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I'm approaching 9k miles since performing the TSB and no noise has returned. My Bronco is a farm rig and gets a lot of use towing near max capacity. Prior to the TSB, the noise was horrible at all temps. Since, no noise even when temps are in the teens. Why? No clue. Maybe clean living...

The relay isolates all the comm equipment and rear auxiliary battery from the charging system. It's rather embarrassing to drain the vehicles battery while having a chat on HF!! When using the amp, you have to have the engine running to support the voltage. It draws 80-90 amps on ssb voice...

Very nice solution! I generally find the Sat radio performance to be sucky just from the tree canopy, so this was a project after my HF radio install is complete. Thanks for saving me the research, just placed an order with Mouser for the parts. Bob WB6AGE

I like to use welding cable for these high current installs because of its great flexibility. This install will need to accommodate the addition of a 500 watt HF amp in the future, so the DC supply needs to be robust. I have used a lot of EPDM insulated cable in the past with no issues. It's...

The pan is all welded up and wearing a coat of paint. Next comes the baseplate and lid fabrication Have been collecting the welding cable and high current fuse blocks for the DC feed. Will be fabricating a plate/bracket to mount the blocks and disconnect relay in the engine compartment.

8,000 miles since the TSB and all is well. Mornings have been in the mid to low 30's overnight. Prior to the TSB, these temperatures would result in noises like a rock crusher with bad bearings. Have a read through my quotes for the full saga. Of course everything can go to hell tomorrow...

All the holes are done. Next job is to weld up the box and make it look pretty.

Did another test layout of the equipment in the tray. Looks like it will all fit with plenty of air circulation space. As I mentioned on an earlier post, an engine start drops the voltage low enough to bring in an undervoltage alarm on one of the radios. I needed to address this before...

Materials needed to fabricate the tray arrived this morning. Spent some fun time with the shear and metal brake to make the sides. Need to clean up the pieces and clamp together in prep for welding. But not today. Once all together, the next step will be to punch the holes for the various...

The silver box is the remote unit for the west mountain target tuner. The control box up front connects via a length of CAT5. The small battery is a work in progress. So far when powering my portable HF gear, I get low voltage alarms on the rig when the engine Start/Stop kicks in. That's not...

Started planning for where to mount the radios. The install will include a FT-891 for HF, an Alinco DR-735 for V/Uhf, a TargetTuner to manage the HF antenna, remote reading power/swr meter and a Signalink for digital. Only the control heads will be mounted up front. The bulk of the equipment...

Think about bringing along a push up fiberglass pole if you are going to be camped or stopped for awhile. It's easy to extend the whip with a wire supported by the pole. With my previous diamond screwdriver setup, I would be able to work the entire 160m band plus really enhance 80 and 40...

The antenna mount is complete. The coax and common mode choke is installed within the support tube and the tube, mount and tailgate are bonded to the steel tailgate door post discovered earlier. Bonding was by tinned braid strap cut to length and protected by shrink tube. All connections were...

You nailed it! One of our technicians, who was also a ham, used an "opened up" vhf transceiver to access our company radio system. Obviously the ham gear is not typed accepted for commercial service. He ended up writing the FCC a check, and as his employer, we were also named in the violation...

Ah! Hustler resonators!! We all seem to start there or with ham sticks!! I still have a full set of hustlers from 80 - 10, and still use them on occasion. They never seem to quit. Mine were all cast-off units or hamfest finds. What bracket did you use for mounting the control heads to the...

Post some glamour photos!!!

Not enough of a compromise to matter if your working repeaters or simplex in every day situations. We went from roof mounted to fender mount uhf antenna company trucks years ago just based on installation cost savings and resale value. No decernable coverage differences were noted in...

Think twice about the rooftop NMO mount. Started down that path twice and turned back. The interior ground plane under the sound deadening turned out to be more messy than I wanted to deal with. Think bonding an aluminum sheet to the roof exterior holds more promise. I ended up ordering the...

The ferrite came in this morning. The photos below show how the cable is centered inside the support tube by foam rings. The 8 ferrite beads are spaced between the foam rings. The coax shield will exit the tube at a right angle to the coax and will be bonded to the exterior of the tube. The...

Didn’t get as far as I would of liked to today, but I did explore the door (tailgate) post. Very easy to access by removing the trim which covers the hinge ares. Two 10mm bolts and four plastic expando screws and that's it. The post is steel!! Had expected aluminum, but magnets don't lie...