Show us your ham radio installations

At least not twice!

 

Also a picture of me. Hahahaha.

 

And it was 9 years ago Tonight that the Joplin Tornado hit and 2 days after that I was down there working for the SATERN group providing radio support for their mission.

There was almost no Cell service in the area of town that was hit and the Salvation Army main site where we were based was right on the edge of the affected area.
We ran 15 support trucks all day long feeding and trying to help people who had literally lost everything,I remember driving past cars with nothing above the door line and gasping and then people sleeping in them sat up when we went by.
This was the saddest thing I have ever seen I think the carnage was unbelievable.

We had to carry cinder blocks up 7 flights of stairs to get an antenna in the air on an abandoned building for the repeater we ended up using for the operation and of course it was near 100 degrees and humid too.

People wouldn't take food from us because the neighbors needed it worse they said and we had to assure them that we had enough for everyone and make them eat.

It is humbling and rewarding to be able to help but I bet you know that too.

 

I'm not clicking "like" so it is not interpreted the wrong way, but that is amazing.

 

This is mainly why I got involved in the radio hobby.

I was just lucky that Joplin was close to me.

 

Attend a local SKYWARN class and get involved.

 

I know that on this forum all the cool kids like to defame California, but...
http://www.arrl.org/news/report-causes-concern-and-confusion-in-california-s-amateur-radio-ranks

 

Removed due to being duped by false intel.

 

finally. all hooked up and on the air.

 

for anyone that's interested, i just compiled a list of CO repeaters, 2m & 70cm. i cannot confirm if they are all active. currently in the process of plugging them into the radio.

 

@smslavin Do you need a code plug for the FTM-400? I'm down in the Springs and got a pretty decent CO code plug from someone in another group.

 

sure. this is a new radio for me and code plugs are not something i've played with at all.

 

What radio is that?

 

FTM 400 looks like

 

yep. it's a yaesu ftm-400

 

I need to look at new mobiles, the one I'm running is TM-V708 and I got it over 10 years ago. Time to do some shopping.

 

i had the old version, the ftm-350, in my fj prior to the tundra. still getting used to the 400. so far i like it. programming it directly is way easier than the 350 was but the rt systems software is worth it. have not configured the aprs functionality yet.

 

I cant decide if I will stick mine in my new Tundra or not?

 

personally, i liked the faceplate size of the 350 over the 400 but, the 400 fits nicely up where the map clip used to be. programming the 400 directly is way easier. the touch screen is nice and everything is pretty well laid out.

 

I am likely going to stick a TMD700 or FT8800 in there really.
I am not a fan of the newer Yaesu radios at all.

 

Just moved my radio from my old 4Runner to the Tundra.

 

I've got a couple TM-D700s in my shed still in the box along with the TM-V708 in the truck, one thing I like about these radios even though they're so dated is I can set up one side to continuously scan VHF and UHF channels and use the other side to transmit on. Also I can alpha tag any channel with up to 8 characters which makes it easy to label the PS channels in the area.

 

Thats because we are stubborn Mules who do not like change!
Especially when it makes little sense and is just flashy.

Of course all new radios can Alpha tag channels and most scan as you describe too but you need a special new understanding to grasp the lack of any buttons and the layers of menus that they all have too.

 

OP here. I finally got the Phoenix (tesla styled) radio installed. Now I'm looking at LimeSDR and HackRF as possibilities for 2m/70cm. The issue seems to be a quality amp that can produce 50 watts, etc. I might be limited to 10 watts!? (according to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN0hFGfv-4g [if you read the comments... maybe on the next URL? Just subscribe to the guy if you're interested!])

Here's where he actually made a contact into his local repeater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx_orXHiQk8

The problem is that he uses SDRAngel which will not run on android. (could I hack it anyway? homebrew!?).

Still researching options!!!


73
W2PAN

 

If anybody's interested, this is the month long wait of the radio purchase from china: https://phoenixautomotiveinc.com/pr...9&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign

73
W2PAN

 

I am new to the forum and a new ham. I’ve been following this thread for a couple of weeks while I plan my install.

I’m looking for options for running my antenna wire out of the cab. I’m considering a stake mount, so I’m wondering of this grommet (toward the bottom corner of the rear wall of the cab on the driver side) is accessible? Anyone use this exit point?

 

I ran mine from the bed to to the cab and used the rubber plugs in the bottom. Was very easy. I would use those for accessibility unless you're dead set or have a solid use case


Basically made a slit, ran the cable, then sealed it with 3m silicone sealant.