Diesel-Mobile Ham...

[KE4WMF]

Hello,

I can't believe I've been lurking here for a year and have not said Hello. This seems to be the best place to do that. My name is Scott. I'm in the Coast Guard. Here are a few pictures of my rig:

The car itself - I've used it for just about everything for over 13 years and 350,000 miles:

Yaesu FT-857D and FT-90R (in ashtray)...

Some hidden equipment...

Some trunk stuff...

More photos in my profile and on my website at Scott's Amateur Radio Interests.

73,

Scott

 

[Moleculo]

Welcome to the site! That is a CLEAN install. I see the VHF is running 144.390. Is there a TNC for APRS hidden there somewhere that I'm not seeing? What are you runnign for an HF antenna?

 

[KE4WMF]

Sorry to take so long to get back. I forgot to subscribe (thought it was automatic).

CLEAN is what I really try to achieve in my installs. But that's also why I don't have any photos of my TinyTrack 3+ (APRS) install. I had been doing a lot of other work on the car. So my trunk and equipment area is a bit messy. I'm installing a new subwoofer amplifier soon as well as working on a different GPS mount and hope to have new photos to share soon. I'm also contemplating an FTM-350AR purchase so I can do APRS and voice with just one antenna. Your news that external GPS's will now work with the 350 is promising, especially now that I've gone through a lot of trouble to connect an outside GPS receiver.

For an HF antenna, I had been using an ATAS-120A. It worked well for a while. But then had some intermittent tuning problems which seemed to be caused by an open wire in the tuning circuit, in the PL-259 connection, I think. It finally broke while it bounced around in a trailer. I've thought of different HF antenna. But I enter my car into VW shows and prefer a more streamlined appearance. I really haven't been on HF in a while (no antenna doesn't help). But I may get another ATAS-120A just so I have a convenient option. I'd take better care of the next one. I think a Little Tarheel would be a better purchase. I may even consider a six-band antenna by Diamond. OH - I just spotted this new antenna by Diamond. Perhaps it's worth a shot since it doesn't rely on the PL-259 to pass tuning voltage! No discussions about it here as of yet.

73,

Scott

 

[mackmobile43]

It needs a little more spring in the left rear.

 

[pro151]

That is one clean, professional looking install.

 

[mackmobile43]

That is one clean, professional looking install.

No doubt, the rigs in the dash appear to be photo shopped.

 

[pro151]

Now Mack, I was only thinking the iPhone looked like a photo-shop. The rigs seem to have the correct shadows.I was going to sit back and wait on someone to comment on the phone.

 

[mackmobile43]

Now Mack, I was only thinking the iPhone looked like a photo-shop. The rigs seem to have the correct shadows.I was going to sit back and wait on someone to comment on the phone.

The phone would be included in my last rantings.

 

[KE4WMF]

WOW!

I'm not sure if I'm being complimented for an install that's so clean it looks unreal or if you think I faked all of this with software magic. I'm good with photoshop and use it to remove imperfections such as scraches, rock chips (paint), debris, or something else; but not to completely fake what I have.

For some reason the green on the FT-857D just does weird things for my camera. I tried to do a color adjustment to improve it a tad. But everything I tried made it look worse. My camera must just hate that shade of green. It's very strange. It closely matches the interior lighting in person. Here's a closer look:

As for the phone, I'm not sure what looks photoshopped on that. It's a Palm Pre Plus resting on an inverted Touchstone induction charger. Here's another angle:

I have a lot more photos which detail my install process in this album. Looking at the photos, there's just one photo I have altered. But that was to REMOVE equipment no longer in service instead of taking new photos.

So either I masterfully installed a modest ham radio suite into my car or I convincingly faked it all. Either way, I'm an ARTIST!

Cheers!

Scott

 

[pro151]

Go back and look at your original photos and compare them to this set. The palm looks like it is photo-shopped in place even with the concealed mount.
Still an excellent and super clean install.
Still and still

 

[mackmobile43]

Go back and look at your original photos and compare them to this set. The palm looks like it is photo-shopped in place even with the concealed mount.
Still an excellent and super clean install.
Still and still

Exchanging compliments is intellectual back scratching.

 

[pro151]

Exchanging compliments is professional courtesy.

As in "That amp of yours you posted pics of is one of the cleanest I have seen in a long time"

 

[KE4WMF]

Yes, the Palm does look photoshopped. I can't explain it. It was brand new at the time... very shiny and light coming into the car from all angles. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I do recall with an older setup I took the photos in a parking garage. I did flash and no flash on a tripod, took the best aspects of the photos, and then blended them together to capture the glow of the displays AND the details of the equipment. But that's not the case here.

BTW, THANK YOU for the compliments! I hope I didn't come off as overly offended. I actually thought the speculation was kind of funny. Also, I checked out your links. HOLY COW, that's a lot of comms stuff! All of my gear is in the car... nothing at home.

I'll post new photos when I get my amps figured out. The replacement is laid out differently. So it's not plug-n-play. I need to reroute some wiring and tidy up.

73,

Scott

 

[pro151]

It is a sickness I inherited from my dear departed Father.

I have no intention of seeking treatment or searching for a cure.

 

[KE3W]

Outstanding install (setup) KE4WMF!

Hey pro151 - wow! I looked at your "shack" and you definitely believe in backing up your equipment. That isn't a criticism - their have been many times I wish I had a workable backup.