The TechMobile - Phases II and III!

[kc7gr]

I just could not leave well enough alone. I simply HAD to go and fix all the little hiccups that crept into Phase I, and then add More Stuff!

For those of you wondering what the frell I'm talking about, check the thread under this link:

http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=13268

Anyway... Phases II and III can be ogled at on this link:

http://www.bluefeathertech.com/kc7gr/thevan2.html

73 de KC7GR

[007]

YOU KICK ASS!

[NodrogCop]

That is just *unfreakin' believable*!!

Very well done, and the narrative on the page was excellent.

Gordon

[nmfire10]

Holy Hell. Thats impressive. Just one question though.... What is all that for again?

[kc7gr]

Holy Hell. Thats impressive. Just one question though.... What is all that for again?

Thank you, thank you. Several reasons I went to those lengths.

First, at the risk of overusing an overused cliche, I was keeping the old scout motto of 'Be Prepared' in mind. The local ham club, which my wife and I will soon be joining, helps out with a number of major public events in the region, including the 4th of July 'Seafair' event and at least one of the local long-distance run/walk events. As I mentioned on the page, I'm Red Cross trained for first-aid and CPR, and this (since EMT's can't be everywhere at once) simply makes me one more set of eyes, ears, and trained hands ready to act, if need be, until professional help arrives.

Second, roadside assistance. I figure if I'm going to be in a position to give it, I may as well do it right. There are numerous highways in the northwest that are simple two-lane roads with barely any shoulder. Regular hazard lights may not cut it under bad weather conditions, so I wanted to make darn sure I'd be visible to other drivers if I were pulled off helping someone.

Third (long-term): ARES/RACES volunteer work. I need to take the EC course from ARRL first, but once I do that I'm probably going to start chatting up the local RACES coordinator and find out how I can be of assistance in a disaster scenario.

The fourth reason didn't occur to me until I started some serious job-hunting this week. In terms of looking for work in the mobile radio field, whether it's installation or tech work, that van is literally a "rolling resume." It's a clear visual example of what I'm capable of, and that never hurts to have around.

73 de KC7GR

[nmfire10]

The fourth reason didn't occur to me until I started some serious job-hunting this week. In terms of looking for work in the mobile radio field, whether it's installation or tech work, that van is literally a "rolling resume."

Well, that may also scare the employer into thinking "OH MY GOD! THIS GUY IS NUTS!!!"

[alex]

Heh. You might as well get ECTO1 for the license plates (I think that's what it was in ghostbusters)... with all that stuff on the roof you might as well have a modern ghostbusting service

In all seriousness, very, very cool

-Alex

[007]

A couple of thoughts after looking at it again:

The ballmount for HF is cool, but I would have put an Antenna Specialists setup on....every hustler or radio scrap mount I've seen gets crappy looking after a year or two, i.e. the plating comes off or it starts to rust.

Myself, and others I know, are curious why you still insist on placing those NMO mounts on that plate. They are way too close, and there is some serious interaction between them. There may not be an RF overload, but you radiation patterns are getting hosed. I bet there is some coupling going on. A few NMO mounts down the center of the roof would work better, and be lower profile.

The whelen lightbar is neat, but what messages do you want that signboard to say?

Overall, it is very impressive. Great job.

[kc7gr]

A couple of thoughts after looking at it again:

The ballmount for HF is cool, but I would have put an Antenna Specialists setup on....every hustler or radio scrap mount I've seen gets crappy looking after a year or two, i.e. the plating comes off or it starts to rust.

Which AS mount are you referring to? If there's one better Out There, and it uses the same holes as the ball mount, I'll certainly consider it when the time comes to replace.

Myself, and others I know, are curious why you still insist on placing those NMO mounts on that plate. They are way too close, and there is some serious interaction between them. There may not be an RF overload, but you radiation patterns are getting hosed. I bet there is some coupling going on. A few NMO mounts down the center of the roof would work better, and be lower profile.

At the time I did Phase 1, I was deathly paranoid about roof holes. I'm less so today, now that I've had good success with the holes I made for the lightbar cables and the ball mount.

