VHF antennas are 5/8 wave Sinclair
Blue Sea 12-position blade fuse
panel is
Part number 5034
The
12v feeder cables are #6 AWG
Mounted on a piece of 1/2" Lexan material, the distribution panel is located
under the rear passenger seat.
The switch box on the left controls the Trimble dual-port commercial GPS
tracking system linking to both the dual band radio and the laptop computer.
All fittings are soldered and covered with
thick wall adhesive release shrink tubing
This is the bracket that supports everything. It is secured to the
mounting bolts for the
passenger seat
A customized Gamber Johnson
laptop mount in the passenger area
In the engine compartment a
Bussmann waterproof 60amp
reset or manual breaker is used.
It's identical to this 80amp version
(from the mfg's catalog).
The radios are a Kenwood D-710A dual
band (VHF-UHF) with built in APRS,
a Kenwood TS-480 for HF and a
Kenwood TK-780 for my commercial work
Stainless mounting brackets
The grounding strap from the hood spring
is tied to the antenna mounting bracket.
This eliminated some minor alternator
whine in the VHF / UHF transmit audio.
Near the tip of the exhaust pipe
there is anther ground strap
connection -- primarily for HF
There are several extra lighter plugs
in the vehicle. All are a marine grade.
These long cables are on the
passenger floor and prove handy
for numerous situations.
The system ground for the in-vehicle
12-position fuse panel is taken directly
off the body panel ground and not the
negative battery post.
The power cables are run in split loom
High Sierra AntennAs -
HS-1800/Pro antenna
installation
Mounting post for the HF antenna is
1" OD (Schedule 40) pipe that has
been set into the square tubing
and welded in place
The mounting system is a 1/8" steel plate suspended hanger (bolted to the
underside of the bumper) that directly supports 24" of 2.25"
square tubing
receiver and 36" of 2" square tubing
insert for the mount.
This is a very solid mount for the
High Sierra HF antenna!
Underside view of the "C-shaped"
suspended hanger mount.
Starting at the factory knock-out plug (for trailer wiring) located under the drivers side rear of the vehicle sheet metal, a 1.125" hole was drilled and a 0.75" bulkhead compression electrical fitting was inserted to route the RG-213 and motor control cable into the vehicle. The ground connection is visible on the diagonal brace. All the metal is clean, so connections are as good as it gets under a vehicle. Cully RTV sealant was pumped under pressure into the bulkhead fitting tube to ensure a waterproof cable entry point.
This was the first layout
An Amphenol right-angle adapter was added to the bottom of the antenna mount to facilitate connection of the RG213 coax cable. The connection is sealed with shrink-tubing and the entire area is coated with Starbrite liquid tape for a waterproof seal.
The antenna has a near 1:1 SWR across a large portion of most bands. Is the 100 watt installation capable of working DX outside of North America -- again the answer is YES! The first contact (while sitting in the driveway) was Chris, 9Y4D who gave the installation a very favorable signal report. Here is a small section of my /m logbook from the recent Scandinavian Activity Contest:
Last modified
November 07, 2008
by Paul B. Peters,
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Copyright © 2000 -2007 Paul B. Peters, VE7BZ. All rights reserved.
