Our “Ham Shack” – starting over

Originally posted Aug 12, 2016 on old blog.

Originally, our Son claimed the back bedroom when we moved into this house, but he was near grown and it wasn’t too long before he moved out on his own, found work, married, and started a family. Eventually, I converted that room into a Home Office, and it stayed that way for many years – finally converted into a kind of “guest room”. Eventually, it simply became a kind of storage room, so I moved the old oak credenza and 4 drawer file cabinet back in. Last year, it became our “Ham Shack” in name only. Oh, there are radios crammed in there on the desk, but that was just cramming more “stuff” in on top of what was already there.

Now, it is finally time to set things up as a more proper “Ham Shack”, but I’m afraid that means pulling *everything* out first – then putting those things related to Radio operation first. I will be re-visiting the Shack’s RF ground early on as “Step #1” after everything is out of there.

This weekend, I plan to start building a “Ham Shack Desk Riser”, similar to one found on-line.  My design, while similar, will be made from Melamine White Shelf Board from our local Home Depot – and the layout will include risers inside the end pieces to provide more durability/strength, including plenty of additional risers to keep individual compartments relatively short, (to prevent sagging).  I have previously used Melamine to construct a workbench surface and “attic” in our shed and was very impressed by its durability.  In that project, I discovered that particular material is a bear to cut at home, so will go into Home Depot armed with an outline of each cut I want made on *their* setup.  Should come home with what equates to a “kit” that needs gluing, drilling, screwing, and edge finishing. 😉

Will try to update this entry as time passes.

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