Many of you know that my forum presentation this year at the BMHA forum at Hamvention was about my KX3 bike mobile project for my September trip from Pittsburgh to Washington DC on the GAP and C&O Towpath.  The C&O Towpath is a National Historical Park so it will be bike mobile NPOTA.  Until a few days before Hamvention I had planned to use the KX3 for the trip.  That plan changed and on Thursday less than 24 hours before the start of Hamvention I had a KX2 on order.  It is here and I have one cradle similar to my KX3 mount made.  The second one is near completion and will be going to another ham for bike mobile.  Possibly Wayne from Elecraft.

Since this radio is so much smaller I still made the cradle 7.5 inches long as I did for the KX3.  That allows .75 inches on each end of the radio to protect the connectors.  I found with the KX3 I had to be very careful to not get caught on the connectors and do damage.  



To mount it to the bike I will be using RAM mount components.

on the back of the cradle

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-202U



For the handlebar I bought 2 different ones to test.

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAP-B-400U

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-231ZU



I already have several different length arms that I got with mounts for the plane that I can choose from for the best length.



This mounting system will allow installation and removal without needing any tools.  If this holds the KX2 will I may experiment and see how it works on the KX3.







the mount in the picture above made it difficult but not impossible to mount and access my handlebar pack.  Using the much smaller RAM mount will take care of that problem.







KX2 with the extra length for connector protection.  



Expect to make the first bike mobile test ride with it tomorrow evening.

Now you just need to rig one of those headlight generators to your tire, and engage it on long downhill stretches to pump energy back into your batteries while adding a little braking action.
 




 

KX2 mount is built and on the bike.

I made the KX2 mount the same length as I had made the one for the KX3.  I had to be very careful to not catch and damage the connectors on the ends of the radio when it was on the bike.  The extra .75 inch on each end gives the connectors some protection.





The RAM mount takes much less space and makes it much easier to use the Revelate harness for my dry bag I use on the handlebars.





You may have noticed that I did cut a hole where the speaker is located.  Not sure if I will be able to hear anything on the speaker or not.  I don't expect very good results.

ANTENNA?

How well will the KX2 handle vibration?
The C&O towpath can be rough in places and will make the handlebars vibrate.

Buddipole mini coil with 3 section shock corded whip with stinger.








been using this with several different radios.  Blue tap is 17 meters, Red is 20

coil is a choke to keep RF off the shield.  Number of turns was because that was the length.  I may try a cut to length coax with ferrite beads on it.
 

Haven't had a problem with the KX3.  The KX2 construction is very similar.  Where it is too rough it only takes a few seconds to take it off and put it in the bag.