[Mobile-Portable] thin antenna cable

[Mark Schoonover]

Paul,

	How did you mount the antennas above the cab on the roof??

73

Mark
KA6WKE

paul goble <mailto:goblefam at swbell.net> tapped at Tuesday, November 29, 2005
9:43 PM:

> 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)


______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email 
______________________________________________________________________