[ICOM] AH-2B price and what I decided to do.

[Paul Gates, KD3JF]

Mac, you have it right to get the antenna above the metal
of the car.I have a Chevy Astro Van <mini-van> and have a
trailer hitch on it. At present I have a <finger> coming
off the hitch still pretty much in the center of van and I
have a 2ft mast from the old Swantenna mobile antenna.By
using the 2ft mast I then scrw in the Hustler mast and use
the 20 or 40 Super resonator. I t works like
gangbusters.... On 20 meters when the band is active I even
work a lot of European stations but of course I am in
Maryland. One year going to Dayton for the hamfest I worked
DX while I was traveling in Ohio just south of Penn.

I have also used the hamsticks with the 2ft mast but the
tip of the antenna scratches when you drive under an over
pass!! <g>

Paul Gates, KD3JF
--- D C *Mac* Macdonald <k2gkk at hotmail.com> wrote:

> The suitability of your choice may likely depend
> upon the framing of your travel trailer.  If your
> RV is of wooden frame construction you probably
> won't have too much of a problem.  However,
> more and more RVs (of all types) are using framing
> of aluminum tubing.  In this case, I suspect that
> you would be in a situation similar to that of hams
> who have screwdriver or center loaded whips
> that are very close to the bodies of the vehicles.
> There is almost certainly a definite interaction and
> and directivity that will result, plus the theoretical
> (at least) blocking of signal from the portion of
> the antenna where maximum radiation is supposed
> to occur.
> 
> I tried a base fed, insulated 20-25 feet of aluminum
> military sectional tubing mast from the tongue of a
> previous aluminum framed travel trailer and could
> not get successful tuning with an SGC-230 tuner.
> I don't know if that "antenna" was too close to
> the trailer framing or what.  Perhaps I needed to
> run some wire along the ground for a counter-poise.
> 
> So far, on my newest aluminum-framed travel trailer,
> I have tried the ham-stick type helically wound fiber-
> glass antennas mounted to a "luggage" rail on the
> top rear of my trailer.  Results on 75 meters have not
> been particularly encouraging.  At Ham-Com hamfest
> near Dallas in June, a local club was using a screwdriver
> type antenna mounted at the top of their trailer on
> a tubular mast that was bolted to the bumper.  Since
> this would get the radiation above the roof of the
> trailer, I suspect that I will try that method at such
> time as I retire and have more time to spend using
> my travel trailer.
> 
> YRMV (Your Results May Vary)!
> 
> 73 - Mac, K2GKK/5
> Oklaoma City, OK
> 
> 
> 
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: "Ken Kinyon" <w7ts at comcast.net>
> Reply-To: ICOM Reflector <icom at mailman.qth.net>
> To: "ICOM Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: RE: RE: [ICOM] AH-2B price and what I decided to
> do.
> Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2007 18:22:07 -0600
> 
> After looking at all the options, I decided on a 20 foot
> telescoping 
> aluminum
> flag pole that I will mount to and insulate from the
> substantial rear bumper 
> of
> my travel trailer.  I will feed it with a 3 foot wire and
> have the magic 23 
> feet
> that the AH-4 likes.  When in motion I will collapse it
> to give a total 
> length
> of 102 inches, apparently also an AH-4 Magic number.  At
> that length it will 
> be
> well below the roof of the trailer , and since the
> trailer is a fiberglass 
> egg
> for all purposes, it will think it is sitting out in the
> open.  When I am
> stopped I can operate and be patriotic at the same time. 
> When the trailer 
> is
> not involved I will use a simple 8 foot or so whip,
> mounted on the tonneau 
> cover
> of the bed of the truck.
> 73 and thanks for all the advice.
> Ken W7TS
> 
> 
> ----
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