My mobile station is operational on the 40m through 2m amateur bands and the 27 MHz Citizen's Band. I commute an average of 32 miles each way to and from work. Because of the heavy traffic and seemingly constant road construction, my commute averages an hour each way, and even longer if the weather's bad or there's an accident on the highway. If I didn't have a mobile station, the time I spend commuting would otherwise be wasted. So, instead of stewing about the traffic conditions or listening to depressing news reports on the broadcast radio, I happily tune the bands in search of contact with the outside world! It's a great cure for "road rage". My first choice is the HF radio. My 2m FM operating is generally limited to Skywarn and other public service activities, although I do dial up the local repeaters for a chat from time to time. On road trips, I'll often have the 2m rig tuned to 146.52 MHz, waiting for possible calls from other motoring hams who've spotted my license plates or antennas. The CB radio comes in very handy when the traffic gets heavy. Listening to the truckers talk about traffic tie-ups helps me figure out an alternate route when my normal route is backed up.
THE VEHICLE:
My vehicle
is a 2003
Ford
F-150 XLT extended cab pickup truck. It's roomy, quiet,
comfortable, and built Ford tough, and it has plenty of space
for installing radios. As I mentioned above, my "mobile shack"
is operational on 40m through 2m. All of my amateur radio antennas
are installed on the diamondplate aluminum toolbox that I have mounted
across the front end of the pickup bed.
My CB antenna is installed on the left front fender.
HF transceiver:
On the HF bands and 6 meters, I use the fabulous
Icom
IC-7000 transceiver. At the moment, I'm not making use of the
rig's 2m and 70 cm capabilities, although I may add the
necessary antennas at some point. I mounted the rig's
front panel
at the top center of the dash, above the CD player, using the
factory separation kit. The Icom mount is attached to a homemade
metal bracket arrangement that is in turn attached to the plastic
dash panel.
The control cable passes through a vinyl grommet and disappears
into the dash, continuing down through the dash to the left side
of the floor, behind the kick panel, into the cable raceway along
the left side of the cab floor, emerging behind the rear edge of
the driver's seat, and then up under the seat to the
7000's main chassis, which sits on the floor under the driver's seat. The
microphone
is located on the left side of the center console, within easy
reach of the driver, but completely out of the way when not in use.
To accomplish this, I used connected an Icom OPC-647 extension cable
to the mic jack on the rear panel of the 7000's main chassis, and
mounted the other end of the cable to the side of the console.
DC power comes directly from the vehicle battery via #12 AWG wire.
The antenna feedline comes up through the floor under the driver's
seat via a rubber access plug that Ford conveniently put there.
The control panel is angled toward the driver's seat for the best
viewing of the display. With the control panel mounted where I
have it, I can easily see the display and access all of the
controls without taking my eyes completely off the road - an
important consideration when driving in the dangerous Dallas
rush hour traffic. The panel can also be swiveled around to face
the passenger seat.
I listen through a Radio Shack 4" CB-type
external speaker.
The speaker's mounting bracket is attached to a
plastic drinking cup
(from Razzoo's Cajun Restaurant) that fits in either of the two
drink holders on the F-150's center console. The speaker is
easily removable when I'm not using the radio - I just lift the
cup out of the drink holder and lay the whole thing on the floor.
My HF antenna is an
Outbacker
Perth with the matching OB-SB spring and base. I've owned this
Outbacker for many years and have used it on three different
vehicles. Although it wasn't cheap, this antenna is as tough
as they come, and it performs very well for me. I have the
3-1/2 foot stinger set at a point where I can simply select a
band tap from 40 through 10 meters without having to adjust
the stinger. I'm not a fan of 75 meters, so I haven't bothered
to set up the antenna for that band. The OB-SB base is mounted
on an aluminum L-bracket that's bolted to the truck's toolbox.
The bracket was salvaged from an trucker-style CB antenna.
On 6 meters, I use a WD4BUM Ham-Stick antenna. It is mounted on
the right-hand side of the toolbox on an aluminum L-bracket, also
salvaged from an old CB antenna.
2 Meter FM transceiver:
My 2 meter rig
is a
Kenwood
TM-261A 50 Watt FM transceiver. I've owned it for many trouble-free
years. The 261A's receiver is virtually immune to intermod.
I can drive around anywhere in Dallas and not hear a peep
from out-of-band signals (and believe me, we have plenty of
high-powered VHF pager and radio transmitters in Dallas!).
The TM-261A is an outstanding choice in a 2m FM transceiver
because of its low price and superb performance. It's been
discontinued for a while now, but good used ones can be bought for
$100 or less. I highly recommend the TM-261A. The external speaker
is a 4" Radio Shack unit of the same type that I'm using on HF.
My 2m antenna is a classic 5/8 wave
Larsen
NMO-150. It's hard to beat a commercial-grade Larsen for performance,
dependability, and durability.
