HF Mobile Working Well
THE EQUIPMENT, A FEW ADJUSTMENTS LATER... UP AND RUNNING...
RADIO
The radio installation in the vehicle mentioned in the last post which comprises of the Yaesu FT-100 Field Commando radio, it is fed by 12V and wired directly to the vehicle battery (In line Fuse Protection close to the battery).
ANTENNAS
Maldol HFC mobile mono band antennas, and a nice big ground plane (Toyota Estima vehicle body).
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Good ground connections are essential to provide maximum performance and good SWR.
The method I use is, by using clamped on antenna mounts, that are grub screwed to something conductive, like a gutter or rear door which provides an excellent ground.
During the installation I had problem tuning the Maldo HFC antennas on all of the bands as well as creating RFI within the vehicle engine management system and music player.
I sourced the problem and found that the HF antenna mount had not pierced the Toyota paintwork on the inside door seam.
I tightened the two grub screws until the paint was penetrated and the bare metal contact of about 4mm diameter X 2 grub screws, was now providing a good ground connection.
The antennas were now fully resonant across the HF bands apart from the HFC 80m, which surprisingly seemed to be resonant over a wider portion of the band than in the previously installed Toyota RAV 4.
The RFI was now minimal, but I still fitted clamp on Ferrite chokes on most of the wiring harnesses that I came across around the Toyota "Brain" engine management system.
Good antenna grounding and the Ferrite's seem to have solved the problem and will hopefully protect the unit.
Even on the output power of 50 watts it is still possible to cause serious damage if these kind of precautions are not taken, so for the sake of a few pounds on ferrite's I was feeling Confident and itching to make some HF /Mobile QSOs.
USER FRIENDLY STATION
Radio Operation was much easier now with the in-dash fitted FT-100 situated conveniently allowing VFO Tuning whilst on the move.
The greatest thing of all was the auto gearbox and steering column mounted shift lever, giving my left hand more opportunity's to engage the PTT.
Last weekend we were Camping in Anglesy which is an extremely beautiful Island located off the North Wales coast.
Anglesy always manages to treat us to a great time, with its beautiful beaches and radiant sunshine. It is also an excellent location surrounded by sea water which is more than likely responsible for putting out a good signal from my Mobile HF Station.
THE RESULT & CONCLUSION
I worked some great QSOs with some good reports of a "good signal for a mobile" which was a pleasure to receive and also confirmed the new Mobile installation was working well.
During this last week The bands have become a bit more interesting and I have worked many Stations during my Work Run around 07.15 UTC and 16.45 UTC active on 20 Meters.
I managed to make Mobile Contacts with DX Stations from places like the MIDDLE EAST, RUSSIA, CANARY ISLANDS, USA, BELARUS, SLOVENIA, GREECE, UKRAINE, ANDORRA, and MOROCCO.
I am pleased with the Set Up and hopefully will continue to enjoy using the equipment for a long time to come, making many QSOs and contacts on the way.
73, Hope to hear you on AIR, Thanks for passing by Ham Radio Blog spot.com!
RADIO
The radio installation in the vehicle mentioned in the last post which comprises of the Yaesu FT-100 Field Commando radio, it is fed by 12V and wired directly to the vehicle battery (In line Fuse Protection close to the battery).
ANTENNAS
Maldol HFC mobile mono band antennas, and a nice big ground plane (Toyota Estima vehicle body).
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Good ground connections are essential to provide maximum performance and good SWR.
The method I use is, by using clamped on antenna mounts, that are grub screwed to something conductive, like a gutter or rear door which provides an excellent ground.
During the installation I had problem tuning the Maldo HFC antennas on all of the bands as well as creating RFI within the vehicle engine management system and music player.
I sourced the problem and found that the HF antenna mount had not pierced the Toyota paintwork on the inside door seam.
I tightened the two grub screws until the paint was penetrated and the bare metal contact of about 4mm diameter X 2 grub screws, was now providing a good ground connection.
