1973 Dodge Power Wagon Install tips

[mrweather]

Anybody know of a great 2m nmo antenna? What would be better? A 1/2 wave? 5/8 wave? A single band or dual band?

What are you trying to accomplish? A 1/4 wave is about 19" tall and fairly stealthy. 5/8 will give you a bit more punch due to the "squished" radiation pattern towards the horizon. But it will be 50" tall or so.

As far as makes, I've have good success with Larsen antennas.

 

[W7NUK]

Alrighty! I have the radio now! I had my parents pick it up on Black Friday. Got an extra $5 off. I got a Larsen 150C 5/8 2m antenna which came with the nmo mount, UHF solder connector the other stuff. They also picked up some coax wrap which I may or may not use on my truck. I'll have to see how to install pans out to see if I want to use it. Otherwise I'll keep it for something else.

I'm enjoying using the radio so far. I have it hooked up to my pole outside using some scrap coax. And I have it running off of my ups's 12v 9ah battery. It works and is just temporary. It does have some quirks I don't like but so far nothing which will make me return it. So far it seems like I'm going ahead with the install as planned. Just need to ask some of the hams at the local club to see who would like to help install and tune the antenna.

I think I'm ready for this install! I've looked at as many mobile install blogs as I could stomach and researched anything else needed. Like soldering then uhf connector onto my coax. Which I have a 150w soldering iron(not gun) that will heat that sucker fast! I'm going to check in to the local net with it tonight. Looking forward to having it installed in my truck!

 

[W7NUK]

It is now installed! The radio is mounted on the dash by my right knee. It would not use the holes already there. So I drilled new ones. It's rock solid! It ain't going to go anywhere unless I make it. A ham guy at the club in Laramie Jim W9ANM helped me out. He built a bracket for the antenna since the post office delayed. It's a very strong mount. Only two out of four screws holding as without removing the hood I couldn't add all four. I'll add the rest tomorrow. So far it's held up to my driving home at 55mph in 40mph+ wind gusts. I'll also see about a contact wih it tomorrow. Maybe a repeater out of Cheyenne or Fort Collins as well.

Thanks again to Jim W9ANM for the help with the install. He helped me tune it as well.

 

[W7NUK]

Thanks to Brian KD7RQU for a signal report. There's no alternator whine! I was worried there would be and it would take forever to sort out. Thankfully not! And I sounded much better then any other time. (Well it was 5 watts at almost line of sight. So maybe a little cheating)

My dad helped me remove the hood hinge and install the remaining screws. I also wrapped my wiring harness in electrical tape to cover and protect the wires. Just so happens to have a side benefit of looking good. I also reinstalled my vent duct inside and pushed the coax and power lead up so as not interfer with anything. Looks great!

I'll post pictures. It will unfortunately be one at a time. Well enjoy! Thanks for the help everyone! Can't wait to be rolling and hamming. How could one not like that?

 

[W7NUK]

Sorry about the last being sideways. Not sure how I can adjust that on my iPad. What I used to take and post these images. This one is the engine bay. I wrapped the wires up to make them look good and help protect them. Notice my coax run behind the left hood hinge? It holds it out of the way of the hood and looks better. Also notice my fuse warts? Unfortunately I can do anything about them. Oh well. At least it looks half decent.

 

[W7NUK]

Here is my fender mount. It's a home made mount from Jim W9ANM since the post office delayed my pre made fender mount. It has four sheet metal screws into the fender. I believe its all 1/8". This mount will not come off! It will have to rip four screws out and I don't see that happening outside of hurricane force winds!

 

[W7NUK]

This next one is the radio mounted in the cab. It's right between the fuel gauge tank switch and the ash tray/cigarette lighter. I can use either one. The radio is not in the way. And my microphone clip is mounted using one screw that holds the center vent in. I only had to drill one small hole for the other screw. It's enough out of the way of everything yet I can reach it without having to lean forward. It also doesn't interfer with my shifter. As you can see there plenty of room to use either when in first gear as the photo shows.

 

[W7NUK]

This is just another view of the radio. What sucks is that I can't see the display while sitting back. But I can if I lean forward.

 

[KC5AKB]

Looks Great!