The Shack – The Back Room – The Antenna Farm – 12V Power Distribution
Last Updated on 1/27/2026
I earned my Technician Class Amateur Radio license in 1995 and then upgraded to a General Class license in 2007. I do not have a home station for two reasons: 1) My first 20 years as a ham were during my military career. I moved around a lot and didn’t want to invest time and energy into a station that I’d have to remove too soon. My first mobile station was actually on a bicycle! 2) Now that I’m settled, my neighborhood is filled with noisy power lines and my home is below most terrain. Since being mobile has been my shtick for over 30 years, I decided that it’s easier to simply relocate my entire station to a quiet operating position or to higher terrain than it is to mitigate the shortcomings of my home environment.
My car packs a lot of capability, even in daily driven form, which is my ongoing goal. I’ll warn you now that this is probably my longest and most comprehensive page to read! I try to stay below 1000 words in my articles, but that’s impossible here. I have A LOT going on in my mobile ham shack. So, grab a drink and prepare to stay for a while! Imagine that I’m giving you a detailed tour of a multi-rig home station, but everything is packed into a small car! 😉
My primary radio is an Icom ID-5100A
D-STAR radio. It features dual receivers and can even serve as a cross-band repeater while I’m on foot with a handheld transceiver (HT). I mounted it in a variety of locations before settling on a center stack of radio displays that’s shown in the photograph above. Visibility is great and the touchscreen makes selecting functions or surfing through menus a breeze! Click here to learn more about my solutions to mounting my various displays.
I use a Yaesu FT-891 HF all-mode transceiver for long-distance communication. The display is slightly larger and easier to read than that of the FT-857D it replaced. This photo shows the display mounted with an MFJ-1924 screwdriver antenna controller. My FT-891 is connected to an RF switch that gives me a choice between a dedicated 6m loop antenna, an ATAS-120A, my hitch-mounted Scorpion SA-680 mobile HF antenna, or a dummy load. My choice depends on which antennas I have mounted on the car at the time. This setup is fantastic for Parks on the Air and the Virginia QSO Party.
Later, I became interested in VHF/UHF contesting. ARRL’s “Limited Rover” category works within the 6m, 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm bands; or 50, 144, 222, and 432 MHz. Bringing my old FT-857D out of retirement was easily the least expensive way for me to get into VHF/UHF contesting. It can serve as a back-up radio for either of my other two radios (except for D-STAR capability). This photo also shows its transverter function, a feature that almost no other mobile rigs have!
Speaking of transverter functions, I use a 222 MHz 50W transverter, manufactured and sold by Q5Signal.com. It accepts 28-29.999 MHz as an IF from my FT-857D and then outputs 222-223.999 MHz at 50W while using any mode. I use an antenna switch to select between my tri-band vertical antenna or a 10-element Yagi (when mounted). I’ve found repeaters within a modest drive of my home. Apparently, a lot of 1.25m repeaters are linked via Allstar, which facilitates a daily “Boredom Breaker“ net at noon central time.
Let’s face it: Most of our friends, family, and acquaintances are NOT into ham radio. When convoying in separate cars, it’s fairly convenient to just use cell phones for short discussions. For three or more cars, the ability to have group discussions or convey directions via radio is fantastic! That’s where the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) shines. I have a Midland MXT275 with an “all-in-handset” control head and 15W transmit power. I have a second MXT275 that I can mount in my wife’s or daughter’s car when we travel in separate vehicles. The second radio saw heavy use when I helped move my daughter home from Florida.
I discovered Radioddity’s line of Citizen’s Band (CB) radios and chose their CS-47 AM/FM CB for its compact size. I mounted the body to a storage cubby and hang the microphone on the door. Why have a CB? I’ve told people, “Once you have a ham license, a CB is just a CB.” Still, I think monitoring the CB band is great for times when I’m stuck in traffic and want to know why. Truck drivers often report the cause of the delay and the affected lane of travel. Other than that, my CB is usually off.
Here’s a piece of communications equipment that doesn’t require a license at all: Meshtastic. It’s a relatively new form of open source communications that allows users to send or receive text messages in the 900 MHz band without the need for cellular networks. It can even exchange encrypted messages within private groups! The catch? Meshtastic is probably great in urban areas with a lot of nodes; it’s probably even better in areas where friends have established a robust network of devices. There are only two users in my immediate area; so, my results have been less than impressive. Still, it’s a alleged to be an emerging technology with its best days still to come. Most devices are handheld. I chose to mount an Atlavox beacon solar node to my car so that it’s always close by, powered, and perhaps useful to others.
