Best method for mounting an antenna is via a hole drilled in the roof. I understand in the USA the Larsen 2/70 NMO mount is very popular.

Personally I'd pony up the money for a dual band mobile radio with a removable head unit. Far better than trying to do it with a HT. Have the head unit on the dash, the main body of the radio in the trunk and you're good to go.

Yes Alan, we know your view on the mic mod.

I can hear with my own ears what difference it makes when monitoring myself on a WebSDR or getting someone to record me. Whether or not you agree with how it sounds is entirely a matter of personal choice. The AB5N mod does make a difference, adding a bit more clarity. A boost in the 2kHz range gives you better articulation which makes you easier to understand. Good TX audio does make a difference. Having good TX audio has allowed this station to bust pileups on many an occassion operating /M to stations including one over 8,000 miles away even though those in the pileups have been running 1.5kW into multi-element beams dozens of feet up on towers and I've been using 100W into my Little Tarheel II driving down the road.

Whilst it may defeat the noise cancelling nature of the microphone which I remain dubious as to how much increasing a hole by less than half a millimeter does, modern vehicles at least in the EU are quite quiet. Certainly nobody in the 2 years I've had a 7000 in the car has complained about background noise and I regularly hold QSOs at >70MPH.


Yes it will because the Icom 7000 doesn't have equalisation to tailor it to your voice and doesn't rebalance the audio when you alter the TBW unlike all the other Icom 7xxx series. If you think I'm wrong in that statement perhaps you'd like to take it up with Bob Heil who has worked directly with Icom on transmit audio and states that the Icom 7000 has a problem with TX audio and the stock mic due to the fact that the Icom 7000 doesn't have equalisation unlike all the other 7xxx and 7xx Pro series Icoms. He even goes as far as suggesting to use the ACC2 port on the back and use external equalisation to get good TX audio from the Icom 7000. If you watch Ham Nation episode 36 he explains it.

I think that when it comes to TX audio on the Icom 7000 that Bob Heil may know a little more than you do.

Seconded. My Icom 7000 NB is better than my Kenwood TS590. I think most 7xxx series Icoms are good. Flex also seems to have a very very good NB.

Alternatively look at something like a MFJ 1026 and put it inline.

In the UK we use self amalgamating tape which you then go over with PVC tape. You can just cut that off with a knife.

OK my 2c.

The TS480 is the best for HF only. Quieter receiver, better audio both TX and RX, clearer display you can see even in direct sunlight and easier to use.

The Icom IC7000 DOES NOT have bad audio once you've done the AB5N mic mod. It can be made to have good audio with the stock Chinese mic but the AB5N mod does make it better. Like Alan K0BG, I run low mic gain and NO compression. The HF RX audio on the Icom 7000 sounds muddy to me and I've yet to find a solution not involving external audio equipment to overcome that. Add a $50 Behringer Xenyx 802 and the problem is sorted but not really a solution for mobile. On VHF/UHF FM it seems fine.

My Icom 7000 is an early launch year production model with the 8kHz tone that has been abused and it works fine, no finals failure, no overheating. My only issue is the AGC issue they have where it will for no reason start clicking with a slow decay at set intervals. Turning on NB fixes it but that gives a slightly distorted RX audio output.

If you are going to be parked up when operating mobile, use the TS590. My TS590 will be going in my motorhome this summer.

I have had all three transceivers. I thought the TS480 was better than the FT950 until I used it for a straight 48hrs one contest and learned how to use it properly.

The FT950 needs tweaking all the time to get the best out of it unlike the Kenwoods.

If he is I think I wouldn't be buying a Scorpion Antenna any time in the future. Usually when a small company starts to do this kind of stuff in a field where things have been built for a decade or so using that tech it is because said company doing the suing isn't doing very well and is trying anything to get money coming in.

Still makes no sense. I'm on the same latitude as Canada and nobody I know has a rotator controller like this.

The audio is very good. I had one fitted to my TS590. You won't have any trouble understanding it.

Why would you?

For driving from A to B it pretty much will.

When I had the tailgate up on my Mondeo I couldn't get a match below 2.5:1 so it does have an affect to a certain point although I'd have thought that almost closed would be OK.

Looks like you're installing them OK so nothing to suggest in that respect although you really don't need to bare the metal. The idea of using the serrated washers is that it cuts through the zinc coating to the metal to make the contact then the zinc seals around the washer and keeps the anti-corrosion in place.

I will say though that I feel the performance on mine using a K400 on the hatch is dire compared to the previous install on my MK3 Mondeo where it was mounted by a 3/8 mount via hole drilled in the roof method. R is 27 Ohms when X=0 so that is about as good as it gets and I've made it to VK on 20m with 100w (I'm a full license holder but can't be bothered to change my call on here) so it works but it just seems harder to make contacts. The bottom half of the hatchback on mine is actually plastic with a metal frame which I only found out when trying to put on a magnetic GB sticker last summer.

Keep us informed.

I ran a Little Tarheel II with a 6ft whip on the middle of the roof of my 2004 Ford Mondeo with few issues and it hit a tree at least twice every time I left home and went under countless low height barriers as well. The 2010 Mondeo I have I feel would need a metal plate under the same point and I'd do that by finding a crash damaged one at a breakers yard and getting them to cut a section out of the roof where I intended to drill. My friend has a Vauxhall Astravan and even though the later model looks exactly the same, the roof is thinner so he'd need to do the same. I think using thinner grade steel is commonplace now to meet emissions and MPG requirements.

I did put something in my original post about a HF antenna which I deleted. That SUV is ideal for putting a small screwdriver antenna on the rear quarter mounted using a Breedlove mount. Come time to sell the vehicle, take it down the bodyshop and I know where I live £200 or so would see the holes filled and the panel sprayed and it'd look like the holes were never there.

I reported one Russian station in the CQ-WW contest last October. Apparently I wasn't the only one. 7kHz either side of his center frequency he was S9 and that was narrowing my TS590 down to 1.8kHz.

For VHF/UHF just drill a frickin hole in the roof, use a NMO mount and be done with it. When you come to sell the vehicle get a rubber grommet, paint it the same colour as the car and shove it in the hole. The roof is that high up off the floor I doubt anyone would notice or even bother checking.

I have a 2010 Ford Mondeo sedan which was 2 years old when I bought it. Got it home and the drill was out putting a hole in the roof that weekend. When I sell it I'll replace the dualbander with a colour coded shark fin style GPS/DAB antenna and sell that as a feature.