My 3-Year-Old Ham, Plus a Handful of Radio Updates

A budding ham? My daughter Dee Dee, 3-1/2 years old. No, she wasn't transmitting.

 

 

 

I'm trying to figure a way to attach that mic to my dashboard. I don't want to stick Velcro to the mic. I'm thinking a small, V-shaped, metal wedge; Velcro that to the dash and clip the mic to that. In a previous post I showed the mic hung from another Bracketron bracket, but that's too precarious.

I did get my Tram dual-band 2m/70cm antenna up. It sits near the Tram scanner antenna; the coax runs 1) down the hatch rain channel (is that what you call it?), 2) to a drip loop, 3) into the cargo area, 4) through a fixed metal loop and under carpet, 5) between the seats and to the console up front. I’ve secured the coax runs to each other and a couple points in the car with black plastic zip ties.

I had to add 3' of coax, which I know leads to some signal loss, but the run is short and my needs are modest, so I'm not worried about it. Robbie at T & W Electronics in Grand Rapids spent a lot time talking to me while one of his guys created the extension for me. That is an outstanding store, if anyone in the Grand Rapids area is reading this. He says he's looking at carrying some Alincos.

He runs a repeater in town and I have it stored in my radio, though I haven't had a QSO with him yet. I'm so busy, a few minutes alone to do anything is a luxury some days. And for some reason my wife doesn't think much of radio, which I gather is common in the hobby (though I spend very little; I don't have a base stations and tower or anything like that, or go to hamventions or club meetings or train for emergencies, but I'd like to do some of those things).

I share the hookup info below because I didn't have a clue where to begin and did a lot of reading before purchased the antennas and ran the coax. It's not rocket science, but you don't know what you don't know, and when you're a beginner, you don't know anything. I still don't know much, but I make sure I know enough to do what I'm trying to do so I don't ruin my rig or look like an idiot :-) That second part is a challenge sometimes. Ask my wife.

Tram 1185 dual-band 2m/70cm ham antenna base with PL235 connector and BNC adapter, shown connected and not connected.

 

 

Magnet mount Tram 1185 antenna next to glass mount Tram 1199 all-band scanner antenna.

 

 

 

 

This picture shows the series of connectors I used to connect the Tram 1185 antenna to the Wouxun. Not ideal, could have done it a few different ways, but I like the results. The Wouxun has an SMA connector, but I wanted something I could connect and disconnect in seconds as I get in and out of the car, so I didn't want to deal with threads. The Tram ends in a PL235. I added a BNC female adapter threaded onto that. The BNC female adapter then connects to a BNC male that is always screwed on to the radio.

Of course, if I want to attach a rubber duck antenna for use outside the car, then I need to remove it all, so nothing is permanent. But this is easy enough that I'm not tempted to leave it in the car and avoid the hassle of disconnecting it.

I'd really like a permanent mobile rig that I can keep in the car and conceal. I plan to do that when I get a new car, but that won't be anytime soon. First car replacement will be for my wife (the crazy person that doesn't understand ham radios).

The 2003 Toyota Rav4 hatch/back door rain channel provides plenty of clearance to run coax from the rear of the roof to the floor of the cargo area.

 

 

 

 

In this picture, the coax coming down the rain channel is shaped into a small "U" (drip loop) before running into the back of the vehicle. It's held in place by a small, flat, strong magnet and loop of thin plastic-coated wire. It's probably strong enough to hold, but I plan to secure the wire to the magnet.

 

Ham Catalog Surgery

My HRO / Ham Radio Outlet winter catalog arrived some time back in need of some major surgery, which I provided upon arrival. The patient survived, albeit with some scarring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ham Radio Outlet / HRO now has a mobile app.

 Android app ; Apple app

Great start for a niche market. Looking forward to see where they take it from here.

 

Over at Herculodge , where I visit every day, there are frequent posts about "Rosebud radios," by which radiophiles mean their first radio, the one that introduced them to the hobby, the one they fell love with as a child and have since lost.[1]

This is my Rosebud radio, a JC Penney AM Table Radio and Alarm Clock Model 680-3410. It was very simple and cheap, as all radios were in my childhood home. All they were expected to do was play local stations, tell the correct time, and wake you up when you wanted to be woken up[2]. Nothing wrong with that. Most technology we rely on is just expected to be reliable.

Although this is the first radio I can remember being my own, I can't say it's a true Rosebud, because I wouldn't make the effort to buy one for sentimental reasons. However, there is one sort of like this from Kmart that sat on top of our refrigerator, and if I can find one of those, I'll share. That was a family radio, and the one that introduced me to Paul Harvey, Art Linkletter, and a daily talk show hosted by the son of a patient tended by my mother in geriatric nursing home (I don't recall his name just now).

[1]
Rumor has it that "Rosebud" was a nickname Randolph Hearst used for a certain part of his mistress's anatomy. Use your imagination. It's difficult to not think about it once the idea is planted. Then again, I can think of worse things to have stuck in your head.

[2]
Grammatical? This usage is common in my speech community. My guess is that "awakened" is more common.

Started: 2012-02-02