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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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?

 

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

 

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.

$19 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?

 

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)

 

Class 5. We had 4 total entries, we were leading until we tried to pass a slower car that started in front of us in a different class and we hit their right rear with our front left and bent the tie rod and arms. Took a couple hours for the team to replace all the bent parts but got the finish.

Purple is like a drug...I have been avoiding it as of late.

 

Brett - I monitored the KSC repeater last night and listened for your call sign - didn't hear ya but I may have just been in la la land and missed it. Heard some chatter about antennas and trying to reach the Tampa Bay area. Ok, this is off topic but just wanted you to know I didn't ignore your tip. Mike

 

Brett - moved this over to Off-Topic discussion...

 

has anyone installed the radio in the glovebox with the faceplate extension mounted in the console area? i found a good way to do this with my gmrs radio, but may skip that and just get a dual bander radio instead. wondering if it would get too hot in that area.

 

thats that i was thinking as well. maybe just mount it on my center console molle panel instead.

 

Bit out there/Off topic, but, ... I use my cheapO uvr5's on the trail, and now trying to get them to work with my peltors also. I have all the cables, PTT, and other ish coming. Actually just waiting on the PTT that is inbound as i type. Wondering if its going to work well or naw. Well see......

 

I don't know if the glove box is deep enough for a mobile ham. My ICOM wouldn't fit. It's rather "shallow" IMO. Don't want to just go under the seat?

 

I don't see the advantage of mounting the radio in the glove box. Our gloveboxes are small to begin with and the radio, even if if fits would take up too much room. I mounted the the Yaesu FTM-400 under the driver seat along with an external speaker. Plenty of room there and the control head is mounted with double sided tape to the lower part of the console where there is a fairly useless cubby. I tapped a hole in the top of that cubby to run the cable from the control head out of that space.

 

Agreed. Whatever you put in that cubby slides out while driving.