Ham Radio Antenna

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JimReed

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I am new to HAM radio and looking to install a radio/antenna in a 2014 1500 crew and was wondering if anyone had HAM or other radio experience and any suggestions on antenna placement and cable run to the antenna without having to drill? Much appreciated.
 

BWL

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You can get a fender mount bracket and run through the firewall to the engine bay. I just have a mag mount one and I plug it in when I need it and just run out the door. It semi seals with the door seal. It does result in a bit of water following the cable in when it rains though so I take it off when not in use or to fit in the garage.
 

AFMoulton

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farmallboy

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Currently waiting on the fcc....passed my test 1/12. The word impatient comes to mind lol.

I used a fender mount. One on either side. One for scanner one for my icom.

Obviously I cannot speak for my transmit capability but my swr is great and reception is all day strong. I just couldn't bring myself to drill a hole in the roof of a new truck. We shall see, I'm not looking to make national or even statewide contacts while mobile. My goal is local repeater access while on the move and ability to pickup even more when traveling farther.

Again, obviously I'm very green behind the ears, I hope my above goals will be accomplished without a higher mounted antenna which I do understand to be a better solution.
 

AFMoulton

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Currently waiting on the fcc....passed my test 1/12. The word impatient comes to mind lol.

I used a fender mount. One on either side. One for scanner one for my icom.

Obviously I cannot speak for my transmit capability but my swr is great and reception is all day strong. I just couldn't bring myself to drill a hole in the roof of a new truck. We shall see, I'm not looking to make national or even statewide contacts while mobile. My goal is local repeater access while on the move and ability to pickup even more when traveling farther.

Again, obviously I'm very green behind the ears, I hope my above goals will be accomplished without a higher mounted antenna which I do understand to be a better solution.

I’d reach out to the guys who did your exam and find out when they sent in your documents. If they mailed them, it could be a while, but if they sent them electronically it should be much quicker.

Good Luck and Welcome.

KD5ZPN


2018 Ram 2500 6.4L 4x4
Amsoil SS 0W-40
 

U&A

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Currently waiting on the fcc....passed my test 1/12. The word impatient comes to mind lol.

I used a fender mount. One on either side. One for scanner one for my icom.

Obviously I cannot speak for my transmit capability but my swr is great and reception is all day strong. I just couldn't bring myself to drill a hole in the roof of a new truck. We shall see, I'm not looking to make national or even statewide contacts while mobile. My goal is local repeater access while on the move and ability to pickup even more when traveling farther.

Again, obviously I'm very green behind the ears, I hope my above goals will be accomplished without a higher mounted antenna which I do understand to be a better solution.

NICE ! Glad you are getting into ham. Bottom line it has been and will be a very reliable means of communication in emergency’s...Ask Jeff[emoji16]



I did exactly as Jeff said. Started with the fender mount as pictured. Think I installed that the last week of may and by December had a 3/4” hole in my roof for an NMO antenna mount.

Your radio and antenna are using your entire vehicle as an antenna. So if you think about it like this with the antenna off to the side and upfront on the vehicle (fender mount) will actually be a very uneven ground plane for your antenna. That will absolutely reduced its potential.

Your ground plain regardless of where the antenna is mounted on the vehicle will be a reflective surface for RF. Transmiting and receiving.

Now this is my opinion, I would think you’re getting a much better ground for your antenna when doing the NMO directly in the sheet-metal of the truck.

My only reason for moving the antenna to the roof was I figured as much money as I put into the truck radio I want to get maximum potential for that investment. Im super glade i did it. Thanks jeff[emoji3526][emoji3526]

Good luck OP and remember, we are not telling you what to do. Just giving our advice. Rock the fender mount if it tickles your fancy. It worked great when i had it.

Post pictures of your final setup!!

Here is mine
0bf38d96629d82c418f2fb0be2bb8f6f.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

farmallboy

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I’d reach out to the guys who did your exam and find out when they sent in your documents. If they mailed them, it could be a while, but if they sent them electronically it should be much quicker.

Good Luck and Welcome.

KD5ZPN


2018 Ram 2500 6.4L 4x4
Amsoil SS 0W-40

Assuming by mail. It's an older club.

Thanks for that. I've been running scanners for a year now and because of COVID and the first child coming I just finally got tested. Drove an hour for it lol but excited to get active. I'm a nerd and my career is web based development so this has fit right into my interests.
 

farmallboy

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NICE ! Glad you are getting into ham. Bottom line it has been and will be a very reliable means of communication in emergency’s...Ask Jeff[emoji16]



I did exactly as Jeff said. Started with the fender mount as pictured. Think I installed that the last week of may and by December had a 3/4” hole in my roof for an NMO antenna mount.

Your radio and antenna are using your entire vehicle as an antenna. So if you think about it like this with the antenna off to the side and upfront on the vehicle (fender mount) will actually be a very uneven ground plane for your antenna. That will absolutely reduced its potential.

Your ground plain regardless of where the antenna is mounted on the vehicle will be a reflective surface for RF. Transmiting and receiving.

Now this is my opinion, I would think you’re getting a much better ground for your antenna when doing the NMO directly in the sheet-metal of the truck.

My only reason for moving the antenna to the roof was I figured as much money as I put into the truck radio I want to get maximum potential for that investment. Im super glade i did it. Thanks jeff[emoji3526][emoji3526]

Good luck OP and remember, we are not telling you what to do. Just giving our advice. Rock the fender mount if it tickles your fancy. It worked great when i had it.

Post pictures of your final setup!!

Here is mine
0bf38d96629d82c418f2fb0be2bb8f6f.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Super excited to get on the air. CB is cute....haha.

