Posted: 1/26/2009 7:18:13 PM EDT
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OK,
I'm just getting into Ham, and am looking for some advice. I am all set up to take the test on Feb 6, thanks to the awesome info I have picked up from here and elsewhere on the net. The Ham 101 thread with the links was awesome, I didn't know there were practice tests, after some study, I am passing the tech exams easily. K4Gun's story about the hunting accident really made me sit up and decide to get into this from a preparedness standpoint as well as emergency comms. On to my questions... I have been reading about this for a long time - I decided what radio I wanted and bought it. A nice gent on Eham sold me his Yaesu 7800R with the separation kit for $150. After looking around I think that is a pretty good price for a dual band radio. It seemed like a good deal, and a perfect starter rig. The only problems I am having now is with the antenna - I think I want the comet SSB5NMO, problem is mounting it on my truck. I have an Explorer Sport, with moon roof, and I understand that the moon roof complicates the install on the roof. Plus I park in a parking structure every day. I was thinking about mounting the antenna on the hood, on the left side at the same basic position as the radio antenna. Would this work? Also, unless I am reading something wrong on these websites, I cannot for the life of me find a place to order a through hole antenna mount. I'm sure it is just me, but a lot of the online ham sites are, lets just say, not terribly user friendly if you are browsing, as many are huge lists of part numbers with no descriptions. Can someone point me in the right direction? There IS an AES pretty close to me, I may stop by there and see if they can help, since I do like to look before I buy. Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble on, and hopefully I am not asking the same million questions that always get asked - I did dig around the archive for a bit, but thought I would at least take the time to introduce myself and then ask for a bit of guidance. Thanks in advance, Mike |
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My SSB-5NMO just arrived today.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantm/3910.html I got the CP-5 NMO to attach to the top edge of the rear door on my Dodge Laramie 1500 pickup. Here's various mounts: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantm/cometx.html |
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I have had very good luck with this one, usually next day, Give them a call they are very helpful with mounts or anything
AES Ohio |
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I have a fender mount on my f150 because, 1) my truck is already big (35" tires) 2) I didn't want to have to worry about wacking the antenna off at the farm on a tree.
I haven't had any problems out of my mounted to the fender. I have a nmo diamond antenna and it seems to work well. Probably not the "ideal" location, but does just fine working the local repeaters. KJ4DDC |
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A_Free_Man
Thanks for the links and part numbers, that helps a lot. Racinfast When you say it is on your fender, do you mean a through hole mount or one of those ball mounts that goes on the side. sburggsx I have been seriously considering a hatchback mount for the truck. Everyone keeps saying they come loose, and a through hole mount is better. I'm still thinking it might be a good solution for me. I could use the antenna I want to and make the clearance that I need to everyday. My parking garage at work has just 7'6" of clearance, I'm going to need to measure my truck to see how high the various points are so I can determine how to mount this antenna. Oh, and thanks for the link to k0bg - I found his site off of eham and it is great. Some of the install pictures were helpful, but a lot of them have way more equipment than I do... at least for now :) Mike |
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Congrats on a mackin' price for the 7800! I just looked for one for the YLs car and the cheapest I saw was $225.
I use the NMO K that A_Free_Man linked to. However, I haven't drilled the roof since I have the same problem with a parking garage at work. Instead, I use the L bracket on the same page mounted to the side of my bed rail. My SBB-5 is mounted to it. 
I believe the clearance in our garage is about the same. When I go over the humps on the seams I have about 3" between the tip of my antenna and the main support beams. Aside from that I have about 6" clearance. |
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Quoted:
A_Free_Man Thanks for the links and part numbers, that helps a lot. Racinfast When you say it is on your fender, do you mean a through hole mount or one of those ball mounts that goes on the side. sburggsx I have been seriously considering a hatchback mount for the truck. Everyone keeps saying they come loose, and a through hole mount is better. I'm still thinking it might be a good solution for me. I could use the antenna I want to and make the clearance that I need to everyday. My parking garage at work has just 7'6" of clearance, I'm going to need to measure my truck to see how high the various points are so I can determine how to mount this antenna. Oh, and thanks for the link to k0bg - I found his site off of eham and it is great. Some of the install pictures were helpful, but a lot of them have way more equipment than I do... at least for now :) Mike Nope, they make a "fender mount" Its no more than a piece of metal turned at a 90* angle with a NMO mount in it. It mounts between the hood and fender. Not the best picture, but hopefully good enough so you get the idea. 
