About my Station

Greetings! My name is Tom Schaefer. I am an amateur radio operator licensed as NY4I. I live on Madeira Beach, Florida directly on Boca Ciega Bay.

Gear:

I operate an assortment of modes and radios. I have a youthful predilection towards Icom gear but have branched out as the need arose. When I first started out in ham radio as a kid, I really could not afford much. I depended upon the kindness of friends to loan me gear. I think because of that, now that I am fortunate enough to be able to afford whatever I want (radio-wise) I tend to collect stuff—although I have tempered that lately (I mean how much stuff does one person need). But I do like to loan stuff out to others (especially newer hams) so I can help as I was helped.

I am rebuilding my station at our recently purchased house. I am focusing on Satellite modes so VHF/UHF rules the day. I do plan on putting something up for HF of course too.

Current Stations include:

HF:

• Elecraft K3 (including P3 Panadapter, KPA500 amplifier and KAT50 tuner)
• microHam MKII keyer and Digital interface
• Begali Stealth Limited paddle(#42)
• RadioSport Headset

Other HF Gear on the bench include  Icom 7300, Drake C Line (Twins), Ten-Tec Century 21, and Flex 3000.

For Satellite work, I use the following:

• Icom 9100 HF/VHF/UHF Transceiver
• SSB Preamps
• M2 LEO Pack 2m and 440 beams
• Yaesu Az/El Rotor
• Green Heron Engineering Az/El rotor controller

I also have some various equipment on loan to the St. Pete ARC (SPARC) for their remote station. This includes:

• Elecraft K3 (with P3 Panadapter)
• Alpha 9500 Auto Tune Amplifier
• SPE 1.3 FA HF Amplifier
• Green Heron Rotor Controller
• RemoteRig remote radio interface
• Various switching gear (LAN to RS232 switch, etc)

Other equipment just laying around but getting use at various times includes:

• Icom ID51A DSTAR HT (2m/440)
• Icom ID31A DSTAR (440)
• Icom ID-1 1200 Mhz DSTAR Radio
• Icom IC2100 2m rig
• Kenwood D72A APRS HT
• Kenwood D71A APRS HT
• Kenwood D710A APRS Mobile
• Icom IC92AD DSTAR HT (2m/440)
• Yaesu FT11 2m HT
• Kantronics KPC 3 (2 of these)
• Dunestar HF Triplexer (20/15/10)