What rig is in your...rig lol what radio is in the truck? I have an 8 month old at home so I went cheap but not too cheap. Got an icom 2730a.(don't think I mentioned that yet). I figure I'll give it a year or two and go for general and save up for a 991 for home base. Cover a lot of stuff that way.
 

U&A

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Super excited to get on the air. CB is cute....haha.

What rig is in your...rig lol what radio is in the truck? I have an 8 month old at home so I went cheap but not too cheap. Got an icom 2730a.(don't think I mentioned that yet). I figure I'll give it a year or two and go for general and save up for a 991 for home base. Cover a lot of stuff that way.

I have the 2730a in my truck as well as a base station [emoji1787][emoji23]


Don’t let the name fool you. This is a very durable radio. Through hole construction on the board as well

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

farmallboy

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I have the 2730a in my truck as well as a base station [emoji1787][emoji23]


Don’t let the name fool you. This is a very durable radio. Through hole construction on the board as well

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like I made a good choice then!

I was going to go cheaper but my hopes were for a nice base station and if this was gonna be a truck unit I wanted a pretty stealthy install. That separate controller is sweet! Icom ran some nice deals in December. Still waiting on a rebate but I basically got radio, controller mounting kit and software for 280$.
 

farmallboy

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33414116d448591c64d6ab2294e5a50a.jpg

HF is fun! I got an Icom 7000 for my Mobil ham radio rig, and I take it in the camper too.

My truck radio is an old Yaesu 7800. And the radio I’m replacing it with is either a Yaesu FTM-400 or the 8800.


2018 Ram 2500 6.4L 4x4
Amsoil SS 0W-40

Yeah the local club that's active a lot talk about shooting dx on hf a lot. I wanna eliminate a couple monthly payments before I make the jump. It will give me time to learn more and appreciate technician level.

That's a neat looking setup. Just painted pvc? Looks pretty sharp. You just move that unit vehicle to vehicle ? In your truck do you "lock" or mount it down to prevent movement in any way?
 

AFMoulton

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Yeah the local club that's active a lot talk about shooting dx on hf a lot. I wanna eliminate a couple monthly payments before I make the jump. It will give me time to learn more and appreciate technician level.

That's a neat looking setup. Just painted pvc? Looks pretty sharp. You just move that unit vehicle to vehicle ? In your truck do you "lock" or mount it down to prevent movement in any way?

No that is a house/camper set up. It’s painted PVC frame with some really awesome aluminum plates (thanks Kyle) that I mounted the radio/power supply and antenna tuner to. All it needs is 120v and an antenna.

HF while driving is very complicated and lots of vehicle modifications need to be made, extensive grounding done to get HF to work well.

Home base HF is much more straightforward.

HAM is great, and a great community.

We are glad to have you.


2018 Ram 2500 6.4L 4x4
Amsoil SS 0W-40
 

farmallboy

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No that is a house/camper set up. It’s painted PVC frame with some really awesome aluminum plates (thanks Kyle) that I mounted the radio/power supply and antenna tuner to. All it needs is 120v and an antenna.

HF while driving is very complicated and lots of vehicle modifications need to be made, extensive grounding done to get HF to work well.

Home base HF is much more straightforward.

HAM is great, and a great community.

We are glad to have you.


2018 Ram 2500 6.4L 4x4
Amsoil SS 0W-40

Cool build.

Yeah. From the research I have done that was my impression. When I go HF I'll be keeping that at home. I look forward to having mobile 2m capabilities. I banked all 2m/70cm repeaters within 40 miles from home. Truck is ready when I am!

Thank you. I like the sense of helpful and friendly people. Never really witnessed such a positive and welcoming group.
 

U&A

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I know a guy that has an hf in his van, a dual bander and a 11 meter.

He said he has mad HF contact with every continent but the Antarctic. He is on the road a lot though. Dude love to talk[emoji23]


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JimReed

JimReed

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To follow up with another question, is there any easy way through the firewall and has anyone powered their radio by connecting directly to the hot post in the fuse box in the engine compartment?

Congrats farmallboy, I am studying for the technician license now. Trying to read through the ARRL study guide but it has been many years since school so it has been fun...LOL
 

AFMoulton

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To follow up with another question, is there any easy way through the firewall and has anyone powered their radio by connecting directly to the hot post in the fuse box in the engine compartment?

Congrats farmallboy, I am studying for the technician license now. Trying to read through the ARRL study guide but it has been many years since school so it has been fun...LOL

There is a clutch delete plate in just about every truck right next to the brake pedal if you wanted to do that. Drill a hole and get a grommet.

I ran power from a hot line inside the cab, as I wanted not exterior extrusions except the antenna.


2018 Ram 2500 6.4L 4x4
Amsoil SS 0W-40
 

farmallboy

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To follow up with another question, is there any easy way through the firewall and has anyone powered their radio by connecting directly to the hot post in the fuse box in the engine compartment?

Congrats farmallboy, I am studying for the technician license now. Trying to read through the ARRL study guide but it has been many years since school so it has been fun...LOL

Thank ya!

I hear you on that. I graduated college about 6 years ago. Studying was a rude flash back lol. Not sure about you but I do like my phone for accomplishing tasks. I ram 2 different apps and would open them whenever downtime permitted. Last week before the test, I was spending an hour a night just running through the questions and doing practice tests.

And on topic, I ran a 4 awg to a inline fuse holder/splitter and ran 8 awg directly through the clutch plate to a fused distribution block. Same approach for my ground. That distribution block has my power cable for the icom wired directly. I wanted nice clean power and ground for this and potential 11m down the road.

Good luck on your test!
 
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