AmateurRadio.com

We recently sold the old white Jeep and bought a 2012 Wrangler (JK). After quite a bit of researching and experimenting with antenna mounting options, I finally got the ham gear installed in it. My objective is to get 2 Meter and 70 cm FM capability into the vehicle, using the Yaesu FT-7800 that I pulled out of the old Jeep. The big question was what to do about the antenna. The fiberglass hardtop does not make for a good antenna ground plane. Even if it did, during the summer months, we’ll sometimes take the top off to enjoy the open air ride.

The 2012 Jeep Wrangler Sport — Can you spot the antenna?

Initially, I planned to use the Arizona Rocky Road NMO antenna mount with a Diamond dualband antenna that is a 1/2 wave on 2 Meters. The 1/2 wave does not need a ground plane, so the performance is usually better with irregular mounting structures. However, I found that this antenna combination did not clear my garage door. I don’t like to have to remove or tilt a vehicle antenna to get in/out of the garage — my experience is that it usually just gets left in the “down” position. I tried a shorter 19-inch dualband whip antenna but its performance was dismal due to these factors: lack of a ground plane, being blocked by the vehicle body and poor grounding on the spare tire carrier. By the way, the grounding issue on the tire carrier (and many other technical topics) are discussed in these online forums: WranglerForum, JK-Forum. I think the Arizona Rocky Road mount would have been my preferred way to go (with the longer Diamond antenna), except for the garage issue. One problem I ran into with that mount is that the standard NMO mounts I have (the basic mounts with the cable attached) did not handle the thick steel of the mount. I had to purchase special NMO mounts made to handle thicker metal (see TheAntennaFarm.com).

The antenna mounting bracket near the hood, driver’s side.

I abandoned the Arizona Rocky Road approach and decided to use a simple NMO mounting bracket (Laird SBTB3400) on the driver’s side hood.  Like all Wrangler antenna installations, this is a compromise. It is lower on the vehicle than I would like but it does not block the driver’s view. Other people have used a variety of “trunk lip” mounts to accomplish the same thing but be sure to check out the driver’s view before installing. Installing the mount was easy, just three holes drilled and three sheet metal screws.

The next question was where to install the radio. I took advantage of the FT-7800′s detachable control head, mounting it on the dash, while placing the radio under the driver’s seat. I attached the radio’s mounting bracket to the floor of the Jeep with two heavy sheet metal screws. This keeps the radio up off the floor in case water gets into the Jeep. However, it only provides about 1 inch of water clearance, so you hard core Jeepers that are used to flooding the interior of the vehicle during stream crossings may find this inadequate.

The radio body was installed under the driver’s seat

I have to admit that I ran into a significant problem at this point. There was not enough clearance around the radio mounting bracket to get all four of the screws installed that attach the radio to the bracket. In the end, I unbolted the drivers seat and tilted it back, which gave me room to insert and tighten the screws. More careful positioning of the radio mount might have saved me from this hassle.

It is always a bit of an adventure to find a way to route the power cable from the engine compartment to the vehicle interior. Fortunately, Jeep has made this very easy, but it is not obvious just by looking around. Fortunately, the folks on the various online forums have scoped this out and provided good advice.

I popped off the small side panel of the dash on the driver’s side, to expose a hole filled with foam (see photos).

The plastic panel on the driver’s side of the dash pops open to reveal a routing hole filled with foam

A stiff wire or coat hanger can be poked into this hole and the foam easily gives way.

A coat hanger is shown poking through the routing hole

And the coat hanger comes out the other side, right next to the antenna mount.

Coat hanger pokes through near the antenna mount

I routed the power cable and the antenna cable through this hole. I connected the power cable directly to the battery, which is the recommended approach to avoid alternator whine and other problems. I understand there is a similar routing hole on the passenger side but I did not verify that.

The last thing to figure out was where to mount the control head. Although it is a tight fit, I mounted it in front of the gear shift. (I have the 6-speed manual transmission…the automatic transmission gives you more room here.) The control head is very light, so I used stick-on Velcro (about an inch wide and four inches long) to attach it to the dash. This seems to work OK but I will admit that the attachment is just a bit wobbly…fine for turning volume and VFO knobs but the not so good for pushing buttons. Also, I’ll have to see if it shakes lose on bumpy 4WD trails.  If so, I’ll fabricate a small bracket to provide better attachment.

