ND2E is back on the air...The new cabling is in, tested and the backup tranceiver is on line. I managed to take a few photos to show the extent of the changes I've made. I still need to run the tie from the patio Ufer to the house ground tie point. I should get that done shortly if it doesn't rain.
The FT-857 is up and running, I still have the LDG AT-897 automated tuner that I originally bought to go with this radio since it is not too tolerant of my antenna tuning capabilities with a manual tuner. I firmly bolted the radio to the shelving because it is a light radio and I was always knocking it with my elbow. The junk on the right is the PSK interface, a Nomic with an additional transformer to isolate the receive section (I think it was the receive...I would have to look at my schematic again to make sure.) The meter below the radio is a 1mA bare movement connected to the aux meter output of the radio. On Rx it is the S-meter, on Tx it can be either the ALC or Pwr meters. It is much easier to read than the dots on the display.
I have reloaded my laptop with Ham Radio Delux and DxKeeper packages and they have been checked out and operate properly. I was able to download my logbook from eQSL.cc - that was really nifty. So I again have it resident not only on DxKeeper but also on HRD. I've made a couple contacts to make sure everything was connected. So hopefully I will get some time next week to exercise the radio and check out the bands. I did a quick test on 10 Meters and was not able to see that I was getting any power out to the antenna so I need to check that out.
The ground bus is mounted on the basement wall. On the left is the low voltage protector for the rotator. 
There are 5 open positions for use with the SGC coupler that I will use to conect the radio to the yet unfinished short vertical antenna-the one with the 2M j-pole on top. To the right of the LV protector are three Polyphasor surge suppressors, two on the front, one on the back to save space. That should leave enough room for a couple more suppressors as I expand the number of antenna connections. I still need to run the fourth Heliax co-ax that will be the spare.
Below the bus is the 4-inch PVC pipe that I lined the hole with. It is held in place with white silicone caulking and Great Stuff insulating foam. The exterior side of the penetration is protected by a large 
plastic electrical box I bought at Lowes.
Rather than trenching and running the coax under ground, I decided to go aerial. So, mounted above the box is a short piece of right angle perforated steel that anchors the house end of the flying coax. I am using black cable ties to hold the coax in position but there has to be a better long term solution since even black cable ties will not last long in sunlight.
I still need to finish the vertical and design some sort of 6 Meter antenna since we should be seeing some sun spots within the next year.
According to my XYL, the antenna farm is getting a little out of hand with things that keep growing there
. Barely visible on the right rear is the vertical while the front left is the HexBeam. I am standing downhill from the antenna farm and my eye level is roughly the base of the Hexbeam mast. In the foreground on the right is one of the ground anchors for the mast. It is a 6-foot 4x4 sunk 3 feet into the ground and stabilized with a bag of concrete. Hopefully it is a bit more stable than the 4-foot piece of re-bar that it replaced. I am hoping that this arrangement will not fail during the winter wind storms that I am sure will occur.
I really need a close up of the guy ends so that you can see the way the guy ends are tied off.
To tension the guys, I use a set of fabric rachet tie downs to put strain on the guys then tie off the guy ends with knots and wire rope anchors.
the upper segments of the guys are 20-foot pieces of wire rope which the next time I bring the antenna down for service will become an inverted V antenna. I will use the legs that will give me a NE-SW pattern. the 40-foot total length will not be resonant on any ham band but should be useable on 6 Meters as some sort of double Zepp.
