Ham Radio Operators

Show us your ham radio setup on your RIG

 

following!

 

Icom 2000 series. I have wiring, extension speaker, and antenna set up permanently in each of the two trucks.

I have one radio and the radio is under the pass seat attached with Velcro to the carpet:



and the head on a Ram mount:



With each truck having a Ram ball to mount the head to:



I swap the head and radio as needed between trucks; takes about 30 seconds since everything else is already in place. Radio generally lives in the Tacoma but I put it on the 4R for trips.

4Runner








Tacoma

 

Total noob with a lingering interest in getting a ham ticket. I use CB for comms between vehicles during group outings. Are there any multiband ham radios that include CB? Running multiple antennas would be ok, just wondering if one head unit could do it all.

 

Not legally AFAIK
...

Any radio that covered that probably isn't FCC type accepted. I think there's likely 11m rigs that are dual band and 11m is close to CB... but isn't.

I'm a pretty shitty HAM though, so I could be talking out my ass.

 

Not legally, and wouldn't be ideal. I've seen some of the little Chinese made radios that could be modified to work on CB, but then they were stuck in that mode unless un/re-modified. People were buying them and moding for CB, so they would have a slightly more powerful CB radio (which again, isn't legal). Also, most general traffic and repeaters use 2m/70cm bands, and while one might exist, I don't recall having seen a mobile radio that covered 2m/70cm and then also 11m.

If you still wanted to use CB, you're best bet would be to use two separate radios.

On that note though... it is far more common for people to use a modified radio that works for both 2m/70cm ham and FRS/GMRS, as GMRS borders 70cm and they're the same mode. Though it's still not legal, as the radios are not type certified for both (and also in the case of FRS, those channels are limited to .5 watt of power).

 

Ok thanks, the responses help clear things up.

 

Sorta, TYT-9800 can listen to CB band(27.00), and some say talk back, personally I havent been able to respond on mine so far, but I can def listen. I can also listen(illegal to respond, but I could/would in an emg.) to small aircraft(118.00-136.00) on my TYT, which is kinda fun out in the middle of nowhere Nevada, as theyre usually the only other humans around.

If all you want to do is communicate with your club/friends better off road...get a gmrs license(no test!) and use a "mini" version of Ham(462.00-467.00) which is still night and day above CB.

However, with all that said, getting your actual HAM license opens these radios up and lets you really use them in a emergency the way they were intended. Ive personally called in 2 forest fires(lightning strikes) that were responded to. 1 was another ham that responded to me, then called fire on the ph for me, and the other the Forest service in Id responded directly to me on the radio..... made it all (learning/testing) worth while!

 

That is awesome, and good motivation to do the test. I personnally like the idea of gmrs, but CBs are more available in my group.

 

@McSpazatron GMRS is also good option 70 dollar license fee per family supposed to go down to 35 soon. Range is approx 1-5 miles can be more depending on conditions, terrain and repeaters and agreed frequency.

 

Yaesu FT8900 w head unit mounted on the back of the console, 1/8" speaker cable plugged into the aux port of the truck stereo for better audio, Comet dual band w nmo mount on a ditch light bracket. Drilled the bracket for the antenna and actually had room for a Rigid ditch light on there as well.

Simplex has done 20+ miles to a 50' base station antenna on a good night. Repeater range has done 30+ miles in flat Florida and 40+ miles to mountain top repeaters in AZ.

Highly recommend the "Repeater Book" app before you leave cell phone coverage for pulling up stations in the area you intend to get "lost" in.

FYI: I think my ICOM base station 2730 mobile unit is more user friendly than the Yeasu, but I bought and installed the Yaesu in the truck years ago.

 

I have a similar opinion of the 8900. Before my 8900 I had a 7900, and the 7900 was a much more user friendly radio, and I really liked how they had the memory "speed dial" buttons setup on it... when I needed a new one, I got the 8900 thinking it would essentially be the same (just dual), but alas it was not. It's still a great radio, and the dual channel comes in handy sometimes, but if I had it to do over again, I'd of gotten another 7900.

 

Yea I had heard great things about the 8800, but it was discontinued about the same time I got my license. I had picked up an FT60 HH to get started and figured I would stay with something familiar, and the 8900 was the direct replacement for the 8800. But last year I bought my ICOM and realized the Yaesu isn't the easiest to navigate, but I keep the manual in the truck and make do.

As I got more familiar with radio ops in general I got more comfortable with the Yaesu, and your right it is a good radio. It's actually a quad band, but I opted to not try and tune a quad band antenna on my first mobile install. So I went with the Comet Dual Band (2m/70cm) antenna. The other two bands (6m/10m), aren't really going to be as readily active anyway.