FT-7800 Control Head and Mike Mounted to the Dash

In the process of exploring, I did take the dash apart to figure out what my options were. In retrospect, it was probably unnecessary due to where I eventually mounted the radio and control head. I found this youtube video to be very helpful in dismantling the dash.

Initial checkout shows that the radio installation is working fine. I was pleasantly surprised that the antenna SWR was quite good (<1.5) over the bands of interest. I will use the short 19-inch whip most of the time but I can swap out other NMO mount antennas (including the Diamond dualband antenna I mentioned earlier.)

I appreciate all of the info out on the interwebz concerning JK radio installs and I am passing along what I learned to assist other folks with their Jeep installations.

- 73, Bob K0NR

Update 20 June 2012:

It turns out that the Velcro (hook-and-loop fastener) approach did not work. The Velcro attachment itself was pretty reliable but the stick-on adhesive failed after a few weeks. I used a couple of L-shaped brackets to attach the control head to the dash and it seems to be working fine. I have used Velcro successfully in past installations but in situations where the control head was positioned on top of the center console so the main purpose of the Velcro was to prevent horizontal movement. In other words, the Velcro did not have to support the entire weight of the control head, just keep it from moving around.

The April 25th issue of Contest Update from the ARRL had this item:

The ARRL Programs and Services Committee has approved a rule change for ARRL VHF+ contests effective beginning in 2013 (not this year) to create a Single-Op FM-only category (100 W max, 50/144/222/440 MHz) and a three-band Single-Op category (100 W PEP on 50 and 144 MHz, 50 W PEP on 432 MHz). These changes will apply to the January, June, and September contests – again, beginning with the 2013 January VHF Sweepstakes.

I am always looking for ways to get more people involved in VHF contests and these two new categories may help. The basic idea is to create categories for simpler stations to participate in the contests without having to be in the same category as The Big Guns.

73, Bob K0NR

A few weeks back, I was wasting time doing important research on the internetz when I came across the Baofeng UV-5R Dualband Handheld Transceiver.  This radio seemed to have a boat load of features but the sale price was $65. So I am thinking to myself, just how good is a $65 radio?

The last time I went out to a nice restaurant, I blew through $65 pretty quickly so this was not going to be a large purchase. In fact, I realized that we now have HT’s priced low enough to be an impulse buy. As one of my ham buds told me, “filling up the gas tank of my truck costs more than this radio!”

So, of course, I soon broke down and ordered one and it showed up on my doorstep a few days later. I’ve been using it off and on for a few weeks now. I’ve also noticed that there is a real buzz on the interwebz about this little radio. There is usual Yahoo Group (baofeng_uv5r) and youtube videos.

Here’s the short story:

While not perfect, for $65, this radio is impressive.

Besides using the radio and receiving good signal reports, I did check the receive sensitivity, transmit power and frequency — all good. There are quite a few reviews out there, so take a look at articles by W0HC, PD0AC and OE1RFC. Also, there have been quite a few reports of quality problems with this radio…probably more defects than equipment from the more established ham equipment vendors. See the Yahoo Group discussion to understand this better.

Similar to other radios from China, this radio has a quirky user interface…not as easy to use as my Yaesu FT-60. This means that the programming software is a necessity to get the radio set up correctly, which is the major downfall of the rig. The free software program is crapware, with many people reporting a variety of problems with installation and operation. I did finally get it to work, but it was very frustrating.

I find myself grabbing this HT when I head out the door and leaving my other radios sitting in the desk charger. Someone pointed out to me that the low price of this radio makes it an easy choice — if it gets dropped, broken, lost or stolen, I am only out a tank of gas. While I am kidding about the “disposable radio” idea, the low cost does affect how I use it.

73, Bob K0NR

I did a little updating on my FM VHF Operating Guide. Take a look.

Your feedback is appreciated.

73, Bob K0NR

I had previously commented on the how most of the handheld radios are adopting SMA connectors instead of BNC connectors. See Say Goodbye to the BNC. For example, the Yaesu FT-60 uses a female SMA connector for the antenna connection. I’d say this is the standard approach for the amateur radio market.