Citizen's Band transceiver:
My CB radio is a 1980s vintage Cobra 146GTL 40-channel AM/SSB unit.
It's rather scruffy looking, but it works quite well and I don't
have much money tied up in it. It has a decent receiver with
astonishingly effective ANL and noise blanker circuitry. And in
case you're wondering, the radio is 100 percent legal and has
not been messed with. My CB antenna is a professional grade Hustler
HQ-27. This classic antenna has been around virtually unchanged
since the early 1970s. Once again, it's hard to beat a commercial
grade antenna for performance, dependability, and durability. It is
56" tall, center-loaded, and made of stainless steel. The antenna is
mounted on the left front fender near the cowl on a commercially-made
stainless steel bracket that was specially designed to fit 1997 - 2003
Ford pickups and Expeditions.
INSTALLATION NOTES:
The DC power leads to the radios and the coax cable for the
2m and CB antennas pass through a
rubber access plug
in the firewall. I just cut a slit in the plug with a
hobby knife and ran my wires through. Both the positive and
negative leads are run straight to the battery.
I have fuses in both the positive and negative leads at the
source end to protect against fire in case a power lead should
become shorted to ground somewhere between the source and the
transceiver. I *never* use the vehicle body or chassis as the
return path for my DC power! Doing so just begs for noise to
be introduced onto the power leads! I also *never* power any
mobile radio gear from the fuse panel or cigar lighter, with
the exception of occasionally powering a 2m handheld from a
rental car cigar lighter using a filtered, fused plug.
NOISE ISSUES:
For whatever reason, I have not experienced the well-known Ford
fuel pump noise problem with this truck. This may be due to the
fact that Ford recently went back to using metal fuel tanks,
replacing the plastic tanks that they had been using for several
years. I do have a lot of noise from the electronic fuel injectors,
but the 7000's noise blanker brings it down to a manageable
level. I haven't yet attempted to reduce or eliminate the noise,
but I am pursuing it. I have contacted Ford to see if they have
issued any service bulletins on this subject. Actually, my
biggest noise issue comes from outside the vehicle, in the form
of static from power lines, neon signs, fluorescent lights, and
noisy electronics in other vehicles (which is a serious problem
when you're stuck in stop-and-go traffic on a 10-lane freeway
at rush hour). I've also noticed a bit of hash on the CB coming
from the truck's master computer, but its amplitude is very low
and the ANL and NB make it vanish.
I'VE BEEN AT THIS A WHILE...
I've been operating HF mobile on and off since the late 1970s,
from many different vehicles, using many different rigs and
antennas. In addition to the 7000, at one time or another
I've used the following HF rigs in the mobile
(not listed in any particular order): Icom 706 Mark 2G, Alinco
DX-70T; Ten-Tec Scout; Kenwood TS-130S, TS-430S, TS-440S, and
TS-520S; Yaesu FT-757GX; Uniden HR-2510 and HR-2600; Realistic
HTX-100; Icom IC-730; and numerous CB radios converted to 10
meters. I've used many different antennas too: modified CB antennas
on 10 meters; a classic 1950s Webster Bandspanner; a Valor
Pro-Am 40 meter whip (similar to a Ham-Stick); a Hustler mast
and resonators; a WA5UHT Texas Bugcatcher; the Outbacker Perth;
and probably others that I can't recall. Don't ask me which one
worked the best, because I honestly never kept score, and the
installation varied from vehicle to vehicle. I do know that
I'm having great success with the Outbacker Perth, and I highly
recommend it for its durability and performance. By the way, the
Outbacker name is not just "catchy". I have traveled the roads of
the Australian outback, and I was amazed at the number of commercial
Outbacker antennas are in use on tour buses, long-haul trucks,
and other commercial vehicles. When the nearest town might be
100 km or more away, you need a dependable antenna, and the
Outbacker is it! If you can stand the physical size and ungainly
looks, a Texas Bugcatcher is hard to beat, especially if you can
find one of the ones made back in the 1980s by WA5UHT. I always
opt for an antenna that requires no electric power and has no
moving parts (which means no "screwdrivers"). That means no
"band hopping", but I can always pull over and change taps on
the Outbacker if I really feel the need. (gee, how did ham radio
survive for all those decades without motorized antennas?)
MY OPERATING SCHEDULE:
I'm usually on the air on weekdays from 0615 to 0700 Central
time, and again some time between 1630 and 1830 Central time,
depending on when I get out of the office for the day. Most
mornings, I'm on 40 meter SSB, often at 7169 KHz. In the
afternoons, I'll be on whatever band is the most active.
I really enjoy working
other mobile stations. It's always fun comparing rigs,
antennas, and operating and installation tips with other
mobileers. A bit of DX thrown in makes it even more fun.
I even do my best to crack the DX pileups using the 7000's
split frequency capabilities (and I've surprised many DX
stations with my mobile signal, often walking right over
the fixed stations!). I hope to meet up with you some time
while operating HF mobile! Thanks for reading!
