installing lowband maratrac

sglass · Post by **sglass** » Tue Dec 17, 2002 3:49 pm

I will be installing a low band maratrac (on 6 meters) sometime this month and was just looking for install tips.

KG6EAQ · Post by **KG6EAQ** » Tue Dec 17, 2002 5:12 pm

Just don't mount it vertically

Typical rest, use good large power cable and make sure you have a good ground. What kind of vehicle is it going in?

sglass · Post by **sglass** » Tue Dec 17, 2002 8:24 pm

94 s-10 pickup

jim · Post by **jim** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:25 am

#8 power cables!

Use a real ground, not a self tapping screw. I ground high power radios at the radio AND the battery/block ground.

Mounting it vertically doesn't matter, as long as air will draft over the heat sink and water can't get to the unit.

KG6EAQ · Post by **KG6EAQ** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 4:30 pm

I've heard and seen problems with mounting them vertically and having the solder melt

You could try it though if it doesn't get too hot there. Here in SoCal it's a different matter...

Post by **batdude** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 5:27 pm

i've tried to get 2 different mara's onto 6m....... so good luck - hope you modified the front end per the instructions on the web....

not for the faint of heart!

(this is why i waited for the x9000 i have)

doug

jim · Post by **jim** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 7:01 pm

Melt solder??? That sure has nothing to do with how you mount it!
This sounds like a mis-tuned or a malfunctioning unit if it generated that kind of heat.

KG6EAQ · Post by **KG6EAQ** » Wed Dec 18, 2002 8:41 pm

It was a hot car (read BLACK car in trunk on hot SoCal day) that melted the solder... it was the vertical mounting that caused the solder to run down the board

Not a fun one to look at afterwards....

wa2zdy · Post by **wa2zdy** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 10:14 am

I've never heard of solder that would melt in temperatures that could be reached in any hot car. I sense other issues here. Imagine if the car stereo had these issues, or the tape player, or . . . I've never even seen a cheap CB do that. In fact, think about this - you've never even seen a CD warp in the car, have you? But solder in a Motorola radio melted and ran down the board?

No, something else happened. I HAVE seen a similar situation, but it wasn't heat in the car. I had a 300w inverter and was using it a few weeks ago with a 125w soldering gun (which continued working up until I let go of the trigger.) I noticed smoke from the crack between the halves of the inverter cabinet and discovered something rattling inside. Upon opening it I was greeted by a power transistor rattling around inside and it had obviously unsoldered itself from the board. The smoke tells me that there was some sort of catastrophic failure inside that little box. But I didn't bother to try and find out what. For the price of a new one, it wasn't worth my time to troubleshoot that one. And this is the only time I've seen anything that dramatic.

But solder melted in the heat from the sun? No, I can't go with that. Sorry.

KG6EAQ · Post by **KG6EAQ** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 11:33 am

It could've been something else but there wasn't anything burnt or a smell a smoke. Let me refer to a previous post on this board.. http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.p ... ing+solder (down to ricciticcitembo's double post). What he described happened in one of our company cars where we had mounted it vertically in the trunk. Maybe the solder used on the x9000's is different then the one used on Maratracs?

jim · Post by **jim** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 6:37 pm

Still....if a radio were to reach 300+ degrees, there is a BIG problem. This is a temperature that would instantly vaporize water, melt plastic to a liquid and even cause some materials to combust.
Now, if a solder joint were to crack and cause resistance, I could see some LOCALIZED heat peculiar to that joint melt.

KG6EAQ · Post by **KG6EAQ** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 12:22 am

Well anywho, I don't know where this is going anymore but eh. Good luck with your Maratrac! Show us pics when it's done!

sglass · Post by **sglass** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 5:35 pm

I'm waiting for the control head right now, but I'll be happy to play digicam when it is done.

The plan is to do it right on the maratrac. I have $70 bucks in the radio and the controll head and cables are comign in a trade.

If I have to put a bunch of money in parts into it, that is o.k.

I like the idea of having a 99 channel radio with every single repeater in the US programmed into it, plus some simplex freqs

Should be real cool

I'll let everyone knwo how it goes

I have no experience with an x9000 or even know what one is

Seth

installing lowband maratrac

installing lowband maratrac

maratrac low band

6m?

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