Tag: mobile

Going Mobile

Goin’ Mobile, Keep me Movin’ (The Who). After recovering from my rove I decided to install the IC-7100 in my truck. I like the idea of being able to pull into a park and operate with a minimum of setup. The 7100 is nice in that it includes HF/VHF/UHF. Here are the bits an bobs I used to get this going.

For a tuner, I used Icoms new AH-730. It replaces the AH-4 and is a much nicer unit. The AH-730 and the AH-4 are actually couplers much like the SGC SG-237. They are designed to connect directly to the wire antenna. Coax is only used between the radio and the tuner. I ran a 12 ga stranded wire from the tuner to the antenna which is mounted on my camper roof rack. It is a standard 102″ stainless steel whip. I only had to drill a small hole through the cab sheet metal, add a grommet and a little RTV and I’m done. I drilled an additional 3/8″ hole in the plate where the whip antenna attaches to the truck so I can easily add a horizontal wire for low band NVIS. All I need to do is attach the wire to the truck, stretch it out to a tree, hit the tune button and operate.

Once inside the wire is covered by the trim until it hits bottom and then is routed to the tuner.

The radio and tuner lie in the seat tray under the rear seat. Power from the battery and the UHF/VHF antenna lead are already there from the ID-4100 which was located there. All I had to do was run the control cable from the radio to the control head, attach the antenna to the tuner, the control cable from the radio to the tuner, and add some grounds. If need be, the radio can be easily removed to use outside of the truck.

The control head is mounted on my center console with a cup holder mount. I found this is a nice location for the control head, it is easy to see and manipulate the controls. Plus I also have the DTMF microphone for it. In a pinch I can run CW.

I haven’t done a lot of testing yet, but from my experience with a IC-706 MKIIG/AH-4 combo, things will be fine. Right now I have a bit of work to do on my property which unfortunately, takes priority over radio, but hopefully soon I will be able to get out to a park.

Another thing I haven’t talked about was this mobile setup also works well for EmComm. I can use the truck’s battery or one of my others to run the radio. Adding wire to the antenna will help on the lower bands; plus, the whole system is easy to deploy. Let’s hope I don’t have to use it. 73 de Scott

Bicycle Mobile

For the past 7 months, I have been walking to improve my health. Recently, I bought a bike to change up the routine a little. I think it would be fun to ride while I am camping and the times when I am not at the highest point in the park, I could ride my bike there. When I bought the bike I had them put on a rack. This left a very nice mounting tab for the antennas.

I had some angle aluminum from a prior project so that is where I started. I cut the aluminum to match the width of the rack and then started shaping it. I only had hand tools and there was a lot of filing involved.

The hole on the left is for a SO-239 mount and the one on the right is for a 3/8-24 bolt. The SO-239 is attached to some thin coax probably RG-174 and terminated in a female SMA connector. Perfect for an HT. To get the wide radius I cut in the metal with a Dremel tool.

This is where the hand filing came in. After the filing came sanding the old finish off and applying coats of primer, flat black paint, and a clear coat. Installed on the bike it looks like this with a Diamond NR-770HA dual band antenna.

Out by me, the repeaters are VHF, I tuned it for that band. I ended up with this.

With an HT on the other end, I was able to hit repeaters 10 miles away while under my carport. I called it good.

I also wanted to work HF using my bike as a stand. I won’t ride with the HF antenna installed but rather set it up when I stop. I mounted a 3/8-24 coupler to the antenna mount and wanted to use my Buddipole 12′ fiberglass antenna. I tried several different combinations and the one that worked best was using my Chameleon Micro Hybrid transformer with one counterpoise.

SWR on 6 meters through 40 was acceptable and can easily be handled by a tuner.

I didn’t try HF on the bike but I have used the configuration before. It’s part of my Frankentenna system. The only thing left I have to add is a handi-talkie mount which I will probably order today.

There you have it. A fun little project that will add to the adventure of ham radio. I hope this may spur some of you to try a few projects of your own. Most of these projects I do are with hand tools. I do have a cheap drill press that only seems to be a little better than a hand drill. Get out there and do it. 73 — Scott