NW WA Meet / BS Thread

1/4" FTW! Or drive smarter than Will does.

 

I use to have free reign over a machine shop...CNc plasma...water jet....but I never had the time to make my own.

Unless there is someone local here who can help me out..heh...if not I'm just going to have to pony up

 

Welcome back Steven! Looking forward to adding you to the list. Where do you plan on living?

 

I am also tempted with a CB....what are you guys running? I think Will had a Wilson antenna? I saw a few guys had firestiks as well? Any recommendations?

 

From what I learned a cb is only as good as its antenna and coax, so I went firestik and 18' of coax w the firering... Then chose a cb Jus based on size due to where I could fit it... I suggest firestik, they know there stuff, I mean they have been doin cb stuff for over 30 years! And I have an swr meter for proper tuning.

 

David, nice work on all the photos!!!! Bravo!!!

So.... What's next? Jeverich, I know u want us to do somn up closer Ur way, lets set somn up, I know there was a bunch of guys lookin for a snow run??? I don't know many places, I heard mt baker?

 

Wherever it is, lets keep it to Sunday. I'm a slave to Saturday overtime for the foreseeable future.

 

Thanks!

My truck gets here on the 29th! Woooot! Though I am not sure when the rest of my crap gets here....hopefully around the same time ( had to unload all the extra gear from the truck because the shipping guys are known to jack stuff).

I would love to try a snow run!

 

Baker has waaaay too much snow lol

 

Steel bridge for a snow run, we can go all the way to wanachee lake

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Steel_Bridge

 

Looks badass, way too far for me though lol.

 

I'm down, looks awesome, hmm wonder what I could drop off that?

 

Yes, get one! It makes trail runs so much easier, and it's a lot more fun when you can talk to everyone.
I prefer the 4' Wilson flex antenna I have. It's about as thin as my regular antenna, and I can just about bend it in half. The firestiks are thick and need a spring to let them bend.
Don't worry about coax length, I did some reading and the old tale of needing it to be such and such length is a myth. Just have good connections and grounds.

I don't like Sunday trips for snow, unless we cut the day way short, as in have a plan to start turning trucks around at 1pm. If you stay out much longer, someone finds a way to fall in a ditch and it adds X hours to the trip and getting to work the next day is hell.

I think that's where I was at with the NW Overland. Looked like a good spot.

 

I have normal Walkie talkies .... But that's only good for one other truck...or if other guys have em....and the range sucks. So CB here I come!

I would prefer Saturday but Sunday works as well

 

Coax length is very important with CB's! It has to do with matching the wavelength and will affect SWR's

 

I am looking at the Wilson lil wil....gets good reviews, good price, and comes with the coax cable.

 

No antenna will beat the reception you get from a good old fashioned whip antenna mounted on a flat surface - preferably roof. I didn't want to drill my roof so I mounted the Wilson 1000 to a toolbox.

Firesticks are great because they are shorter and look cool. They aren't as flexible as the whip and generally do not perform as well, but it really would not be a concern on the trail. A Firestick mounted poorly still gets you reception. Hell I didn't even ground the toolbox on our last outing but I still had 2.3 SWR across all channels and it sounded fine on the trail.

When my Lil Wil was mounted on the roof, I could sometimes pick up conversations 15 miles down the highway.

 

Have you tried reading this yet?
Or this?
Or here?

And another:

 

Thanks! I am not really sure yet, my family and friends all live in Oly and Lacey so thinking more in that direction from Ft. Lewis. I grew up in Lacey and loved it. Any good suggestions?

Man im stoked to go back home!