Norcal Spotted and BS Thread

+1 on the NMO mount 1/4 wave in the middle of the roof.

I was travelling with some Vegas guys and I was having a clear-as-a-bell simplex conversation with a non-mobile operator who happened to pick up our chatting on his scanner. I carried his signal on and on into the mountains even after the Vegas guys with other antenna configs lost the signal.

The antennas aren't tunable length like CB antennas, so you just install it, make sure the cable outer casing of the coax has a good ground while the center core has infinite resistance to ground, plug it in and it works. Cut the cable to the right length and solder on a good coax connector. None of this 18' long coax stuff. A short cable to a well grounded antenna is a good cable.

The repeater splits can be a little tough to figure out, so you'll want to spend a little time reading up on that and PL/CTSS tones. More complex than you can fit in a simple TW post. But basically, until you've programmed in the specific split and PL tones for a specific repeater into your transciever you'll only be able to listen on it.

Ssimplest to stay in the simplex bands which I can post up but don't recall off the top of my head.

 

Obviously everyone remembers 146.520 the 2m simplex calling frequency.

On simplex we used to use 20 khz spacing between channels but now it seems that folks are moving towards 15 khz spacing.

146.415
146.430
146.445
146.460
146.475
146.490
146.505
146.520
146.535
146.550
146.565
146.580
146.595

147.405
147.420
147.435
147.450
147.465
147.480
147.495
147.510
147.525
147.540
147.555
147.570
147.585

 

Also, you can get a nice rain cap to affix to an NMO mount if you want to remove your antenna. That's how I keep mine most of the time these days. The mount by itself without antenna or rain cap is NOT considered rain-proof. So you either want an antenna or a rain cap on it at all times.

 

Maxtrac 4 inch spindles for sell only 300 ! Someone pick them pm for my number and I'll send you pics ! Modesto ca

 

Anyone have stock spindles for a 2nd Gen prerunner layin around ?! Pm I'll buy them !

 

I'll trade you my stock spindles and a 6 pack for the maxtracs haha jk

 

Haha sold !

 

saw that earlier, pure gold.

 

Some are pretty priceless.

 

Lol

 

Yesterday we were talking of HAM 2m antennas 1/4 wave roof mount.

This is my antenna which is basically a 1/4 wave with a spring mount and a small coil. It's still 0 gain at 2m and 70 cm.

The main thing is - it's on a spring mount with makes it less likely to be damaged or to transmit damage through to the roof of the truck while off-roading.

http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-000567

 

What's up everybody? I Just wanted to say happy Veterans Day to all my fellow NorCal Tacoma driving veterans. It was a pleasure to serve with so many good men. I hope you take time to Honor the ones we have lost and celebrate the ones still around. Hope everyone's day is a good one.

 

Who here has taken the class/test for HAM? I've been looking into it a little bit. Would be useful as on any given weekend in the summer I'm out of cell reception...

Also, there's a 150lb box from poly performance headed my way for the 1st gen

 

It's not too hard. Much easier if you've already been exposed to the basics of electrical circuits. If I say "E=IR" will you already know what I mean? In that case you're probably already half way there.

But even still it's not to hard for any determined individual to knock out with a little of study and rote memorization.

There's a lot of 2m repeaters in norther california. But keep in mind that like cell service, VHF tends to be line-of-sight. So a lot of places that don't have cell service won't have great VHF reception either.

Depends on your goals. If you want to be able to contact "someone" HAM is a great choice and a lot of fun. It's also great for trail communications between a convoy of trucks when off roading, and much better than CB in terms of range and signal quality for that purpose.

But if you need to be able to contact "someone in particular" from an arbitrary remote location a better choice may be to get a sat phone.

 

Anyone looking for a set of 3rd Gen 4runner 16" wheels and tires? I have a set of 4 sitting in my shop 25 bucks a wheel. I also have a set of 1st Gen 15's for 25 each. Let me know if your interested I'm cleaning house!

 

I'll definitely have to do some studying. But trail communications is one interest, the other is that I have a place at lake pillsbury, only chance to get a call out is on hull. Couple people up there have landlines and sat phones but the main purpose would be to get ahold of the fire department or any available if something went south while I was up there by myself.

 

You have a LOT more choices once you're installing a rig in a house vs. mobile operation. For one thing, you can set up a monster antenna, you can set up a small private repeater up on a nearby ridge if you're down at the bottom of a canyon, etc...