Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Has anyone had issues with RF interference when using a fridge? I have an indel-b behind the seat in my Xtra cab and I believe I just found it as the source of some problems.

 

Ferrite beads on the power leads to the fridge, and going into the radios will go a long long way.

 

Yes.

It's either being radiated, or induced into electrical. With the problem occurring, remove your antenna. If prob goes away, it's radiating. If prob stays, it's getting in on the DC side.

If DC side you can install a line filter or capacitor on the DC leads of the fridge.

Can write more, when i at a computer.

 

http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-csb-combo

 

Where on the power leads. My fridge is in the back of the bed with # 10 going to it. Ferrite beads at the end of the fridge cord? At the back of the bed?

Thanks

 

I tend to put them close to the device. Use Zip Ties to keep the beads from sliding around.

 

Anyone have examples or experience swapping out the stock FM radio antenna for a ham or scanner antenna? I realized I never listen to broadcast radio anymore, and I'm not one to drill my roof to mount an antenna because I'm in and out of parking garages enough that it isn't practical. My preference is to run a scanner antenna in the stock location and the ham antenna off a Pelfreybilt mount on the bedrail.

Suggestions or ideas for how to make use of the stock antenna location (ideally with a stock-ish look)?

 

If it's just for a scanner couldn't you just use the stock antenna?

 

http://sti-co.com/covert/

 

Id just put a 102" SS whip up i use my 160m dipole fed with LL as a RX antenna for my SDRPlay....

 

I'm pretty new at this so I don't know the answer to that. If I can, that's even better (assuming I can find an adapter).

Ok that's some pretty cool stuff right there. I'm going to go broke building the best antenna farm no one has ever seen...

You're talking to a guy who just passed his tech license test yesterday. Go easy on me!

 

Very cool!

Congrats!

He might. It really depends on on how well the antenna can hear on the given freq he plans to listen to.

 

Putting together some power basics for my base station install.

Battery Charger, fuse block, in-line-power meter.

10-AWG for battery
12-AWG for 50 Watt mobile radio
16-AWG for battery charger.

Aluminum case. 96-amp hour deep cycle battery in a marine battery box.


Test fitting in the case. Going to glue in some painted plywood for backing.


Ran out of funds for the project on the wing, so took a trip to wally world for some 2-conductor-12-foot 16 AWG lamp cord (all copper), cut the ends off and doubled up the wires when attaching contacts for power poles. It's a good-fast-cheap way to get heavier gauge wiring.

 

I would LOVE to make this my mobile rig..but I like to play with knobs too much. Not a good thing while Im driving haha.

 

This weekend I went and checked the ground for both lights. One side wasn't getting a good ground, so I added a ground wire to the frame. Now both sides are properly grounded. No change in interference, so an on going issue. Waiting to here back from the rep that said he wanted to troubleshoot this issue. I figure he was busy with Expo West, hopefully I hear from him this week.

I just installed a 12v plug with a mono price.com 4 port USB charger (2.4 amps each) and there was no RFI from it. At least none detected via my HT with the SQL open.

I have been monitoring .52 in my truck recently. Apparently there are a few HAMs in the Phoenix area that treat it as their private net. Kind of annoying, they should find a different open freq to live on.

 

QUESTION

Who all here is running the Relentless Fab or CBI antenna mounts and using it for HAM. What antennas are you guys using and what kind of connectors? I think the mounts are drilled 3/8 to support a standard CB mount. I guess I could use a 3/8 NMO connector if that's the case.

Also post up pictures of your relentless fab/CBI setups please!

 

I'll be following this with interest. It's unfortunate just how little metal there is in the back 1/3 of our trucks. I've often considered pulling the bed, and lining the bottom of it with aluminum tape to create a better ground plane.

The other concern I've had, which has stopped me from moving my HF antenna to the rear corner is the propagation you get when your antenna is at the corner of the vehicle.

 

I'm looking at installing a mobile unit in my Taco. The Yaesu FT-8900R seems like a good option especially for the price. Thoughts?

 

Here's a write up that @cheuer posted a few pages back of his antenna install on the relentless bracket.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ham-radio-antenna-install.432754/
I also used the Relentless bracket. I drilled the 3/8" hole out to 3/4" to mount my Comet SBB5 Antenna.

 

I have owned the dual band version of this for almost exactly 10 years now and really like it. If there's one flaw, it's that the buttons aren't back lit at all, so it can be a little difficult to operate manually (Ie, not using pre-programmed memory channels) in the dark. (Easy to fix with a single red led puddle light...)

I'm not however sure how useful 10m FM and 6m FM are. In 10 years I've made exactly zero contacts in either of those bands, FM. (SSB sure.) If your area has active 10M or 6M repeaters then by all means, or if the FT-8900r is only a little bit more expensive than the FT-8800r but I wouldn't pay a large premium for a feature that is unlikely to receive a lot of use.



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