By the way, Ground Plane tip: Flat braided ground strap helps a lot, especially for CB antennas. If you can't mount in the center of your roof and have to go with a fender or hatch mount, the straps help a lot. One from the antenna to the hood/hatch and one from the hood/hatch to the fender/body. I've got the whole front end of my truck bonded and it seems to work well.

73s everyone
KN4EHK

 

Here's my DMR mobile with stubby dual band magnetic mount antenna:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rg-akE6nHIMl6iaLn7WjMoHVYU3ysbuR/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YnT1R7DrmowCFyHCAEK7fLliBIYrHvnk/view?usp=sharing

 

Hey 4Runner forum goers. Coming to you all because not only are you all more knowledgeable than me when it comes to ham but also because you bought a 4Runner so that gives you all an extra kuddos point in my book.

I am studying for my technician license right now. Just going over basic electronics and I could be done studying in the next day or two. I do plan on sitting for my general exam at the same time.

Anyways to avoid a tangent. I am looking to get my first radio (yep I don’t even have one yet to listen). I am coming to you all for wisdom in this area about different devices you all recommend.

my desires… cw, uhf, vhf, hf and digital. I don’t want to buy multiple different devices and I don’t want a $3k machine. I would like to use it at home or in my car.

I appreciate you all taking the time to read my post. Thanks in advance for those that respond.

 

First radio that comes to mind to get you close to that (without dropping a ton of coin) is the Yaesu 8900r

 

The 8900 is a good rig. But, you will need to have a quad band antenna, or multiple antennas to take advantage of all 4 bands (2m, 6m, 10m, 70cm).
I use mine on 2m and 70cm with a dual band antenna getting good results. I've hit repeaters 25 miles away here in Florida, and mountain top repeaters in AZ up to 40-50 miles away.

Once installed properly as a mobile, it will be difficult to use this radio in your home IMHO. In my area, 6 and 10 meters are not very active either.
20m, 40m, and 80m are the most active on the HF bands, requiring a general license which you plan to get, but takes a good bit of research and planning to do this from a mobile unit. Most people primarily keep a mobile rig for 2m and 70cm, and set up an HF rig at home.

My advice is buy a HH and get on the air w your local repeaters first. That way your not out of pocket a lot of money to start with, and a HH is good to have for back up emergency comms anyway. Get to know the locals on those repeaters, and pick their brains for the best course of action for the type of comms you want to get into. Most hams are quite the electronics nerds and very helpful with advice about gear and the logistics of applications. You Tube has a bunch of good hams w good advice on there as well.

Good luck and 73s!
KN4 EHK

 

Here is a video going into a mobile HF as well as UHF, VHF mobile.
https://youtu.be/bJrIP4Xa19w

 

Thank you. Watched it. Sounds like 2 devices are required. Might just stick with gmrs or aprs. Kinda leaning toward aprs and I have someone that told me about kenwood TM-D710GA and I am kinda leaning that direction. Any thoughts on that one for overlanding, tacking gps locations and waypoints and such?

 

@GrantA I really don't know anything about APRS, but after watching some YT vids, it is very intriguing. Especially having internet capabilities and being able to ping geo locations while traveling. Wondering if it would be limited in remote areas though.
One thing I've used for navigation and had good luck with, is the GAIA app and this

$110 Dual Electronics XGPS150A Multipurpose Portable Universal Bluetooth GPS Receiver | Wide Area Augmentation System, Black

Dual XGPS unit paired with my tablet.

Being that I live close to the Kennedy Space Center, we have a long history of ham radio in this county, there are several dozen 2m and 70cm repeaters. So we don't have very many GMRS, and I haven't made any contacts on them. So I don't know much about those and what the range would be either.

I have been driving all over the country for work in the last year and a half, and have never had a problem finding a 2m or 70cm repeater in 90% of the areas I've traveled to. So that gives me a decent measure of emergency comms if I'm out in the wilderness.

 

Question for you Brett. I have an older iPad (one of the original versions we bought new - we spent the extra bucks and got it with cellular although we never use that feature) that I would like to use solely as a GPS display in the 4runner - is that little gadget above compatible with an older iPad? BTW, I live just a few miles north of you in T'ville. I'm also a HAM but not terribly active in it.

Mike
K4FXR

 

I’ll be honest didn’t read all the way through. We own two yaesu ftm400xdr and let’s just say they have dust on them that’s how often they get used. Gmrs seems to be king here because nearly anyone can use if your radio can use frs. But if you’re ever in the area and I just happen to have it turned on give me a yell. KO4BDC

 

Hey Neighbor! Check into the KSC net tonight at 730pm.
The repeater is on top of the VAB, so it has great coverage. N1KSC-444.925. It has a +5 MHz shift with a PL tone of 131.8. People have hit this thing with a HH from 15+ miles away.
I don't have any experience with ios, but the specs say it is compatible. I'm using a bluetooth gps app that connects the Dual to my older android tablet that did not have location ability. It also allows other devices and apps to connect to the Dual unit. Not sure if there is a compatible app with ios.

