Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Sweet.. I thought it shouldn't be a problem but with these, I guess anything could happen. I didn't want any of the other circuits going through there to affect power but we will see. Thanks

 

Fuse block if you have ot

 

Antenna theory;

I have just attended my first class of my course to get certified as an amature radio operator.

I want to get mobile in my truck and have been looking into the details of an install for a while.

I have helped on marine radio installs in the past and have seen how important a good ground plane is for most antenna types in the vhf and uhf ranges.

I am happy put a hole in my trucks roof. Most of the locals I have talked to swear by using a 5/8 wave length aerial fender or hood mounted.

I am inclined to go with a 1/4 wave on an nmo mount in the centre of my roof of my 2014 access cab truck.

Any advice or comments are appreciated.

 

Why wouldn't you go with a 5/8 wave on your roof?

I posted a pic a while back showing the radiation pattern 1/4 vs 1/2 vs 5/8, which can be a major consideration depending on the terrain you are typically in.

The locals know best.

good luck on the class.

 

If he offroads like I do, a 5/8 wave on the roof is both very tall (going to hit everything) and typically quite a bit more expensive to replace when it does inevitably get torn up.

1/4 wave NMO for 2m or 70cm antennas sell for ~ $9 including shipping. I've yet to see a 5/8 wave or dual band that's as effective for less than $50 each. And none of them are as robust/simple.

 

I recently replaced the little "Pod" antenna for 70cm with a 1/4 wave whip from TRAM. It works better, and is only about 1/2" longer overall.

 

While I wasn't thinking of farming... should I be planning separate antenna for vhf and uhf?

 

Like Chip said, locals know best. And depends on what terrain you wheel in.

Here is what I can tell you. I love my dual band Larsen 2/70B. It's about $70 1/2 wave on 2M, and 5/8 collinear on 70CM. NMO mount 34" tall, open coil. Bomber tough.

I've talked over 100 miles with it.







I liked the antenna so much, I bought a second one and a NMO base station adapter kit (ground plane radial). I can hit mountain top repeaters in a 40 mile radius with 2W on a 20' pole.

 

Local is a relative term. Last year I drove from my home in Vancouver to Alibama and many points in between. I might be headed up to Alaska in the fall. I spend time on these trips in remote locations.

 

That was me, blew the protection diode when I was jump starting my crawler. Had battery issues that night and jump started it 14 times. Of course I forgot to turn the radio off on the last jump start. Was an easy fix after opening up the box in order to solder the new one in.

I should have taking pictures of the repair because I didn't desolder the old diode completly out. What I did was cut out the actual diode itself leaving the posts intact. I then soldered the new diode to the existing posts. Reason I did it that way was because the replacement diode that I found was not the exact fit, the posts were bigger in diameter. I would have needed to enlarge the circuit board a bit to allow the size of the new diode to fit. Plus there was gobs of solder where the

$43 PL259 USA Made PL-259 Improved Double Shielded RG-58u for FireStik Antenna K-8A 18-Foot Single CB/Ham Coax Cable

PL259 mount connected at the board, I didn't want to deal with that.

 

only if you're using 1/4 wave whips. They don't really make dual band whips like this. That's one of the big advantages of the Larsen @Crom is talking about. One antenna to handle both bands.

I'm looking at getting a second set of antennas for the roof that are 1/2 wave no-ground plane whips (which happen to work even better when they DO have a ground plain.) for a bit more gain. However most of the time I'm either talking to someone within a few miles of me, or via a repeater, at which point the 1/4 wave does the trick.

One quote I use a lot with the guys who work for me is... Don't let Perfection get in the way of good enough... Which is to say it's easy to worry about what's best, when you quite possibly don't need the "best".

 

Honestly, whatever you choose, as long as it's well built it should work. To your other question: "how important a good ground plane is for most antenna types in the vhf and uhf ranges."

It's very important. I like the 1/2 wave antenna as it's most tolerant when proper ground plane is not available.

Also if you consider placement on your truck, the reference point of center line of roof is best. In the illustration below, a mount on the center of the cars trunk is -2.8 dB, that's almost 3 db.

That's an equivelant loss of almost 50% in power.

 

And this is why I drilled three 3/4" holes down the middle of my roof.....
Also along the same lines, this is why the 70cm is in the middle. Trying to keep the two 2m antennas as close to, or greater than 1/2 wave apart as possible to help prevent interaction. They're just short of 1/2 wave from center to center on the NMO mounts.

 

My new all band antenna...

 

I dunno about all band, lots of Microwave stuff which is cool. I'd love that tower though.... Would you be willing to drive to to Cedar Creek, TX for me?

 

Ha The only time I get in to Texas is on 40m/20m lol..

 

Well played sir

 

Figured I should sub here. I'm interested in getting involved with Ham radio, but man is it pricey. I would like a unit that has a detachable face and have the ability to monitor aviation frequencies. I know just about nothing on the topic of Ham's at this point. I don't know if all radios have the capability of monitoring aviation frequencies or not, but that would be a necessity if I go through with this. Also, is it illegal to transmit on those frequencies? I'm a licensed pilot and being able to pick up a clearance and copy it down before starting up the plane would be very nice. I don't see how transmitting from a mobile ham unit would be any different than using a handheld aviation radio.

 

Welcome, getting your license is cheap and there are some radios out there that are cheap.

I can't speak for many radios, only the ones I have. My Yeasu 8800R can receive aviation bands, but cannot transmit on them. Ham radios are regulated different than aviation radios, FCC part 97. They can only be sold to transmit on ham bands. However, many are modded to Rx and Tx on different bands. Also, the Chinese radios don't seem to completely concern them with FCC regulations.

I think I have heard a Beofang, $49+, can Tx outside of ham bands and would be a good cheap HT to get into the hobbie. Especially if it meets your immediate needs.

 

I am on a college student budget, so price is a driving factor. Whatever I get has to have a detachable face because I don't know where I could mount a full unit in my truck. I'd love to have the faceplate up in the headliner . It seems like the detachable face drives the prices up substantially. @Lars pointed me toward this unit http://www.amazon.com/TYT-TYT-TH-9800-Two-Way-Radio/dp/B00I53VUEY. Can all radios that RX aviation bands be modded to TX on those bands?