Radio install in a trailer

[smk8er]

Ok I am building a Mass casualty - Incident command trailer for our Dept. Its going to have a variety of radio's in it but for starters they have a Spectra with a Remote head in VHF for the first radio to be installed. The trailer is going to have a generator so my question is to you Guru's out there is what type of power supply would i need to convert AC to DC for this radio and also what type of Antenna would i need to use? The antenna cannot really be mounted to the trailer roof due to the trailer is being stored in a garage that has 4 inch clearance from roof of the trailer to the top of the garage door. Thanks for the help.

[fineshot1]

I would choose an IOTA Engineering DLS75 or DLS90 to power all the radios. You could run two heavy cables(with a heavy fuse) to a power
buss and run all your radio connections to the buss. I beleive they will require an AC 20A service due to how heavy duty they are.

EDIT: See web site below

http://www.iotaengineering.com/12vdc.htm

[john9912]

I have an Astron RM50BB power supply installed in our trailer. It is a 50 amp peak Battery Backup unit. Depending on number of radios transmitting at once, this may be enough or you may want to get a larger one. I have a few AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) sealed batteries connected to it. We also have a generator transfer switch. If we are on a location that has commercial power available we can plug the unit into AC power with a very heavy duty extension cord. If no AC commercial power, we can run it off the generator. If the generator doesn't work, or is out of propane we can run the radios off of the batteries. The generator/power supply charges the batteries whenever AC power is present. Only the radios are connected to the batteries. The interior florescent lights, AC, microwave, etc are only AC.

We have tower shelters that are setup the same way. AC power, generator w/transfer switch, and backup batteries on radios. Generators don't start right away and the batteries will keep radio infrastructure running until generator can come online.

Good luck.
John L

[thebigphish]

The antenna cannot really be mounted to the trailer roof due to the trailer is being stored in a garage that has 4 inch clearance from roof of the trailer to the top of the garage door. Thanks for the help.

Do you have enough room to side mount it? Like something that could be mounted along the side, and then be rotated by hand up into position? All you would need is a pivot point, some big nuts & bolts, and enough cable to allow a 90deg range of motion, and you could elevate it when it was needed.

[smk8er]

Wow i really did not expect so much help, i thank you all for the help and assistance. As for that power supply i think that DLS75 will do the trick. I am only running the one VHF spectra and probably a cdm1250 low band in the future. As for the antenna yes i do have clearance on the side for a rotating antenna which i really like that idea so now i am off to try to find something that will work. Again i thank you for all your help!

[fineshot1]

Wow i really did not expect so much help, i thank you all for the help and assistance. As for that power supply i think that DLS75 will do the trick. I am only running the one VHF spectra and probably a cdm1250 low band in the future. As for the antenna yes i do have clearance on the side for a rotating antenna which i really like that idea so now i am off to try to find something that will work. Again i thank you for all your help!

You are welcome and please post back and let us know how things turn out for you.

[smk8er]

I will keep you posted and try to get progress pictures up once the trailer arrives and we get started. Again thanks and stay tuned!

[HLA]

is this gonna be set up to accept shore power also? if so go with the astrons, if not and it's always gonna run off of the generator look at the generator specs, if it has a battery to start itself you can tap into that?

[thebigphish]

Wow i really did not expect so much help, i thank you all for the help and assistance. As for that power supply i think that DLS75 will do the trick. I am only running the one VHF spectra and probably a cdm1250 low band in the future. As for the antenna yes i do have clearance on the side for a rotating antenna which i really like that idea so now i am off to try to find something that will work. Again i thank you for all your help!

find, or make (my preference for the smaller depts) shouldn't be too hard for you. If you are going to put up a couple of fiberglass whips, you can use something as simple as 2inch pipe. Cut to length, you're not going to be setting records here on height, and you don't want to run a foul of the FCC in any way, so i would say that you are looking to get about what 6 to 8 feet over roofline of the trailer? At that height, a piece of 2in should be more than ample for temporary mounts, and with a friend with some welding experience, it can be shored up with braces, trusses or tie-down lines to eyelets on the roofline - as well as the pivot & focal point.
again, i brainstormed that just now...put a pen to paper and you might get more feasible results. good luck.

[smk8er]

Thanks guys again! yes there will be a plug for a shoreline and also the generator is going to be started by a battery. I like the pipe idea. I am going to have to run with some of these ideas and see what will work the best for us any way i will keep everyone informed.