Inside the Ham Shack

The old idea of an amateur radio station being located in a small structure thrown together out back is about  as outdated as the notion of passing a code test in order to get your license. 

(Man, sometimes, I wish the code test was still required...).

In modern times, actually, many hams have put together carefully curated rooms full of rigs, accessories and gadgets. Some of these facilities are highly stylized.

My friend Ed's, for instance, is amazing.

Going inside the ham shack of K4KYN...not so much. Carved out of a corner of a bonus room that once served as a teenager sleepover haven, the K4 corner is a few inches away from where the air hockey table once rested. Or was it the pool table?

These days, in the down-downstairs of our home, there are two storage areas, various shelves, an old-style entertainment center and a comfy couch we've owned for years. In other words, the room is anything but carefully curated.

In the only part of the room where a desk could be placed, I set up a home office for use during COVID when we were all working from home. It was during the same era that I got back into the ham radio hobby and began setting up the K4KYN station.

When I first got back on the air and I posted the first picture of my "shack" on my bio page, a seasoned ham teased me that it was the neatest ham radio desk he had ever seen.

Of course, the truth is, I was just getting started. There was barely anything on the desk.

Over the course of nearly five years, I have added a few awards, a big screen monitor (and a shelf to house it) and several files and QSL cards. These days, the K4KYN ham shack now has a "lived in" look that would probably impress the selfsame veteran ham.

Recently, I added a new accessory to the ham shack. Hanging on the wall behind my rig—and just below the old K4KYN license plate that I told you about recently—is a cross stitch done by my sister. She gave it to me recently.  

When we think of our dad and things he did while we were growing up, ham radio played a big role. Thus, it is a connection for both of us to our childhood.

So, in the past five years since I returned to the hobby, I have occasionally given her updates on my activities. A couple years ago, during the holidays, I gave her and her daughters a tour of the shack. During that tour, I found a cache of my dad's old QSL cards and I gave one to her for a keepsake.

And I think in that moment she got the idea to produce this nice little accent piece.

Fast-forward a few years. The artwork now has a very prominent place on the wall. I'll see it whenever I'm operating the station. 

And when I do, I'll smile and be appreciative of this very thoughtful gift.

JG