hamradio11

MOBILE HAM RADIO ANTENNAS

I really enjoy tweaking mobile antennas. I am always looking for the better mouse trap, thus I purchase, build and test lots of mobile antennas. I also tend to break more than the occasional mobile antenna and I plan to discuss the whys along with potential solutions to this problem. From the actual antenna to the mount, coax, proper grounding and connectors antennas of all types are one of my favorite things to tinker with.

A VIRTUAL ANTENNA FARM ON THE RAM

SEE MORE DETAIL OF THE RAM ANTENNAS & RADIOS

THE ANTENNAS ON THE DAKOTA

MORE DETAILS OF THE DAKOTA ANTENNAS

THE TOP KICK ANTENNA FARM

My 1997 GMC Top Kick with a 43 foot High Ranger bucket is slowly being turned into a bug out vehicle for emergency operations and field day events. Currently it has three radios and I am going to add at least two more. The Yaesu 2800 2 meter is run through a Diamond NR770NMO as described above. The Vertex UHF rig transmits and receives through a Comet SBB2NMO dual band antenna. This antenna has 2.15 dBi gain on 2 meters and 3.8 dBi gain on 70 centimeters which is the only band in which it is currently being used. The cool thing about this antenna is that it is only about 18 inches tall and does not interfere with the operation of the boom.

I have a second generic external dual band antenna mounted that terminates inside the truck with an SMA connector on its coax so that a handi-talki can be connected to an external antenna if necessary. The scanner receives through a Radio Shack wide band through-the-glass mount antenna. The Galaxy 99v transfers its 10 and 11 meter signal through a Wilson "Trucker 2000". It goes through a antenna tuner so that the SWR can be optimized for each band.

I am also working on an assortment of secondary antennas for each of these radios that will attach to the bucket that I can raise once on a location for extended range. I am still mounting switches, running the 50 foot coax cables and tweaking the antennas. The end goal is to be able to roll onto a location and be able to raise an assortment of large omnidirectional and directional antennas along with an inverted V dipole to a 40 plus foot height, rotate them for maximum efficiency, flip a few switches and be transmitting in 5 to 10 minutes. This is still a project so check back for how it all works out.

THE HANDI TALKIE ANTENNAS

The three antennas pictured above are all used on my SMA mount handhelds. The antenna at the bottom of the photo is a Maldol MH510. It utilizes an SMA mount and and is 20.75 inches tall. This antenna can handle up to 10 watts and it has a gains of 0/0/.32 dBi respectively. While it does not have great numbers in the gain department it does work much better than a factory rubber duck which is the center antenna in the photo.

The top antenna is my favorite antenna that I have ever used on a handi-talkie. It is a Prime

COOL DXING NAVIGATION