Orange County CAF's: up to no good

LMFAO! We're not even at Terreux yet as it is only Wed! Talk'n about getting an early start?!

 

Lots of testosterone in the thread today.

 

You the man, I got my ham but have yet to set it up. Idk what antenna to get

 

If you want to just get a magmount antenna for your HAM, the one that @bjs045 Brian bought was very nice. I just don't know what model number it is? If you want a hard mount antenna, that is typically NOT a cheap route as most of the hard mount style antennas cost, typically at a minimum, of about $65... from what I remember about mine. But then again, in my case, I have many hard mount antennas for various setups as well as for my CB antennas.

Anyways, Brian showed me his antenna at the R&B just last year.

 

OK sweet yeah I need one, then I'm going to order that elbow you posted

 

If you guys ever need any help feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to help out!

 

Randy, put together my HAM setup when I buy it I'll repay you with some Carl's Jr

 

@WileECoyote What do you think about the firestik antennas? That's what I'm running on my truck. So far seems pretty good to me and was decently priced. I also run the 18' fire ring coax. Pretty cheap setup altogether. Paid about $60 for coax, spring and antenna.

 

Nothing like last second adventures. Gotta beef up my HAM game. No sense in having the license if I'm not ready to fully utilize it. Almost home at the moment. The sunset over the Sierras was outstanding a couple hrs ago. Even sweeter because of a successful recovery.

 

Tempting. I can scoot west to and through LA right now. No dinero for that at the moment. Thanks though.

 

@WileECoyote which of these would you get?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WKH00M/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_F79Myb9E273X5

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EG665FC/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_Jl-MybX3S7AR8

I already have the b-tech one. The other is smaller. I'm just not sure which is a better radio.

 

Posted a video for my submission to the Headstrong Off-road give-a-way, get in on this competition! !
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/headstrong-cash-give-a-way.472873/page-20#post-14361811

 

thanks man, now I'm kinda buzzed. That beer is so fucking good

 

LEGIT!

 

I'll talk with you at the bruery about this so I can also check out the inside of your truck to get an idea while you are there as well. Tomorrow is still an iffy situation. Feeling better, but STILL that slight congestion.

LOL!!! I JUST got back from getting some fastfood and while ordering:

worker: hi what would you like to order
me: *cough* hi *cough* I *cough* would like to *cough* Go *cough* d damn *cough* it *cough* sorr *cough* y

LMAO, after taking about 5-6min worth of time for ordering for something that would have taken HALF that time because I knew EXACTLY what I wanted just irritated the hell out of me, LOL!!! The cold air, not really that cold, but cold enough to aggrivate my breathing, just KILLS ME!!!

So yeah, I MAY or MAY NOT go even tomorrow. After this week though, I should be pretty golden. Not 100%, but much better than I have been the past few weeks now, LOL!!! What a F'N ride it's been so far, LOL!!!

I don't mind the Firestik's at all. I have a 4ft "old school" non-tunable one and a tunable one. I use the non-tunable because I get pretty decent SWR from it, which is a fairly typical 1.5-1.7 and that doesn't bother me at all. Again, pretty typical numbers and NOTHING to be concerned about. Would I like to have a 1.2 or a 1.3 or even lower than those? Yes, but I'm not gonna cry with typical either.

NOW, with that said, I also have a 4ft Francis, which is my actual main go to because I like how light weight it is compared to my 4ft Firestik. The Firestik is WAAAY MORE rugged than the Francis, but I just like the overall light weight of the Francis antenna because of the skinnya$$ mount that is my original mount for my CB. The Firestik is just a weee bit on the heavy side for that particular mount! Other than that, I would probably go to my Firestik and even more so, the tunable one. Btw, the Francis is also a non-tunable and I don't care to "shave down" the antenna to tune it AND the Francis antennas are pretty much guaranteed to give you a 1.5 or better SWR. I measured right around those numbers, but no real difference, as far as I'm concerned, a major change, compared to the non-tunable Firestik!!!

Regarding spring, GET the stainless steel Heavy Duty spring if you already don't have one?! Again, the Firestik's tend to be a bit heavier than say, the Francis I was just talking about. Now with THAT said, it also keeps your antenna from beating the SHI* out of the side of your truck!!! LOL!!! In short, it won't sway back/forth and side to side as much. You say you have a spring, but do you have the medium or heavy duty? The medium Firestik spring will handle up to a 4ft antenna, according to them, but I would get the heavy duty even for a 4ft antenna.

?????????????????????????????? Ed, I just realized, I thought you said you no longer had a CB setup??? I mean, that was quite a while back when I talked to you about it, but even then, I don't ever remember you mentioning anything about a CB setup that you thought about possibly setting up? What CB radio did you end up buying? Cool beans if you did!!!

 

My experiences with the Yaesu's so far is that you canNOT transmit outside of the HAM 2m band range!!! That is, you are LOCKED to the HAM 2m freq band range of 144-148MHz and anything outside of that freq spectrum it YELLS and SCREAMS at you!!! Now, I believe you can hack them, but I typically don't hack my radios and you can easily BRICK a radio by trying to hack one. Even a more experienced person will BRICK a radio!!! I've talked to some HAM's that have actually done it, LOL!!! So, not saying it can't be done, just know that you are always running that risk when hacking a radio!!!

Btw, I have the Yaesu FT-1900R in my truck, which is the model below that one that you linked. The only thing I don't like about it and has been a main complaint is that the squelch is NOT all that great and I can surely attest to that statement/complaint! I'm pretty sure that the 2900 has the same similar issue. ALSO, for my 1900, running the max 55W is NOT a recommended thing to do unless you have to because the thermal shutdown circuitry will shutdown the radio to keep from going in to a Chernobyl scenario or China Syndrome, LOL!!! In either case, even IF the chassis could handle the highest wattage, I still never recommend using the highest wattage output UNLESS absolutely needed and only short burst transmissions to ensure that the radio stays fairly cool.

So, with that said about my 1900 and, most likely about the 2900, just giving you my personal experiences, what I have read, and just honestly passing that along. Also, with that said, I still like my 1900 because it is easy to setup once you get the hang of the key combinations and works very well with the 2x exceptions stated.

Hope this helps bro???!!! Also, sorry for my LONG posts man!!! I'm doing my best to make them shorter, LOL!!! NOT doing a very good job at the "doing my best", LMAO!!!

 

BRO, I've been telling you, LOL!!! But, in all honesty Greg, I need to get more involved as well. I know the equipment pretty good, concepts, everything, the use/experience, NOT so much! I can hold my own if I have to, but I could still get waaay more use out of the features involved. I'll help you setup your Baofeng HT for you to connect to a repeater.

PM coming your way, okay!!!

BTW, very commendable with what you and @Mach375 Shane did. Shane, you and I have LOTS to talk about HAM if you don't mind some day???