[Elecraft] Could this operate on a motorcycle?

[Russell Conner]

Well, I thought I mentioned we were all using Comet or Diamond, I think the worse is a Db5.1 gain anntena and the Elmer has a SWR meter, and we are all losing less than 10% on most of the bands we use. 

If I understand these amp manuals, I just hook my existing antenna wire into the amp, then from the amp to the Antenna. Easy peasy.

At $150 to $300 for a starter model, it is worth a try to see if the FT-60 can drive it effectively. I doubt the Baofeng would do it.

Ears open if anyone wants to recommend an amp

On May 4, 2014, at 4:29 PM, Lynn W. Taylor, WB6UUT <KX3 at ColdRocksHotBrooms.com> wrote:

> Don't forget an antenna, try a better antenna first.
> 
> The Motorcycle Amateur Radio Club has several pages on antennas. You might start here: http://www.marc-hq.org/40.technotes/40-10.htm
> 
> They seem to think Comet has the most durable antennas.  I don't ride a motorcycle nor have I used their antennas, so I can't say.
> 
> Start with the antenna.  You'll need coax with the appropriate connector for your FT-60R (BNC??) and whatever connects to the mount you use on your bike.
> 
> Mount the antenna as high as practical.  Getting the antenna up moves the radio horizon farther away.
> 
> I don't know the ground plane requirements (if any) for Comet, and it may vary from model to model (and from the models MARC used to recommend to the ones that Comet makes now).
> 
> If your antenna does not work well, adding an amplifier will be far less effective.
> 
> I've used Mirage amplifiers, but that was a few decades ago.
> 
> This is an example of their product: http://www.mirageamp.com/Product.php?productid=B-310-G
> 
> This will give you 100 watts out.  More than that won't help, and I could not find anything that said how much power they draw, or a fuse rating, so I don't know how your bike would cope.  I would connect it directly to the battery.
> 
> There are some details to work out, but just getting better antennas, up higher, on all of the bikes in the group could be enough to solve your problems.
> 
> 73 -- Lynn
> 
> On 5/4/2014 4:09 PM, rgconner wrote:
>> Using the Ft-60 with an amp would be awesome. How do I do that?
> 
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