07-25-2014, 07:43 AM
NOW we're getting down to the communication AND transportation issues of The War Wagon!
I run a Bearcat Trunktracker III in my Jeep, since it's my DD, and I go INTO the city with it; let's me follow 800mhz trunked po-po there. The ENTIRE rest of Allegheny Co. is STILL analog, though - so I've gone with a Uniden B355C for the Ramcharger. Since it'll be offroad in rural areas - ESPECIALLY should the zombie apocalypse break out - it'll capture all the signals I need in PA. That, and the weatherband, too, since I'm running a Galaxy 949 for a CB.
CRAPPY cellphone pic alert!
Neat story on the Uniden; I got it off fleaby for $75, but with no power cord or mount. No biggie - I saved some bucks, & I had those things laying around anyways. In fact, I had a couple of hangers for some crappy outdoor speakers laying around - just bent 'em into the right shape, and then screwed it to the dash where the electric trailer brake used to be.
Cool thing about that is, it's easily removeable for storage. I just pull the whole ashtray out, and stick it in the center console!
Got a nice little magnetic antenna for it, and ended up running the wire for that through the firewall.
This was when my truck was STILL dead w/o a driveshaft under a blackberry vine encrusted Oak tree. Good thing that paint is IMPERVIOUS - it needed a wash like you wouldn't BELIEVE when I got it rolling again.
At any rate, the little antenna stores easily enough under the hood, when not in use. Thank goodness for classic DEE-triot Iron!
Passes under the hinge, and away from anything essential, since there's sooooooooooooo much space under the hood!
I suddenly realized that evening, that my rear bench folds forward! Actually, I already knew that - but I suddenly remembered, I wanted to mount the Fatboy on the backside of the console... and wasn't sure there'd be enough clearance, when you flip the bench forward! I'm old enough now when camping, that I've EARNED my airmattress in the cabin, so I NEED the bench to fold down, and for everything to fit. Thankfully, it DOES!
With that GTG, I drilled holes for the mounting bracket, ran the ground wire, and then ran my coax! Got it all tucked neatly away and out of sight - I even had a few feet to spare, even after running it all the way to multicarrier where I'm mounting the 102" whip!
Galaxy 949 - goin' BIG time for the RC!
102" whip installed, along with tennis ball. Has a gutter mount clip, so I don't short out all of Allegheny Co., before GETTING to the off-road!
Underhood goodies! To hook up both the mobile and the stereo in Bristol fashione!
Installed, it looks like this.
Antenna, installed on the multi-carrier.
Gotta Firestik QD mount on top of the barrel - the 102" whip would be the FIRST thing to disappear, if I left it on all the time. Nice thing about this mounting - the 35" M/T completely hides the mount, when the antenna is down. AND the gutter mount whip tiedown.
Thanks to Rolling Radios, my install got completed today - my 4' jumper arrived, although the mailman decided to deliver it to the house instead - adding another 5 hrs of anxious waiting to the project.
The bracket was already mounted, the power run, the antenna and mobile set up - running the jumper was the last piece of the puzzle. The antenna mount needed minor adjusting, but thankfully, the steel wheel (spare tire) proved no obstacle to receiving OR transmitting... although my ancient electronic ignition DOES cause some interference.
Tuned to 38 USB... waiting for a reply...
636, mounted to the side of the radio and bracket.
SWR is AWESOME!!! The needle BARELY moves when broadcasting - with NO mobile, with pre-amp, on AM or SSB!
MY power rating, when broadcastin'in!
Listening to "Double Trouble" out of VA. Made a contact in southern IN on 6 while I was testing everything.
Crappy cellphone pics make it look a lot more cluttered than it is, but the rolling radio shack is coming together nicely.
The Galaxy is by far, the nicest piece of kit I've ever owned OR operated - figuring out all the buttons and what they do was rather interesting. Discovering that the "mic gain" on a quality radio can actually affect the SWR was rather eye-opening. And I'm still trying to figure out what the "talkback" feature does!
Nonetheless, the setup is good, my SWR is GREAT, and while I wasn't reaching out much this afternoon (judging by the couple of responses I could only get on 6 at 4:30 EST), I think I have a GTG rig at this point! I'll try and post some video, and BETTER pics, shortly.