This last piece of communications gear is often overlooked and is not usually found on passenger cars: a WeBoost Drive Reach cellular signal booster. The WeBoost uses an outside antenna to bring cellular signals inside for amplification, and then retransmits through a smaller antenna inside the car. It does the opposite with signals from my phone. It can make the difference between no signal in the car and a good signal in some areas. Even in my populated area, the WeBoost has proven very useful for maintaining my connection with the D-STAR network when driving in low-lying areas with intermittent 4G/5G coverage.
No shack is complete without a computer or tablet. I have both. They’re both great for logging, data modes, call sign look-ups, and rig control. Some say that only a budget computer is required for most ham-related software. Still, I chose a Core i7 processor with plenty of RAM because I frequently run several programs at once. I’ve simplified cable management by putting a USB hub in the trunk and then ran a single USB cable to the computer. With the hub, I’m able to connect two Digirig interfaces and an RT Systems cable, all without COM port conflicts. I’ve marked my “primary” USB port with a silver Sharpie so that I plug the hub into the same port every time.
The “front end” of the station consists almost entirely of remote control heads, microphones, speakers, computers… the operator interface. However, what you’ve seen so far cannot function without the two areas that I have not yet shared. The “brains” of my mobile station are in the trunk, shown in this photo, an area that I refer to as “The Back Room.” I’ve shared details about how I built the electronics panel as well as the components in and below the trunk a separate page. I’ve also created a video which shows most interior components of my shack. Click here to watch the video.
My “antenna farm“ is the second area that I have not yet shared. Feel free to learn more about my growing list of antennas on this page. There, you will see how I cover frequencies ranging from 3.5 MHz to 450 MHz and beyond using FM, SSB, and digital modes. Some have said that all of these antennas have blown my “Stealth GTI” appearance. It has occurred to me that perhaps my setup is so “stealth” that it’s becoming difficult to see a hot hatch beneath my communications station. 😉 I’ve always used “stealth” to describe my car as being more than it appears. In this case, it’s hard to imagine this communications station being as quick as it is… 400 horsepower-quick! 🙂
The equipment list below may show details that are not evident above, namely the 4kWh lithium battery and its DC-DC charger, both of which enable me to run my transceivers for extended periods while parked. I’ve shared details about the battery on my 12V power distribution page. I have addressed the physical attributes of the electronics panel on a separate page, too. All are complex enough to warrant their own pages. Feel free to ask any questions about my rather unusual setup. See a video presentation on my YouTube channel.
Calling Mars,
Scott, KE4WMF
EQUIPMENT QUICK LIST:
ELECTRONICS
Icom ID-5100A D-STAR/FM VHF/UHF 50W Transceiver
Yaesu FT-891 HF All Mode 100W Transceiver w/Digrig DR-891
Yaesu FT-857D HF/VHF/UHF All Mode 100W Transceiver w/Digirig Mobile
Q5 Signal 222 MHz All Mode 50W Transverter (10m in, 1.25m out)
Midland MXT-275 MicroMobile 15W GMRS Transceiver
Radioddity CS-47 AM/FM Citizen’s Band Transceiver
Mirage B-5018-G 160W Amplifier w/Remote Control for 2m
Toptek Communications PA-80U 80W Amplifier for 70cm
Atlavox Beacon Solar Meshtastic Node (915 MHz)
WeBoost Cellular Signal Booster
Raspberry Pi DV-Mega D-STAR Access Point w/D-STAR Commander Image
Green Heron RT-21DC Rotator Controller (powered by 20VDC)
Heil Pro7 Headset (busy times while parked only)
ANTENNAS
Electro-Magwave NMO Combination Mount w/GPS Antenna
Variety of Multi-band Antennas (depending on my goals)
Yaesu ATAS-120A Active Tuning Antenna System
M2Inc Horizontal Loop Antennas for 6m, 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm (SSB/FT8 Ops)*
Directive Systems “Rover Special” Yagis for 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm*
PAR Electronics SM-50 Stressed Moxon for 6m*
5-ft Schedule 80 Mast w/Yaesu G-450ADC Rotator and GS-065 Thrust Bearing*
Scorpion SA-680BW Mobile HF Antenna w/Caphat*
MFJ-1924 Screwdriver Antenna Controller
Comet Diplexers for Antenna Sharing
*Occasional Mounting Only
POWER DISTRIBUTION
X2Power SLI48AGMDP Premium Group 48/H6 AGM Battery
APRS World APO3 Voltage-Controlled Switch
WattCycle 12.8V 314Ah/4019Wh LiFePo4 Battery w/200-Amp BMS
Orion-XS 12|12-50A 700W DC-DC Charger by Victron Energy Systems
Orion-Tr 12|24-15A 360W DC-DC Charger (used as 20V power supply)
Blue Smart IP67 Charger by Victron Energy Systems
LiTime 3000W Pure Sine Wave Voltage Inverter (self-limited to 2000W)
