HAM Antenna

Looking a goods write up or ideas for installing a antenna for a ham radio..

Will

Reply to
Eartlink
Loading thread data ...

Need some ideas or a write up on the installation of antennas on 2001 wranglers...

Thank you.

Reply to
Eartlink

It all depends on what kind of antenna you are going to use, it is for

2m/440 or for HF use. A few in the group have made mounts that extend out from under the hood, Jerry B. or Jenn would be a good resource for this info.
Reply to
Kevin in Iowa

I think you would want one made out of metal. Ham isn't a very good RF radiator. Lots of attenuation and the dogs chew on them. ;)

Reply to
DougW

I've put 2 meter / 440 antennas through the flat fender next to the hood and my 10/11 and 6 meter antennas are on the back bumper. The endcaps have been removed for a decade now!

I highly unrecommend magnet mounts for any frequency.

-Scott

'97 TJ SE

Reply to
Scott in Baltimore

Reply to
L.W. (Bill) Hughes III

The "problem" with this info is it does not cover one of the bigger threats to car electronics or how to deal with it. One of the biggest potentail problems is a RF feedback through power leg of transceiver into cars electrical system. None of those tips deal with that. The way to combat that is to install a filter choke in power legs of transceiver to block it. I have done this for many years in many vehcle with Ham radio equipment and I have never had a problem even with cars that actually advise against it.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

DougW proclaimed:

As it gets a bit rancid, doesn't it also become spam?

Reply to
Lon

By "power leg" , do you mean the 12 volt wire for power ?

James

Reply to
James

You'd be amazed how much RF travels down the power line. The worst offenders are amplifiers. And high-power audio amps have DC-DC inverters in them that create mucho hash.

Reply to
Scott in Baltimore

Yes you are right, there is a lot of hash and RF going down them back into car. ALso, yes I am refering to the 12 volt power feed.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

You should always tap 2-way radio power DIRECTLY from the battery terminals. Make these leads fused.

tw

SnoMan wrote:

Reply to
twaldron

Reply to
James

Yes

Reply to
eric

Yes, there are DC booklets out there if you ask at the dealer. GM has had this booklet out for years:

formatting link
I did one contract for 9 years installing and servicing transmitter systems in a fleet of 200 delivery vehicles.

You 'really' need to stay away from the electrical system of the vehicle and run two fused lines directly to the battery for the transmitter like the GM booklet 'clearly' states. (some GM's have a nice power tap there, Jeeps don't)

If you use any of the vehicle's electrics, the vehicle warranty is void.

For a GM system you 'must' use 10 ga. wiring minimum for these power leads in order to not void the vehicle's warranty so I use twisted 10 ga. with the built in silk string cardboard condenser on all of them. (Type SJOW or SOW was recommended to me by Ericsson who made the transmitters I was installing, so I used it and never had RF issues.)

Fusing the negative line is very important because if the vehicle loses a ground for whatever reason. it can/will pull one through the transmitter and let the magic smoke out of the transmitter big time.

The routing of the wiring needs to be on the opposite side of the vehicle from the vehicle's harness and computer and should only cross it at right angles if you 'have' to cross over other wires. It is better to route the wire out to the front and cross the front top of the rad's brace then come back to the battery rather than run across the firewall where the rest of the wires run if you have to cross from side to side. (GM makes special note of this)

If you get the wiring too close to any vehicle systems, strange things happen like the ABS module fails, digital dashes go insane and in a TJ auto, as was reported on this group, the tranny can jump to neutral every time you key up.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile... Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06
formatting link
(More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)
Reply to
Mike Romain

Try this:

formatting link
Stu knows what he is talking about. Nice guy, very knowledgable. Go ahead and e-mail him for more info.

I dont have a permantent set up in my rig - I just use portables right now.

-jenn

Reply to
jbjeep

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.