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Thanks for the replies - I've got some good idea's now.
Got the radio this afternoon, I jiggered up an old ATX power supply to turn it on and see if it worked. Article here Seems to work just fine.... just need an antenna :) The other thing - This thing is small... I had no idea a 50w transceiver was this tiny. Tomorrow I am off to AES, with my parts list in hand, and have the fine gents there help me get what I need. Thanks again guys! Mike |
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I spent a few minutes this afternoon attaching the CP-5 NMO mount to the top edge of the back door of my Dodge 1500 Laramie.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantm/cometx.html After taking it out of the box I noted that it would easily attach to a number of good mounting locations, including the edge of the hood. I used some adhesive to glue the coax along the inside of the door. Ran out of daylight, but will get some photos tomorrow. I'll be using this with the same Comet SSB-5 NMO the OP is using. |
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Quoted:
I spent a few minutes this afternoon attaching the CP-5 NMO mount to the top edge of the back door of my Dodge 1500 Laramie. http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantm/cometx.html After taking it out of the box I noted that it would easily attach to a number of good mounting locations, including the edge of the hood. I used some adhesive to glue the coax along the inside of the door. Ran out of daylight, but will get some photos tomorrow. I'll be using this with the same Comet SSB-5 NMO the OP is using. That's cool. Went to AES today, was helped by Matt. Ended up getting the same mount as you did (the CP5) and will likely put it on the tailgate on my Explorer. He also showed me his install in his durango which was helpful as well. Right now I have it in my work room, set up with the mount mounted on my bench, and practicing using the radio. Can't wait to actually be able to transmit, but when I get my license, I will already have the radio programmed. There doesn't seem to be a lot of activity to listen to but that could be just b/c I don't know where to listen yet. I am in the process of programming the local repeaters in the radio :) I may have to wait for it to get warmer outside before I install in the car, since we have way too much snow to try to mess with this right now. Mike |
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I put green locktite (wicking type) on the four allen screws that bind it to the lip.
I checked that they were biting through the paint by checking with ohm meter from the allen screws to a bolt on the frame of the truck. I put the antenna on, made sure it was vertical, then backed out the various bolts one at a time, applied green locktite, put them back in. When all four (they are metric, something in between 7/16" and 3/8") were done I went back and tightened them all good. I put green locktite on the allen that holds the pivoting sections to the lip mount itself. I took apart the brass mount that the coax connects to, put a little green locktite on that, put it back together and tightened well. I already had all the black parts tight and locktited. 
I routed the coax along the inside of the door where I could see it would not rub or bind on anything. I put a two inch bead of Aleene's 7800 adhesive every few inches, let it sit a few minutes to gel up a little, put some on the corresponding places on the coax, pressed the coax into it and taped it in place with electrical tape. 
I got some big damn bodacious battery terminals from Universal, too. http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/parts/0793.html These were listed under Parts > Miscellaneous > Battery Clamps |
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I'm a little confused now.
On some of the amateur bands in the 147-8 MHz range I seem to be picking up radio stations, with music and commercials. I thought this wasn't allowed? I haven't listened enough to see if the stations id themselves or anything, but thought it was strange. Also found some in the 440's A_Free_Man - I got your IM about your install, can't wait to see the pictures. That FT 897 looks like it might be my next radio... after all, need a base station rig, right :) Mike ETA here is an example station 443.750. Any Ideas? |
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Looks like we were replying at the same time :)
Nice install. What is that big blue thing over your house??? And all that green stuff all over the ground... looks like you have a problem there, everything should be cloudy and covered with 3 feet of snow! Get that taken care of :) Seriously though, I like the placement on the rear door. I am going to mount mine on the hatch of my Explorer, since I have the two door model. I don't think it would be a good idea to have it on either of the two main doors of the car. Still picking up music on 443.750. And not sure why. I have to start taking notes, there are quite a few folks around talking at odd times of the day, this morning, there was a trivia net going on the local repeater. Mike |
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Well, the good news is I passed tech and General on Saturday. Just waiting for my callsign to show up in the DB now.
Haven't installed the radio in the truck yet b/c we decided to get rid of the sedan and get another truck. Since I will get the new truck, the radio will go in there. I'll post some pics as soon as I get it installed. And... A Kenwood TS-440SAT happened to come home with me. Got a G5RV dipole that I need to hang up... and then I can have a lot of fun. Mike |