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eHam Forums / VHF / UHF / RE: Active repeater listing?
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on: Yesterday at 08:23:24 AM
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Welcome to the hobby  sounds like a normal state of affairs. The repeaters are there, there is just no one talking. You might try throwing your call out and see if you can stir up some "lurkers". Nice things about the 8800 is it has a lot on memory locations, and it scans fast. 73 Dave They work, but no one is ever on them. The other 5 are great.
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eHam Forums / Mobile Ham / RE: Dual Band Install in a 2013 Ford Explorer
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on: May 02, 2013, 08:44:06 AM
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Hard to give advice without an exact pic of your car, but a carmax image search shows a cubby below the radio/climate controls in front of the gear shift. How about a right angle bracket velcroed into that cubby holding the head, run the remote wire to the radio body vi a small access hole drilled through the back side of the cubby. You can even remote the mic by using a six conductor rj-12 telephone extension. I did this with my FT8900 in my 98 Jeep Liberty just be sure the extension is a straight through, not a cross-over. I have some pics towards the end of this album: https://plus.google.com/photos/108388273845581073968/albums/569393114840255886573 Dave
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eHam Forums / Antenna Restrictions / RE: Fake Palm Tree Low Bander
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on: April 29, 2013, 08:37:31 AM
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It's still there, though the trees have gotten a little bigger. Still sticks out like a sore thumb IMHO. There is a similar "tree" along I-25 in Colorado as you come to the top of Monument Hill between Denver and Colorado Springs. 73 Dave Back in the 1990's, near the Raleigh-Durham Airport on I-40, that was a fake tree cellphone tower. Only problem was that it was about 20 or 30 feet above the grove of trees!
A while back, QST had an article about a 2m antenna hid in a fake tree flower pot on somebody's balcony.
Randy Ka4nma
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eHam Forums / Misc / RE: RF and a PaceMaker
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on: April 22, 2013, 07:52:51 AM
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Pacemakers and the like are designed to reject interference pretty well. At those power levels I don't think I would worry too much, but 1. I'm not an engineer of those devices, and 2. nor am I a doctor. ;-) I can tell you I worked with a TV transmitter engineer/ antenna site manager who had a pacemaker and he never seemed to have an issues working around RF power levels hundreds of thousands of levels of magnitude greater, TV/AM and FM at the transmitter site. That said, what you should watch out for.. if your MIL starts flopping around like a fish when you key up you might want to stop.. or not depending on how well you get along :-D 73 Dave Just setting up shop and the Mother in law is moving in with a brand new pacemaker.
I run uhf/vhf under 10w (fm) and hf (10m) Under 100w, but mostly around 5-10w. The uhf/vhf ant is a jpole 3 ft above the dining room and the HF is a wire dipole run along the short side of the house, all for visibility reasons.
What are the odds of something going bad? What do I need to watch out for?
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eHam Forums / Mobile Ham / RE: JL Audio CleanSweep
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on: April 17, 2013, 07:03:52 AM
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I tried an FM micro transmitter and Aux in on the dash and was left seriously unimpressed. Spend $8 on a jetstream external speaker and shove it under the dash and enjoy, it's more than loud enough for most modern cars. If you drive a diesel get an amplified Motorola from e- whereever.com for a few bucks more. Using the built in sound system is a good idea in theory, in practice no one I know who have tried it liked it enough to keep using it.
73
Dave
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eHam Forums / Mobile Ham / RE: Dual-Band antenna mount on full-size van?
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on: February 26, 2013, 09:49:02 AM
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That was me  I have antennas on both sides of the Jeep that are tall (Larsen NMO 27 and a Maldol EX-510B). You are right, at first they were distracting, but now I don't notice them at all. 73 Dave an earlier post mentioned a hood seam mount. I use one. It works well enough, but I use a short 2m/440 whip on it becausea a longer one whips around in the turbulence and can be distracting while driving at speed. I keep a longer whip inside, to use if I'm ever in a situation when I need it. No holes drilled in my Honda Element at all - fabricated my own bracket, used antenna hardware and base from Comet.