I run a Bearcat Trunktracker III in my Jeep, since it's my DD, and I go INTO the city with it; let's me follow 800mhz trunked po-po there. The ENTIRE rest of Allegheny Co. is STILL analog, though - so I've gone with a Uniden B355C for the Ramcharger. Since it'll be offroad in rural areas - ESPECIALLY should the zombie apocalypse break out - it'll capture all the signals I need in PA. That, and the weatherband, too, since I'm running a Galaxy 949 for a CB.
CRAPPY cellphone pic alert!
Neat story on the Uniden; I got it off fleaby for $75, but with no power cord or mount. No biggie - I saved some bucks, & I had those things laying around anyways. In fact, I had a couple of hangers for some crappy outdoor speakers laying around - just bent 'em into the right shape, and then screwed it to the dash where the electric trailer brake used to be.
Cool thing about that is, it's easily removeable for storage. I just pull the whole ashtray out, and stick it in the center console!
Got a nice little magnetic antenna for it, and ended up running the wire for that through the firewall.
This was when my truck was STILL dead w/o a driveshaft under a blackberry vine encrusted Oak tree. Good thing that paint is IMPERVIOUS - it needed a wash like you wouldn't BELIEVE when I got it rolling again.
At any rate, the little antenna stores easily enough under the hood, when not in use. Thank goodness for classic DEE-triot Iron!
Passes under the hinge, and away from anything essential, since there's sooooooooooooo much space under the hood!
I suddenly realized that evening, that my rear bench folds forward! Actually, I already knew that - but I suddenly remembered, I wanted to mount the Fatboy on the backside of the console... and wasn't sure there'd be enough clearance, when you flip the bench forward! I'm old enough now when camping, that I've EARNED my airmattress in the cabin, so I NEED the bench to fold down, and for everything to fit. Thankfully, it DOES!
With that GTG, I drilled holes for the mounting bracket, ran the ground wire, and then ran my coax! Got it all tucked neatly away and out of sight - I even had a few feet to spare, even after running it all the way to multicarrier where I'm mounting the 102" whip!
Galaxy 949 - goin' BIG time for the RC!
102" whip installed, along with tennis ball. Has a gutter mount clip, so I don't short out all of Allegheny Co., before GETTING to the off-road!
Underhood goodies! To hook up both the mobile and the stereo in Bristol fashione!
Installed, it looks like this.
Antenna, installed on the multi-carrier.
Gotta Firestik QD mount on top of the barrel - the 102" whip would be the FIRST thing to disappear, if I left it on all the time. Nice thing about this mounting - the 35" M/T completely hides the mount, when the antenna is down. AND the gutter mount whip tiedown.
Thanks to Rolling Radios, my install got completed today - my 4' jumper arrived, although the mailman decided to deliver it to the house instead - adding another 5 hrs of anxious waiting to the project.
The bracket was already mounted, the power run, the antenna and mobile set up - running the jumper was the last piece of the puzzle. The antenna mount needed minor adjusting, but thankfully, the steel wheel (spare tire) proved no obstacle to receiving OR transmitting... although my ancient electronic ignition DOES cause some interference.
Tuned to 38 USB... waiting for a reply...
636, mounted to the side of the radio and bracket.
SWR is AWESOME!!! The needle BARELY moves when broadcasting - with NO mobile, with pre-amp, on AM or SSB!
MY power rating, when broadcastin'in!
Listening to "Double Trouble" out of VA. Made a contact in southern IN on 6 while I was testing everything.
Crappy cellphone pics make it look a lot more cluttered than it is, but the rolling radio shack is coming together nicely.
The Galaxy is by far, the nicest piece of kit I've ever owned OR operated - figuring out all the buttons and what they do was rather interesting. Discovering that the "mic gain" on a quality radio can actually affect the SWR was rather eye-opening. And I'm still trying to figure out what the "talkback" feature does!
Nonetheless, the setup is good, my SWR is GREAT, and while I wasn't reaching out much this afternoon (judging by the couple of responses I could only get on 6 at 4:30 EST), I think I have a GTG rig at this point! I'll try and post some video, and BETTER pics, shortly.