I agree with all you say. Put forth the effort and money in the
beginning, so you don't have to keep adding on later as your needs
expand. Use EMT conduit, not Romex. And have dedicated circuits for the
shack, not shared with other uses around the house. I wired my shack
using 12 AWG wires and 20 Amp outlets and breakers. I don't know why I
would skimp and use 14 AWG and 15 amp outlets and breakers. Buy or
borrow a copy of NEC so you know what meets code, even if you pay a
licensed electrician to do the work Many licensed electricians may be
accustomed to only doing the minimum fast, cheap and dirty Romex style
wiring most often used in new residential construction these days, and
are unfamiliar with the codes for any other type of installation. Using
3/4 inch EMT conduit is hardly any more expensive or difficult than
using 1/2 inch, and you may wish you had the greater wire capacity if
you go for the smaller conduit. It may be perfectly legal and code
compliant for you to do all the grunt work yourself, meaning the conduit
bending and wire pulling, and then have the connections to the outlets
and breakers done by the licensed electrician.
Figure out how many outlets you need for your ham station and multiply
by 2 or better 3. have a professonal electrician come in and give you
separate 15 A circuits, one for each outlet box of 4 sockets. you may
need a new subpanel; so be it. if you can do professional work then
do it yourself. if shack in basement have the outlets, circuits,
panels etc. all at least 4 ft. above floor. while he is there, even
if you don't have an amp, have him put in at least one dedicated 240
v. line 30 A. you never know when you may change ur mind and get a
big boy pair of 3cx800s. you will be all ready when you get ur dream
amp.
run ur heater off one of the 15 A outlet boxes & a couple of lamps or
other light duty stuff off it. rigs off another one or two
circuits. spread the loads around the circuits. Make him use conduit.
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