Hello all,
My work truck has a Kenwood NX-700 paired with what I believe is a Laird B1443 Antenna (would have to confirm). Simplex range is rather poor. Maybe 3 miles. Reception from our towers is fairly good, but I am having issues with transmit power (reaching towers) in that regard. (we operate on freq 160-161mhz)
I am unsure of how or where the 12v power source and ground have been sourced, or how many splice points there is. I am sure that it is not direct to battery +, and i suspect ground has been sourced somewhere under the dash. As for the antenna, again, I am unsure of how the coax has been routed, if there is tight coils,, or if there is any splices/extensions in the run. However the radio power feed and coax do emerge from the same location in the dash so possible interference being introduced to the coax. Also notable is antenna location. It is up high on the roof of the truck, however it is mounted with a drilled NMO mount fitted to an ACARI 01 third brake light mount ACARI 01 Series – ACARI Products
This mount is not bonded to the truck chassis is any way. It is fully insulated from chassis.
What I plan to do is run new 12gauge 12v and ground runs to power the radio, directly to battery +, fused at battery course, and ground where battery - is bonded to the truck chassis. Further, replace the antenna coax with a new cable and run separate and away from other wires as best as possible and not have any of the extra coax coiled up.
Looking for some insight from some experienced members on if this course of action is likely improve radio performance. (I need to confirm antenna model, I am not certain that is is infact a B1443, which I believe is a no ground place antenna) If the antenna is not a no ground plane antenna, will adding a braided bond between the ACARI aluminum body and the truck chassis be sufficient to provide the antenna with a ground plane?
It is frustrating that we have older steel body trucks in the fleet with the same radio and a magnet mount antenna slapped on the corner of the roof that are getting 3x better range.
Thanks for any help,
21Actual
My work truck has a Kenwood NX-700 paired with what I believe is a Laird B1443 Antenna (would have to confirm). Simplex range is rather poor. Maybe 3 miles. Reception from our towers is fairly good, but I am having issues with transmit power (reaching towers) in that regard. (we operate on freq 160-161mhz)
I am unsure of how or where the 12v power source and ground have been sourced, or how many splice points there is. I am sure that it is not direct to battery +, and i suspect ground has been sourced somewhere under the dash. As for the antenna, again, I am unsure of how the coax has been routed, if there is tight coils,, or if there is any splices/extensions in the run. However the radio power feed and coax do emerge from the same location in the dash so possible interference being introduced to the coax. Also notable is antenna location. It is up high on the roof of the truck, however it is mounted with a drilled NMO mount fitted to an ACARI 01 third brake light mount ACARI 01 Series – ACARI Products
This mount is not bonded to the truck chassis is any way. It is fully insulated from chassis.
What I plan to do is run new 12gauge 12v and ground runs to power the radio, directly to battery +, fused at battery course, and ground where battery - is bonded to the truck chassis. Further, replace the antenna coax with a new cable and run separate and away from other wires as best as possible and not have any of the extra coax coiled up.
Looking for some insight from some experienced members on if this course of action is likely improve radio performance. (I need to confirm antenna model, I am not certain that is is infact a B1443, which I believe is a no ground place antenna) If the antenna is not a no ground plane antenna, will adding a braided bond between the ACARI aluminum body and the truck chassis be sufficient to provide the antenna with a ground plane?
It is frustrating that we have older steel body trucks in the fleet with the same radio and a magnet mount antenna slapped on the corner of the roof that are getting 3x better range.
Thanks for any help,
21Actual