Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

I thought GPS used a separate antenna which was stuffed behind the radio, while the sharkfin was exclusively for satellite radio?

 

Depends on the year. Some shark fins have both, some don't.

 

I would be willing to bet that the impudence of the coax wouldn't match either, probably more struggle than it's worth. All told it took me about 3 hours including a dinner break.

 

@forty2 Hey bud, got my keystone faceplate in from shapeways. My cat5e keystone doesn't fit, I'm thinking it's just SLIGHTLY bigger. So, questions:

Reread your older post. Can you link the female to female adapter you had that fit that part you made?

Thanks! Wanting to make sure everything works before I drill into the plastic.

 

Follow up to my own post, this might be it.

AllSmartLife 5-Pack CAT3 Female to Female RJ11/RJ12 Keystone Phone Jack Inline Coupler - Black

https://www.amazon.com/AllSmartLife...5339898&sr=1-1&keywords=cat3+female+to+female

 

That's the one. I'm guessing when you said it doesn't fit you meant the plug to the keystone, not the keystone to the mount. Correct?

 

Correct. Proper item on order. Thanks for your help, I think this is going to look really clean.

 

Cool, you had me worried for a second there. Word of advice, make sure everything works before install. The first Cat3 passthrough I used didn't work and I took me longer then it should have to figure out that's why my mic was dead.

 

Hey @forty2 I managed to get my stuff from you all installed.

First up is my switch plate for the cubby. Love it.


Next is the plug. I really debated where I wanted to put this as I didn't want to stress the cable, stress the jack, and keep it where my leg wouldn't hit it. I felt around before I drilled, but there's still some support item to the right a little, so you'll notice the plug is a touch off center. It's not perfect, but it's pretty clean considering, I really like it. Thanks again for the item.

 

That location looks really clean. I think that's where I will end up installing the mic plug.

 

Hi @fajitas21, do you have a link or instructions on how you remove the structure you put the mic key on?
Thank Glenn

 

Ha I don't have any instructions because I did it in place.

Here's what I did:

1. Stuck my hand up in there to see if something was back there. It was mostly clear.
2. Made a mock up with a silver sharpie. The keystone needed 20mm x 25mm hole. That's about 1" by 1.25". I did mine portrait style if that helps.
3. I took a 1/4" drill bit and drilled the top right first. This is important because ther's a plastic piece behind it and I needed to drill it out. So since there wasn't a hole, the struture kept the bit from deflecting and I drilled through it.
4. Finish drilling all 4 corners to give your blade purchase.
5. Then I took a brand new blade on my utility knife and slowly and carefully cut out the hole. I left it a little small so I could work my way out to 20mmx25mm to ensure a tight fit.

You really don't need saws and power tools, a sharp utility knife easily cut that plastic and gave me lots of control.

You can see in the image above there's a little different color mark. That's where I went too low with the cuts and the silver was showing. I colored it in with black. You can easily tell in pictures but it's hard to see in real life.

 

Finnally pulled the trigger and got a proper mobile.

Drove over to HRO yesterday and picked up the Yaesu FTM-100DR

Right now the head is mounted on the panavise but my plan is to get a blend mount and put it above the mirror.

Got it connected to my diamond 770 antenna on a BAMF tailgate mount

Receiver is currently velcroe d under the passenger seat

 

Thanks for the information!

 

Subd
Study for my license now
Test on the 8th
handheld on its way

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks

Next set is figuring out what frequencies everyone uses in so cal

 

Use Repeater Book as a reference for repeaters.

 

Here's the California page from RepeaterBook: https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/index.php?state_id=06

You can narrow it down by city, freeway, band, radio feature (digital, etc.)...pretty neat. Since you'll have your Technician license the 2m (VHF) and 70cm (UHF) will probably be most useful. You have access to a couple more bands too, but if you're getting a handheld I assume it's going to be VHF/UHF only.

You can also forgo the repeater list completely and just scan through the band and stop when you hear someone talking. Do a google search for that frequency and "california" and you can you can usually find it. Save it in your radio's memory along with the callsign and maybe the network it's a part of (if you have enough space for the name in the memory) and pretty soon you'll get a good list of friendly repeaters nearby!

 

As things progress, with get a trunk unit as well

Thanks for the info