Little tarheel ii install

[Mudfoot]

Got my Tarheel installed. Seems to work decently. No problems with grounding. The control cable is good quality along with the molex connecter. The Rocker switch and power leads are lame.

The switch feels cheap. The housing looks like some kid made it on a cheap 3D printer. They give you a short pigtail with glass fuse. The wires are different diameters, which gives it a hokey look. It's just rat nest looking. My Diamond screwdriver had a cigar plug assembly that was clean.

Anyways, the antenna itself is nice quality. Just don't care for the cheap switch and power wires.

 

[Rwb]

Got my Tarheel installed. Seems to work decently. No problems with grounding. The control cable is good quality along with the molex connecter. The Rocker switch and power leads are lame.

The switch feels cheap. The housing looks like some kid made it on a cheap 3D printer. They give you a short pigtail with glass fuse. The wires are different diameters, which gives it a hokey look. It's just rat nest looking. My Diamond screwdriver had a cigar plug assembly that was clean.

Anyways, the antenna itself is nice quality. Just don't care for the cheap switch and power wires. View attachment 37382

well whats longest contac?

 

[Mudfoot]

My friend in Georgia.

 

[Rwb]

My friend in Georgia.

impressive . I like it

 

[Slowmover]

Unless I missed the thread, what have you found it necessary to do on the Jeep to make it suitable for a mobile radio & antenna install?

Just some basics per the usual advice, or added a second battery + DC voltage monitoring (as an example). The idea, more than the details.

I ask as I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting to see a roof mount.

(This was the vehicle too rusty for the sidemount Breedlove ball & puck?)

Given rust, I had in mind maybe a trailer hitch mount (despite its losses).

.

 

[fogdog]

Nice job Mud. Cool antenna. Watch them trees.

 

[Mudfoot]

I wanted it high. If I could have used the ball mount, I definitely would have. The screwdriver assembly isn't that tall. The whip is thin and extremely flexible. I have a spring on the way that should help with low hanging obstacles.

I'm eventually going to move it to the center of the roof. I already have a puck there. It will sit on, either a foldover or quick release mount. The antenna and radio get power within the cab, from direct wire to the battery. I do have a hitch, but this antenna is to small to be mounted there. It's a work in progress.

 

[fourstringburn]

Nice install!

Yeah those switches are cheap but do work of course.

Most of us use an antenna controller. This does mean extra components and wires to conceal.

The Turbo-tuner is the easiest to install with few extra wires but has no manual fine tune capabilities. On some radio's, only requires a single interface cable.

The Tune-matic is what I use. It's both auto and manual tuning for touch ups and uses a small lighted dash mount control pad I double stick tape to the dash. It does use extra components that need to he concealed for a clean install look.

The Tune-matic light is a much simpler memory tuner with few parts. Tunes by memory points you set in each band and has manual tune for touch ups or manual tuning.

Good luck with your new Tarheel!

 

[Mudfoot]

Yes, much better with a controller. My Tunematic Lite just came this morning. Much better and seems to work fine. I tried my 56 inch whip. It doesn't want to tune it. I guess it's the stock 32 inch for now. I ordered a spring. I'll probably have to trim the added length it'll add. I'm looking heavy at the West Mountain Radio controller. The FT-891 requires a USB breakout out module of sorts. It's just added clutter, so I'll likely stick with the Tunematic.

 

[Road Squawker]

I can't see the coax in the pic, only the drive motor wire.

Is it going thru the mount somehow?

 

[Mudfoot]

Bottom side of mount under headliner fished to dash. Breedlove also makes mounts with cutout for control cable. Gives a super clean install. Mounts can have ring terminals or UHF connections for feedlines. Ring terminals are best, as they take less than an inch of headliner space.

 

[Mudfoot]

The mount I'm using now is temporary. It's a UHF mount with a 3/8" stud adapter. The mount replacing it, will be a 4" Puck mount with a quick disconnect, or foldover stud. I'll be mounting that just above my head. The hole is already there, as I have a NMO Puck mount currently. The 4" mount is secured to the roof panel by four 5/8" bolts. That will provide a great deal of structural strength and prevent sheet metal flexing. I might add a 1/4" backing plate, as well. Just depends.

The mounts from Breedlove are extremely well built. No one makes anything close to what he builds.

 

[fourstringburn]

tried my 56 inch whip. It doesn't want to tune it. I guess it's the stock 32 inch for now.

That 32" antenna whip was designed for complete coverage for 10-80m so a longer whip will lose tuning of some upper bands. My guess with a 56" whip your highest band will be 17m. Your efficiency increases some but the trade off is losing the upper bands.

When parked, I'll put on a telescoping 17ft whip for much improved efficiency on 40 and 80m but I even lose 20m unless I collapse the whip down a section.

The West Mountain Target tune works well but I didn't like all those wires going to the control head. The Tune matic lite is a good compromise for semi auto-tuning and less extra cables.

 

[Mudfoot]

Supposed to get more on 80 with the 56" whip. According to the manual, you just lose 6 meters.

 

[Mudfoot]

I'll mess with it again when this tropical rain storm ends.