I will say that I've not detected any problems whatsoever with the arrangement as it is. My coverage and SWR are excellent, and I've not noticed any bleedover, RF overload, or other nastiness. I'll probably change the arrangement when the time comes to rebuild (no mount lasts forever).

The whelen lightbar is neat, but what messages do you want that signboard to say?

I'm using a modified version of the standard 'Transportation' message library that Whelen provides with the programming kit. The regular ones have things like 'Road Work Ahead,' 'Litter Crew Working,' etc. I added ones like 'Caution: Pedestrians on Roadway,' 'Water and First Aid Here,' and others specific to the situations I expect to be working with.

One of my favorites is 'Please Don't Tailgate. Thank you!' I loaded that one in after some hyper teenager in a red Mustang nearly rear-ended me on the freeway last week.

Overall, it is very impressive. Great job.

Thank you. It was a lot of work, but worth it to me.

73 de KC7GR

[nmfire10]

One of my favorites is 'Please Don't Tailgate. Thank you!' I loaded that one in after some hyper teenager in a red Mustang nearly rear-ended me on the freeway last week.

I've always wanted one of those. However, the choice phrases it would contail would be auto-censored by the board and my account suspended if I listed them here.

[JAYMZ]

kc7gr....

I bow to your installing greatness..... That is a wicked good set-up.(best phrase I could come up with, I didn't want to end up like Matt's scenario).

And I noticed you only finished yesterday.... kudos man.. Very very good work.

How much in the way of man hour and cost do you have invested in this project? If you don't want to share the dollar signs that's ok. Man hours alone would probably keep half the nation working for a month at least.

Regardless. Excellent install.. I applaud you.

How do like that Icom.... they look to be sweet little units.

[007]

Which AS mount are you referring to? If there's one better Out There, and it uses the same holes as the ball mount, I'll certainly consider it when the time comes to replace.

The model number for the complete kit is ASPR632. You can however order the parts and make a custom mount, like having a black ball instead of stainless. Looks like the holes in the van are the same, but can't be sure until they are measured. Send me a PM with the mounting template measuring info, adn I'll compare it to my AS template.

THeir website is http://www.antenna.com

[kc7gr]

kc7gr....

I bow to your installing greatness..... That is a wicked good set-up.(best phrase I could come up with, I didn't want to end up like Matt's scenario).

And I noticed you only finished yesterday.... kudos man.. Very very good work.

Thank you, but I cannot take all the credit. I had an excellent mentor during my tenure at Motorola. This guy eventually quit mother 'M' to start his own install business. Smoked like a factory, but really knew his stuff.

Jerry, wherever you are and whatever you're doing today, thank you...

How much in the way of man hour and cost do you have invested in this project? If you don't want to share the dollar signs that's ok. Man hours alone would probably keep half the nation working for a month at least.

Well, let's see... I guesstimate I've got about $4,000 into it, materials-wise. That would have gone a lot higher, had it not been for intesive scrounging among used equipment sources, ebay included.

Man-hours... That's tough, 'cause I didn't really keep track. I'm going to guesstimate at between 100-125 hours, total. For Phase I, I had about a month's worth of working on it every single night, when I got home from work, for at least 4-5 hours. Add to that taking about 3-4 days off, and working on it nearly 12 hours/day for that time, and you'll have a ballpark on the initial build.

Phases II and III were not nearly so bad. Figure about ten days, total, between 6-9 hours a day.

Regardless. Excellent install.. I applaud you.

How do like that Icom.... they look to be sweet little units.

You are too kind, sir. The Icom was definitely a good investment. My only regret is that the laws of physics are not flexible enough to permit working 80 meters with anything less than a 20-plus foot whip!

73 de KC7GR

[wa2zdy]

Yes, your abilities are well exhibited here. I applaud you for that. I would be envious except I know there's no way I could consider such an investment in time or money!

I wonder if it wouldn't be worth finding a better HF antenna. The 96 inch CB whip is not working very well for you down to 40m. Yes, the tuner is keeping the 706 happy, but the radiation resistance of that thing must be around an ohm or two. Not very efficient. Obviously no mobile HF antenna is VERY effecient, but with the investment you have, wouldn't something better be worth looking into? Bad place to cut the only corner.

