2.
    Mike
    VE3WDM

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