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 ince 1983, I have maintained a mobile station used mostly when traveling on the open road. It helps make long trips more bearable and is quite handy for standing schedule contacts when away from the home QTH.
Presently, I run an ICOM 706MkIIG with the RF deck mounted under the seat and the control panel remotely mounted on the dash. I find the high mounting position, approximately 20 degrees to the right of my normal path of vision, to be both convenient and less distracting than other mounting positions I have used in the past. A retracting cup-holder just below the rig makes a nice arm steadying device and rest while making fine frequency adjustments.
The antenna is the australian-made Outbacker Perth Plus mounted on the tool box. It allows operation on 80 thru 2 meters. In practice, I rarely use it below 20 meters except for the CW segment of 40. While the Outbacker is also employed for 6 meter work, I use a separate roof-mounted whip to jointly handle 2m, 70cm, and cellular phone.
Copper braid is used to connect the vehicle frame to the radio ground, antenna ground, exhaust piping and various body parts to aid in reducing electrical noise. A noise filter is also installed under the hood. How ever, the improved noise blanker of the MkIIG accompanied by it's Digital Signal Processing, do more to reduce electrical noise than all the other precautions combined.
During late 1999, I began experimenting with mobile CW operations. I tend do so only during long trips on uncongested roads. A little difficult to get used to at first, I find that I am adapting quickly and it becomes more enjoyable all the time.
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