Re-using antenna holes

[Ron C]

Cool! SSB is how I got interested in ham radio. Wish I lived closer, I'd tune that antenna for you!

I was looking for CB radios, to see what is out there now (last one I bought sits in My CJ5, and I think it died.). So I saw that CB SSB transmits at 12W, instead of the regular 4W which results in a larger coverage.

would be nice, the antenna tuning, but the only Bismarck I heard of is quite a ways

I am looking into having a ham/amateur radio in the Tahoe, it depends a bit on how much work the classes are and keeping up the licenses is.

 

[nofaz]

I've not used that antenna on this rig. I did use it on my 97' Yukon while we were deer hunting a few years ago.
I have a 'custom' antenna that I made for ham 2m that works really well on top of such a tall vehicle.
It's a Maxrad 5/8 wave base load that's been drilled out to accept the HD whip from an Antenna Specialists
ASP200. That whip is about twice the thickness of the stock Maxrad whip and does not flex much at highway
speeds.

 

[Ron C]

I've not used that antenna on this rig. I did use it on my 97' Yukon while we were deer hunting a few years ago.
I have a 'custom' antenna that I made for ham 2m that works really well on top of such a tall vehicle.
It's a Maxrad 5/8 wave base load that's been drilled out to accept the HD whip from an Antenna Specialists
ASP200. That whip is about twice the thickness of the stock Maxrad whip and does not flex much at highway
speeds.

That was one of the things I wondered abut, how much it would flex, and whack things. There are also the ones that have that spiral around it to prevent it from violently slapping around if it would hit it's mechanical eigen-frequency. I did see there's also a 24" firestick, wonder how well that would work. It was recommended to me, and it was fairly inexpensive, so if nothing else, because of the NMO mount, it would be easy to replace it.

 

[nofaz]

I was looking for CB radios, to see what is out there now (last one I bought sits in My CJ5, and I think it died.). So I saw that CB SSB transmits at 12W, instead of the regular 4W which results in a larger coverage.

would be nice, the antenna tuning, but the only Bismarck I heard of is quite a ways

I am looking into having a ham/amateur radio in the Tahoe, it depends a bit on how much work the classes are and keeping up the licenses is.

I'm a volunteer test administrator for the ham radio licenses. It takes 3 administrators to conduct a test session. There
lots of ways to study for the exam but if your interested in taking the practice exam get registered at QRZ.com and start taking their practice exam a few times a day. They use the actual questions that the exam is composed from.

Yeah Bismarck is probably a little ways away for a antenna test.

Ham rigs can be cheap or not, depends on what your after and what features you have to have. The rig I have in my Yukon is made by Kenwood and goes for around $400. Today you can get a radio that has similar features made in Korea for less than $100.

 

[Ron C]

I'm a volunteer test administrator for the ham radio licenses. It takes 3 administrators to conduct a test session. There
lots of ways to study for the exam but if your interested in taking the practice exam get registered at QRZ.com and start taking their practice exam a few times a day. They use the actual questions that the exam is composed from.

Yeah Bismarck is probably a little ways away for a antenna test.

Ham rigs can be cheap or not, depends on what your after and what features you have to have. The rig I have in my Yukon is made by Kenwood and goes for around $400. Today you can get a radio that has similar features made in Korea for less than $100.

That's cool, I know two guys that are into ham radio also. But for me it would be similar to a CB radio, just less busy and better quality/reach (and less longer antennas one can use I heard). Taking a class or studying for an exam is just not something I have a lot of time for, I take classes and courses for work all the time already. So it just depends on how 'easy' it is. (guy down the hall said it was pretty easy to do)
I noticed that equipment is pretty reasonable, don't know if I'd get the Korean model though...

 

[Ron C]

.... and all the antenna holes are in use again.

 

[PG01]

.... and all the antenna holes are in use again.

View attachment 188833

Is that a ptm sharkfin too?

 

[Ron C]

Is that a ptm sharkfin too?

No, for now it is just covering the hole, but I am planning on putting a GPS antenna in there, that works better than one in the dash board (I believe that's where it goes, if you have a navigation/radio system (which I am planning on). ... and I have no idea what a PTM is.

For now I covered the hole in the back with a CB antenna, the "antenna farm" said I could use the same cable and mount for an amateur radio (just needs a different plug probably.

 

[PG01]

No, for now it is just covering the hole, but I am planning on putting a GPS antenna in there, that works better than one in the dash board (I believe that's where it goes, if you have a navigation/radio system (which I am planning on). ... and I have no idea what a PTM is.

For now I covered the hole in the back with a CB antenna, the "antenna farm" said I could use the same cable and mount for an amateur radio (just needs a different plug probably.

Paint to match=ptm...

 

[Ron C]

Paint to match=ptm...

Ah, well, the color, the RPO code says, is "Olympic White", A guy selling two on eBay said it was the same color, and it seems like it is (I can't tell the difference if there is any). It's also not supposed to fade, or discolor in the sun/UV light. (which we kinda have up here)

For the CB antenna I got a "rain cap" too, so I can take the antenna off and put that cap on. (might even help saving lights at the gas station.)