Female SMA on Yaesu FT-60

A few manufacturers have decided to use the male SMA connector as the antenna connection for their handheld radios. I suspect that these manufacturers are following the lead of commercial manufacturers (e.g., Motorola) who use the male connector.

Male SMA on Wouxun KG-UV2D

Many hams will want to adapt these SMA connectors back to the good old BNC, to connect to existing BNC connectors or HT antennas. I had commented that these adapters are mechanically weak but recently I have come across some more sturdy adapters.

SMA-BNC Adapters

The adapter in the center is the common adapter for cable use but arguably mechanically weak for adapting HT antennas. The adapter on the left adapts BNC antennas to an HT with a male SMA connector. The adapter fits snugly on the top of the HT and provides mechanical support. Similarly, the adapter on the right adapts BNC antennas to an HT with a female SMA connector.

The adapter on the left is available from Import Communications. The other two adapters came from Affordable Radio.

I have just started to use these more capable adapters so I am not sure how reliable they are in regular use. In any case, it makes sense to be careful to minimize the strain on any radio connector.

73, Bob K0NR

It figures: I just get done blogging about the history of electronic communications and Google takes the topic to the next level. Recognizing the inherent problem of cramming a QWERTY keyboard onto a Smart Phone, Google has gone back to the future by adopting a simple binary input device that uses DOTS and DASHES. That’s right, the new Gmail Tap uses Morse Code.

Google has apparently rediscovered what CW operators knew all along: Morse Code is extremely efficient for text communication.

Go to the Gmail Tap web page to get the full story.

73, Bob K0NR

Humans have always had a desire to communicate. They started out just talking to each other but then found that it was really handy to be able to write things down. This caused the invention of the alphabet and the training of English teachers to explain overly-convoluted rules of grammar.

In 1831, Joseph Henry was playing around with electric circuits and came up with the idea of a telegraph. We can imagine a simple system where ON means “time for dinner” and OFF means “not yet”. This wasn’t good enough for Samuel Morse, who invented the Morse Code which could use ON and OFF to represent the entire alphabet. This was the first digital code and was used for important messages such as “Laughing Out Loud”, later abbreviated to LOL. This was basically the same as modern text messaging but you needed a trained telegrapher to do it.

In 1875, an inventor named Bell decided that it would be better if you could just talk over the wires instead of messing around with Morse Code. This will be a recurring theme — whether to talk to other people or just send digital codes. Bell invented this thing called the telephone, which is still used today. Basically, a person could talk into one end of a wire and have his voice pop out of the other end.

Later a guy named Marconi came along with the idea that communication should not depend on wires. For example, it was quite inconvenient to drag a telephone wire behind a ship as it moved across the sea. Unfortunately, Marconi didn’t know how to do voice over the wireless, so he dropped back to using Morse Code. ON and OFF is a much easier way to go. Although there is a persistent rumor that Marconi intentionally used Morse Code to torment future generations of FCC Licensed Amateur Radio Operators, I can find no evidence of this. Some people argue that Nikola Tesla invented wireless but I think he had to be disqualified for overloading and shutting down the Colorado Springs power grid on numerous occasions.

Again, not wanting to be limited by trained telegraphers, voice communication (originally called Amplitude Modulation, but now known as Ancient Modulation) was invented. We are not sure who first came up with Ancient Modulation, but there are a bunch of radio hams on 75 Meters still trying to perfect it.

Somewhere around 1973, Motorola figured out that what the world really wanted was a portable phone that everyone could carry around in their pocket. The first attempt at this was the Motorola DynaTAC, which required an enormous pocket to carry it in. Knowing that customers were not going to enlarge their pockets, various mobile phone manufacturers worked feverishly to reduce the size of these phones.

Unfortunately, the mobile phone manufacturers terribly miscalculated, thinking that people would want to actually talk on these phones. As text messaging was added to these phones, it was discovered that most people, especially those under the age of 30, preferred to send cryptic text messages rather than actually talk to anyone. It was also discovered that all forms of human thought can be captured as 140 character messages. Although it was tempting to apply Morse Code to digital text messaging, it was rejected in favor of the ASCII 8-bit code. Instead of using ON/OFF keying, text messages are normally sent with a tiny keyboard patterned after a full-size typewriter (now obsolete).

73, Bob K0NR

P.S. I made up some of this stuff.