KN4 EHK

 

Yea it's pretty much the same here as well. So for those looking to do just truck to truck comms, GMRS might be a good alternative.
People I wheel with here don't have a Ham license for the most part so they use FRS radios between trucks. Some use the cheap Baofeng for the FRS channels, which is illegal, but in the middle of the forest, it's not that big of a deal.
I like being able to get out on the VHF and UHF bands if we have any type of emergency, because there are so many repeaters in Florida and pretty much around the country.
Also, here in Hurricane alley, cell towers go down all the time, so we have a good group of Hams that have drills and work with the LEOs, EMS, and EOC to keep comms up and running.
KN4 EHK

 

I just bought one of these devices to use down in Baja to prerun and race the 1000. It should work on anything that uses bluetooth. I used it for the original iPad air, which is old at this point.

It worked pretty good but we lost GPS a couple of times in canyons and my phone seemed to track better at times. I also had to turn off bluetooth and back on sometimes to get it to start tracking again. Also, make sure you have it switched to work for apple and not android, there is a small switch on the side and when I got it, it was switched to the android version and I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working.

 

For what it's worth, even though I possess a HAM license, most folks off road don't so we end up using the Baofeng 888s walkie-talkie which is incredibly cheap. They don't have any bells & whistles, no screen just a voice that tells you what channel you're on but they work fantastic. I've been using the same unit for years in TN when I'm off-road on my Rhino. And if you happen to be on an ATV where it's a little hard to take your hands of the handlebar you can get throat mics with a thumb switch to work in the Baofeng - cheap way to communicate.

$18 BAOFENG BF-888S Two-Way Radios (Pack of 2)

https://www.amazon.com/BAOFENG-BF-8...8?keywords=baofeng+888s&qid=1638482913&sr=8-4

$16 Klykon Throat Mic Microphone Covert Acoustic Tube Earpiece Headset with Finger PTT Compatible for Baofeng UV-5R BF-888S BF-F8HP BF-F9 UV-82 UV-82HP UV-82C Kenwood Walkie Talkies 2 Way Radio

https://www.amazon.com/Klykon-Micro...aofeng+throat+mic&qid=1638483207&sr=8-7-spons

K4FXR

 

What antennas are people using on their 4Runners for Ham?

 

Smart phone GPS has gotten a lot better in the last couple years, I guess even in Baja. I've never really had any trouble losing satellites, it's usually an android glitch that I have to deal with.
I guess if your moving at prerunner/race speeds in a canyon and it doesn't track as well as it should, that would explain the loss of signal. I was under the impression it locked into multiple satellites at a time. That is disappointing.
I've used it in a lot of places around the country including the NC and AZ mountains and had good luck, but up there I'm not moving at the speeds you are lol.
Would love to go down for the B1K someday, that and the KOH.

 

I was surprised the puck didn’t work as well as it should have. I think maybe if I tried resetting it it might have caught back up but it had problems twice during pre run and once during the race that I ended up using my phone for 75% of the race. Thankfully I had it ready to go. Just for the record: the canyon where we lost connection we were driving 5-10 mph, it was the rockiest section of the course and we weren’t trying to blast through it at all.
You post on RDC, right? I feel like I remember seeing your name there. I have yet to be KOH, plan to go this year. I spectate the 1000 every year, got lucky to race it this year.
Put them on your calendar and let’s make it happen!! (If only it’s that easy)

 

Yea that makes sense because most desert canyon sections are pretty technical, so I guess you wouldn't have been moving very quick. I'm going to start paying more attention to this device and see if I notice any glitches. Navigating in a race, you are way more reliant on it than most of us, so maybe I just never noticed it not locked in before.

What class did you race? That is way cool!!
I've been a fan of Desert racing for years, but living in Florida is not the place to be for a spectator. Luckily YT has quite a few Driver channels and highlight feeds. Trying to build a V8 4runner into a faux prerunner is difficult here as well. NO ONE knew what a prerunner bumper was lol. I had to walk my fab guy through the process, but it came out OK.

I have family south of Phoenix, so that would be a good place to stop for a few days, get organized, and make the jump across the border, or hit the KOH. Maybe one day I'll make it happen!

Yea I post on RDC. Love the platform that Klaus and Curtis have put together, those guys are great! I mostly go down the rabbit hole in "Purple" lol. But don't hold that against me ......