[Mobile-Portable] thin antenna cable

[paul goble]

Roger a rectangular hole - I took one of the two air vents out of the
back of my crewcab passenger compartment, cut a matching hole in the
front of the pickup bed, made a flexible weather seal out of neoprene
weatherstripping liberally "cemented" with silcon "sealant", and have a
7" x 3.625" opening (rounded corners) through which all cables (coax,
power, control, whatever) can be run with impunity.  I probably won't
run anything larger than LMR600 (902 and 1296) or superflex (432) for
the short runs I have (RG-214 for all lower freqs except RG-58 for all
FM).  The open space (that not clogged with cables of all types) is
jammed with a big kitchen sponge.  Sounds strange but works great!

Kinda tough to do this in a Mercury, Saturn, Toyota, Nissan, whatever,
automobile though - HIHI!

See the mobile antenna farm at http://www.nd2x.net/pix/new.jpg - the
obligatory FM antennas are the front two verticals on the roof of the
cab (no holes in the cab roof - mag-mounted a 30"x30" sheet of 1/8"
aluminum to the roof and mounted all the verticals on that) - the 6M
vertical can be used for both narrowband ("real") communication and FM.

Remember, I kid a lot - I tease "shack-on-the-belt" types all the time -
it's a mental shortfall caused by spending the first 14 years of being
licensed exclusively on 6M, mostly mobile; I miss good ol' Lafayette
Radio - that Heathkit SB-110 was nice, but a tad large for mobile.  Wish
I had kept my 4-ring EBCO halo!! - HIHI!

GN&73,

Paul ND2X/5

"J. Gordon Beattie, Jr." wrote:
> 
> Hi Folks!
> Here is another idea for passing cables up through the underside of your
> car:
> Drill holes in a square or rectangular shape, then using a piece of small
> heater hose, slit the hose and then cut it to the length of the perimeter of
> your hole.  Presto! Instant Grommet!
> Then you can run LDF5-50 or larger through it with the connectors on!
> :-)
> 73,
> Gordon Beattie, W2TTT
> 201.314.6964
> w2ttt at arrl.net
> w2ttt at att.com
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mobile-portable-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:mobile-portable-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of paul goble
> Sent: Tuesday, 29 November, 2005 23:17
> To: Mobile-Portable Reflector
> Subject: Re: [Mobile-Portable] thin antenna cable
> 
> On the lighter side:
> 
> There are those of us running LMR600 on 902 and 1296 MHz....
> 
> One might find it more practical to punch (greenlee) 3/4" holes in the
> FLOOR of one's vehicle, running cable through "rubber" body plugs (great
> weather seal).  "N" connectors don't fit thru the 3/4" hole and must be
> installed after running the cable.  Then mount antennas on brackets
> mounted to strong points under one's car and run aforementioned coax up
> the mast to antennas.
> 
> .....of course, it's just easier to drive a pickup and not worry about
> cosmetics - HIHI!
> 
> On the other hand, if it's for FM, why worry?  6-10dB is of only minor
> consideration on FM since it is a STRONG signal mode.....use a
> "thru-the-glass" vertical and forget about real antennas.....
> 
> Oh, just to keep stirring this particular pot, remember that "REAL
> mobile antennas are omnidirectional".
> 
> OK, so I kid a lot, but the disparaging remark about FM stands - HI!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Paul ND2X/5
> 
> W6OAL at aol.com wrote:
> >
> > Walter,
> >
> >     As you are experiencing mobile antennas and mobile  operation is a
> > compromise in the first place. It would behoove you to get  antennas and
> cables as
> > far from the engine compartment as possible. I have an  Izusu Trooper
> (SUV) in
> > which I run an FT-897 and operate 40M thru 70cm. My  thing is to run the
> > cables (RF) RG-400 and/or RG-142. They are fairly low  loss. I don't know
> about
> > using that ultra thin stuff, much power and it seems to  me that one might
> have a
> > fire to contend with. The dielectric of what I use is  solid Teflon. The
> > shield is a tightly woven silver washed copper braid. These  go from the
> rig back
> > along the drive shaft tunnel and under the back seat  to the rear hatch
> (door
> > -whatever), up the hinge channel and under the rubber  gasket to my
> antennas
> > which are mounted on some Comet (many degrees of freedom)  mounts. That
> rubber
> > gasket fits over a seam of sorts. I have notched it with a  rat tail file
> to
> > accommodate the coaxes. Leakage is not or at least as of yet  has not been
> a
> > problem.
> >     And, so there might be a little loss. Your mobile  isn't going to be
> used
> > for any sort of competition work anyway so what is a  little loss here and
> > there. Look at some of these commercial mobile  installations, -6 dB is
> the norm
> > and acceptable loss in what they call a good  installation. You probably
> > won't have all that much even if you use RG-58.
> >
> > CU 73, Dave...
> >
> > Olde Antenna  Lab of Denver
> > David A. Clingerman, Sc.D.  (CEO)
> >
> > ----
> > Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, mobile-portable-owner at mailman.qth.net
> ----
> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, mobile-portable-owner at mailman.qth.net
> 
> ----
> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, mobile-portable-owner at mailman.qth.net