As a law enforcement type guy, I can say I hope you're careful about giving roadside assistance. There are a lot of nuts out there. Emergency first aid of course is a different matter.

Lastly I'm curious. What does your insurance agent think of this as a theft and/or accidental damage risk?

Again, good job, and good luck.

73,

[KB9WZD]

that is one impresive setup you really have one of a kind never seen anything even remotly like it

Keep us informed

[kc7gr]

Yes, your abilities are well exhibited here. I applaud you for that. I would be envious except I know there's no way I could consider such an investment in time or money!

It was spread out over a period of nearly two years, so it was fairly painless. That, and it gave me a good excuse to sell a bunch of old computer stuff I'd been accumulating.

I wonder if it wouldn't be worth finding a better HF antenna. The 96 inch CB whip is not working very well for you down to 40m. Yes, the tuner is keeping the 706 happy, but the radiation resistance of that thing must be around an ohm or two. Not very efficient. Obviously no mobile HF antenna is VERY effecient, but with the investment you have, wouldn't something better be worth looking into? Bad place to cut the only corner.

I'm a relative novice at mobile HF, so I didn't see it as "cutting corners." Rather, if I did indeed shoot myself in the foot here, I would consider it an opportunity to learn something new.

Please keep in mind some physical limitations I'm dealing with: The van has to be able to fit into our garage, which has a relatively low (about 7 feet) minimum clearance. The current whip, when pulled down and placed in its clip, comes in nicely under that limit.

Given said limitation, and the fact that I like the AH-4 antenna tuner and wish to keep using it, what would you suggest?

As a law enforcement type guy, I can say I hope you're careful about giving roadside assistance. There are a lot of nuts out there. Emergency first aid of course is a different matter.

Thank you. I am being very careful. If at all possible, in fact, I prefer to let the regular highway patrol or AAA handle it. What I've done here is simply make myself ready to render assistance, if need be.

On that subject -- please check your PM box. I could use some advice.

As for first-aid, I pray I never have to find out how well my Red Cross courses 'took' for anyone other than myself or my passengers. However, again, it's "Be Prepared."

Lastly I'm curious. What does your insurance agent think of this as a theft and/or accidental damage risk?

I've not talked to them yet, but I will probably do so this week (thanks for the reminder).

My personal take: I don't see it as much of a theft risk because it's TOO visible. The "assumption principle" surrounding the light bar seems to play a factor in this. In other words, most people don't seem to check nuances (like the color of the lenses -- a mix of amber and clear in my case) when they see the bar. They simply see it, and their first reaction seems to be "cop" despite the fact that none of the cop-shops I know of use Dodge Grand Caravans.

On that subject: I've had some appraising looks from the local gendarmes, though it has not gone beyond simple curiousity at this point. I'll certainly be willing to answer questions if the opportunity presents itself.

Again, good job, and good luck.

Thanks again. 73 de KC7GR

[wa2zdy]

The commercially available mobile HF antennas are all loaded whips. Even the Hustler system, which has lost a lot of its once very good reputation, is center loaded.

I'd like to try again that I tried as a novice oh so many years ago.
Long ago I remember reading that a half wavelength of wire helically wound will act as an electrical quarter wave. If you recall the orange flags that were fairly common on bicycles back in the 70s, I used the pole of one of them and wound 66 feet of wire on it. It worked quite well as a 40m antenna. While nowhere near as good as the real thing, it worked credibly well on the back of my bicycle with a 3w Heath HW7 on 40 CW. Getting the radiation resistance up, every fraction of an ohm, is what counts.

You should look into the different antennas available. I used an 8 ft CB whip for a while with a tuner, and as I said, it worked marginally well down to 20m. On 40m I never made a contact. Burning up all the power in the tuner accomplishes nothing. In the end I used a Hustler system and Dentron manual tuner in my mobile station. Worked just fine. I could even between the phone and CW portions of 40m.

Whatever antenna you do end up with, you'll be able to use that Icom tuner you have. The bandwidths on mobile HF whips are very narrow anyway, so the tuner will let you move around the band a bit even with a "real" antenna.

Worth looking into.

And thanks for your answers for my previous questions in your post.

I'll say it again, great job, very impressive.