The antennas were now fully resonant across the HF bands apart from the HFC 80m, which surprisingly seemed to be resonant over a wider portion of the band than in the previously installed Toyota RAV 4.
The RFI was now minimal, but I still fitted clamp on Ferrite chokes on most of the wiring harnesses that I came across around the Toyota "Brain" engine management system.
Good antenna grounding and the Ferrite's seem to have solved the problem and will hopefully protect the unit.
Even on the output power of 50 watts it is still possible to cause serious damage if these kind of precautions are not taken, so for the sake of a few pounds on ferrite's I was feeling Confident and itching to make some HF /Mobile QSOs.
USER FRIENDLY STATION
Radio Operation was much easier now with the in-dash fitted FT-100 situated conveniently allowing VFO Tuning whilst on the move.
The greatest thing of all was the auto gearbox and steering column mounted shift lever, giving my left hand more opportunity's to engage the PTT.
Last weekend we were Camping in Anglesy which is an extremely beautiful Island located off the North Wales coast.
Anglesy always manages to treat us to a great time, with its beautiful beaches and radiant sunshine. It is also an excellent location surrounded by sea water which is more than likely responsible for putting out a good signal from my Mobile HF Station.
THE RESULT & CONCLUSION
I worked some great QSOs with some good reports of a "good signal for a mobile" which was a pleasure to receive and also confirmed the new Mobile installation was working well.
During this last week The bands have become a bit more interesting and I have worked many Stations during my Work Run around 07.15 UTC and 16.45 UTC active on 20 Meters.
I managed to make Mobile Contacts with DX Stations from places like the MIDDLE EAST, RUSSIA, CANARY ISLANDS, USA, BELARUS, SLOVENIA, GREECE, UKRAINE, ANDORRA, and MOROCCO.
I am pleased with the Set Up and hopefully will continue to enjoy using the equipment for a long time to come, making many QSOs and contacts on the way.
73, Hope to hear you on AIR, Thanks for passing by Ham Radio Blog spot.com!
Comments
It sounds good, your mobile station working well. It is really a nice Ham Radio Shack!
In Japan, in these days, April and May, we have generally very bad condition for HF bands. It was always very difficult to working, by much noise, no good propagation and Dragon Jumming!
But, today I was able to make a QSO with a European station on 17m band SSB from my mobile station using the mono-band mobile antenna, running 50w! It was HB9 station. It was 21:51 Japanese Standard Time, 13:51 UTC.
And the signal from Swizerland was very very strong. It was very easy to listen and copy for me. And my report was 5/5, too. My signal was also not bad for send to the HB9 station. (with my IC-706 50W and a mobile antenna of Diamond)
It is a good news, isn't it, Simon. But it was a just accidental DX QSO! sad to say I think. Because it is really difficult to make QSOs on HF High bands, 15m and 17m, even with Radio stations not so far around here Japan. I think that the difficulty seems just like QSO on 40m and 80m band SSB with not much power, 50W from my shack for example. (I can find a signal on HF band, but I can not read well the signal coming to my Antenna, and I can not send well my signal to the station....Hi Hi)
But anyway, I did! I did make the QSO with a Swizerland station on 17m band. I think it means " One day" comes closer by closer for our QSO! Hi Hi.
And I think you may or will have a lot of calling from many JAs on HF bands at afternoon in UTC. And from me, if on 17m band! (^-^)/Hi.
2E0HTS from JN4VWH nash from JAPAN
73
Swizerland --> Switzerland
JN4VWH nash
It is Truly Great operating mobile and I will have to get a decent 17M mono band antenna. I have one for every band except 17M! (WE Say "SODs LAW" in this situation, it means "Typical") So I can maybe hear JN4VWH on 15M from my mobile one day soon?
Keep up the good work and good DX!
Sayonara 73
de 2e0hts Simon