[ICOM] IC7000 Remote Options?

[Dave Holford]

At my previous location I ran an IC7000 and TS-450s from a ground floor 
shack with a good solid copper wire to a long ground rod just 8 feet 
away. the antennas were between 40 and 60 feet away fed with coax. 
Everything worked fine. (My only RF complaint was from a neighbor who 
saw my tower up there before I unpacked the rigs!). I operated with this 
system for some 25 years.

At my present location I run the same rigs, but from a second floor 
shack with no direct ground - other than the coax shields.
The antennas are fed through a 12 foot run of coax, connected to a 
second run of either 20 feet or 30 feet. All RF grounding is at the 
antennas. The vertical has eight radials plus a ground rod and the 
inverted "L" has a ground rod at the feed point and three long 
counterpoises. I have no problems using these antennas throughout the HF 
bands. The big change I made in the new location with no local ground 
was to use remote antenna tuners - ICOM AH4s - at the antenna 
feedpoints. The AH4 matches both antennas nicely so the feedline sees a 
match at both ends and everything runs smoothly.

There is, of course, some safety grounding through the power supply and 
house wiring, but I know exactly how the house wiring is configured and 
the way it meanders around I would not consider using it as anything 
other than a safety ground; especially since it is routed through the 
wall directly behind my XYLs computer.

Dave, VE3HLU


>>>> On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 11:45:08AM -0500, Rossbach, David wrote:
>>>>> Hello, I have an IC7000 that I am currently using with the remote head
>>>>> and a Heil PSE6-IC headset with footpedal. I have the radio connected to
>>>>> a Mac via USB CI-V and utilize the MacLoggerDX program.
>>>>>
>>>>> The setup is currently on the first floor in my living room and Im
>>>>> wanting to move it upstairs into my office.. Both of the rooms up and
>>>>> down share a common outside wall.
>>>>>
>>>>> I was thinking of trying to get a cable run done with the 16foot OPC1444
>>>>> remote head cable and then extend the USB CI-V cable via a 16 foot 3.5mm
>>>>> cable. I realize that the capabilities of USB drop after 16foot and 16
>>>>> foot is really pushing the limits of the wall run distance.
>>>>>
>>>>> So I was wondering if anyone on the list has ran into something similar
>>>>> and wanted to know what you decided to use to remote your IC7000 to
>>>>> another room in the house?
>>>>>
>>>>> I suppose another option would be to use a program like HRD to remote
>>>>> the radio, but not sure how the audio and foot pedals etc would all work
>>>>> without purchasing additional hardware?