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eHam Forums / Mobile Ham / RE: Yaesu 8900 AM mode
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on: January 25, 2013, 05:49:20 AM
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Thanks, The Maldol is a compromise antenna but performs well at 2/440. On 6m it is just OK. I'm going to try adding another diplexer to split out 2 and 6 from 440 and swap the Maldol for a Larsen NMO50 5/8ths wave 2m which loads very nicely as a 1/4 wave 6 meter antenna. I just need to punch a hole on the roof of the Jeep for the 440 whip when things warm up and I can find the time. 73 Dave Thanks Dave, sounds like a great antenna set up.
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eHam Forums / Mobile Ham / RE: Yaesu 8900 AM mode
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on: January 22, 2013, 11:02:05 AM
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I'm running a Larsen NMO27 shortened slightly for 10 meters, and a Maldol EX-510b NMO for 2, 6, and 440 through a Comet CF-360f diplexer. The 2 antennas perform reasonably well, and they just fit in the garage. 73 Dave Hey kj4obr Just curious which antenna you were using w/ your 8900 when you made those S american and European contacts? http://www.arrl.org/band-plan has information on what is where in the bands. I have an 8900 and have made contacts into eastern Europe and South America from North Carolina when conditions were right. Unfortunately, there is more activity on SSB most days even when the band is open. Unless you have a 10m repeater in your neighborhood, you can't sit and wait to hear people, get on 29.600 and start calling CQ you might be surprised who answers. 73 Dave Thanks WE7H. That make sense my feeble mind can grasp.
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eHam Forums / Mobile Ham / RE: Yaesu 8900 AM mode
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on: January 17, 2013, 08:17:27 AM
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http://www.arrl.org/band-plan has information on what is where in the bands. I have an 8900 and have made contacts into eastern Europe and South America from North Carolina when conditions were right. Unfortunately, there is more activity on SSB most days even when the band is open. Unless you have a 10m repeater in your neighborhood, you can't sit and wait to hear people, get on 29.600 and start calling CQ you might be surprised who answers. 73 Dave Thanks WE7H. That make sense my feeble mind can grasp.
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eHam Forums / Mobile Ham / RE: What is the cheapest way to add HF mobile? (low budget)
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on: January 17, 2013, 08:04:52 AM
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Used 8900's are running between north of $300. I have one, great FM rig, but if I had to do it again I'd save for a good all band rig. Around here there is very little activity on 6, and 10 FM tends to be a deserted land even when the band is open. Everyone is down lower on SSB. 73 Dave Getting the antenna right would be challenging. Finding a Yeasu FT 8900 would get you on 6 and 10 meters. The antennas would be reasonable.
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eHam Forums / Mobile Ham / RE: Yaesu 8900 antenna recommendations
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on: October 15, 2012, 11:10:36 AM
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I'm running a Larsen nmo27 for 10, and a Maldol ex510b nmo for 2, 6, and 440 through a comet cf-360f diplexer. Everything works very well, though in the spirit of experimentation, I'm planning to swap a Larsen nmo50 for 2 and 6 (5/8ths wave 2m loads nicely as a 1/4 wave 6m), add a 1/4 wave for 440 through a second diplexer. 73 Dave I currently have a diamond cr 8900 antenna.Can anyone recommend a better antenna or perhaps antenna's ? I wouldn't be opposed to a dedicated antenna for 10meters if that is recommended.
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eHam Forums / Elmers / RE: 6 meter FM activity
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on: June 09, 2012, 10:45:08 PM
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I have an 8900.. Like the radio a lot, 10 m is fun whent sol is on board. Have made exactly one contact on 6m fm in the 2 years I've had the radio. It was a 6 meter net on one of the 2 6m repeaters in the area. It was me and the net control op all alone. Ymmv, but I've not heard anyone on the call frequency ever here in Raleigh even though it is on my scan list. 73 Dave How much activity is there on 52.525 simplex during a band opening? I am wondering whether getting a FT8900 to do crossband repeat with 6m FM would be worth it for those times I am out of the shack. Or would I probably only make 2 or 3 QSOs with it during the summer Es season?
John AF5CC
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