Please Critique my Com setup.

[Ulfhedinn]

Picked up a 86 M1009 Blazer. Looking to put together a Com setup. Does this look complete? I hope to place both antennas on the left side together, attached to the antenna mount that comes with these kind of blazers.


Yaesu FT-8800R
YSK-8900 FT8800/8900 separation kit. 19.7 feet (6 m)
MFJ-281 ClearTone speaker
Larsen NMO 2/70B ANTENNA
Larsen NMOK

---

Uniden Bearcat PC78 Elite CB Radio

Wilson antenna?
or
Firestik FS CB Antenna 5'
FireRing Compatible CB Antenna Stud
Firestik FireRing CB Coax - 18 Feet
CB Antenna Springs (Heavy Duty)


thanks!

[xtatik]

Picked up a 86 M1009 Blazer. Looking to put together a Com setup. Does this look complete? I hope to place both antennas on the left side together, attached to the antenna mount that comes with these kind of blazers.


Yaesu FT-8800R
YSK-8900 FT8800/8900 separation kit. 19.7 feet (6 m)
MFJ-281 ClearTone speaker
Larsen NMO 2/70B ANTENNA
Larsen NMOK

---

Uniden Bearcat PC78 Elite CB Radio

Wilson antenna?
or
Firestik FS CB Antenna 5'
FireRing Compatible CB Antenna Stud
Firestik FireRing CB Coax - 18 Feet
CB Antenna Springs (Heavy Duty)


thanks!

A license and coax?
Aside from these, it looks fairly complete for consistent communications inside 50 miles. I'm not familiar with the mount you're mentioning, but I'd caution against putting them too close together. If too close they could couple one to another and present unwanted directivity, nulls, losses and impedance mismatches.

[rusty_tlc]

You'll also need an external speaker extension cable for the MFJ-281

Aside from what xtatik mentioned you can get interference, the PO of my truck mounted the HAM an CB in line on the roof about 24" apart. The CB breaks squelch whenever I key the 2M radio.

[Ulfhedinn]

A license and coax?
Aside from these, it looks fairly complete for consistent communications inside 50 miles. I'm not familiar with the mount you're mentioning, but I'd caution against putting them too close together. If too close they could couple one to another and present unwanted directivity, nulls, losses and impedance mismatches.

Test on the 14th of April. Waiting on a fellow adventurer to finish his studying as we are going down together for test. And yes a coax..

thanks!

[xtatik]

Test on the 14th of April. Waiting on a fellow adventurer to finish his studying as we are going down together for test. And yes a coax..

thanks!

Good for you, and best of luck!!

[Elwyn]

Erm, is it safe to have both antennas together like that? Especially if one is transmitting and pushing the signal down the other antenna too?

[proto]

Sounds like a nice set of radios! Sadly, the side mount on the M1009 is sub-optimal for your setup. You'll be far better served to get the VHF/UHF antenna up on the roof, and put the CB antenna on a bracket at far away at one of the corners. (Save that sweet side mount for running a big HF whip when you step up to General Class!)

Just a suggestion for your CB: take a look at Larsen's NMO27 antenna. It's the same basic design as your NMO 2/70: a whip and a base coil on an NMO mount. It's a 10 meter Ham unit that can cover the CB band. Using it would give you commonality of components. If a connector or coax breaks, or you take out one of your mounts in a 'trail incident', you might be able to swap things around to make a working system.

The Firestick is a 5/8-wave so it's radiation pattern is lower and flatter with a little more gain closer to the horizon than the 1/4-wave NMO27. If you're traveling over flat terrain that might be good, if you're in the mountains the 1/4-wave pattern might work better.

As far as VHF/UHF: I've found that I prefer the NMO 2/70C with the enclosed center coil rather than the 2/70B. The exposed center windings on the B tend to get tangled in branches and whatnot.

It sounds like you've got a good grasp of the components. Now all you need are a 3/4" hole saw and an SWR meter. . . and another ham to talk to :-)


(They say not to wish people 'luck' on the Ham exam, so: study hard, be smart, have fun!)

[proto]

Oh yeah: don't plug your 12V radios into the one 24V fuse on that truck!

[Ulfhedinn]

Sounds like a nice set of radios! Sadly, the side mount on the M1009 is sub-optimal for your setup. You'll be far better served to get the VHF/UHF antenna up on the roof, and put the CB antenna on a bracket at far away at one of the corners. (Save that sweet side mount for running a big HF whip when you step up to General Class!)

Just a suggestion for your CB: take a look at Larsen's NMO27 antenna. It's the same basic design as your NMO 2/70: a whip and a base coil on an NMO mount. It's a 10 meter Ham unit that can cover the CB band. Using it would give you commonality of components. If a connector or coax breaks, or you take out one of your mounts in a 'trail incident', you might be able to swap things around to make a working system.

The Firestick is a 5/8-wave so it's radiation pattern is lower and flatter with a little more gain closer to the horizon than the 1/4-wave NMO27. If you're traveling over flat terrain that might be good, if you're in the mountains the 1/4-wave pattern might work better.

As far as VHF/UHF: I've found that I prefer the NMO 2/70C with the enclosed center coil rather than the 2/70B. The exposed center windings on the B tend to get tangled in branches and whatnot.

It sounds like you've got a good grasp of the components. Now all you need are a 3/4" hole saw and an SWR meter. . . and another ham to talk to :-)


(They say not to wish people 'luck' on the Ham exam, so: study hard, be smart, have fun!)

Awesome Info! Thanks