Reminds me of how carried away i got with my first bonding job. Other than bonding the hood, bed and exhaust it was a waste of time. Now I just add bonding until my swr goes up to 1.5:1ish and I know I've got a good ground.
(One of my posts, where,
I just woke up and feel rested thus an all-too-long exercise in thinking aloud. In seven sections).
Yeah, it’s boys fun. No question.
I’ll re-iterate — and expand — what I’ve written previously. The thread title is about a puck-mount on a pickup roof,
but the pickup is part of a two-vehicle system.
There’s a point most folks get tired, they leave and go home.
I get tired,
I leave by moving home elsewhere altogether.
— Had I a teeny unibody commuter car
there just wouldn’t be much to do. That vehicle is at the far end of the spectrum per
size AND
design AND
use versus this one. (It’s a disposable acquisition). Where I think your words best fit. (That I’ve seen others also say).
I). This is a body-on-frame, one-ton, long-bed diesel pickup.
Permanent acquisition. Already one-ton curb weight above shipping weight without the driver aboard or trailer hitched. Of an age where corrosion has gotten a start,
and in a post or posts above I noted that 12V DC Grounds need to be replaced and/or supplemented,
plus that electrical service upgrades are planned to complement remote parking where the truck engine is the available genset.
II). I haven’t yet installed a
metal job-site tool chest in the bed behind the cab, but one is coming. Where most of the metal tools & job accessories will be stored (the bed is already “full” under a topper). What tops it off is 350-500# of work-related gear currently in the Peterbilt.
That truck bed is effectively my garage.
Makes sense to me to try to minimize any “noise”, there.Bonding the chest to an already bonded bed. In other words, potentials bonded as well as can be reasonably done. The “whole” of the vehicle includes substantial payload, much of it ferrous metal.
III). This trucks main jobs is in being hooked to a 35’ aluminum travel trailer. It’s not a commuter or grocery-getter. TTL hitched length of 63’ (an OTR tractor-trailer is 72’). The trailer is about 9.5’ tall (at roof A/C unit). An 18,000-lb combined rig.
The pickup is a literal part of the house.
I figure it best to try to separate problems of truck versus trailer by thoroughness with each.
IV). This vehicle pair can’t be separated (in a manner of speaking). They are both (potentially) Mobile & Base Station.
Imagine four (4) potential states of:
1). Truck, solo
2). Truck, hitched
3) Trailer, solo
4). Trailer, hitched
Working the radio
from either vehicle during any of those four (4) conditions.
Example 1: One might be pulled over with the rig set for traveling
still hitched and operating from the trailer. Antenna mounted on either vehicle
or portable (as with a tripod). Power draw is via that Cummins running at high idle.
Example 2: operating from the pickup with a roof or body mount antenna while hitched to the trailer (which is attached both mechanically & electrically; much more so than as with a cargo trailer). Trailer systems may be in operation (more than just measurable amp draw).
Maybe there’ll be an all-mode transceiver with a fat screwdriver antenna attached some day. Either vehicle or both.
With any part of a Radio Installation I prefer not to have to re-do any of that which can be avoided NOW as the two vehicles are electrically-common.
A). Station in one vehicle and antenna on the other.
B). Station in one vehicle, amp in another and remote antenna
C). (Invent your own weird concoction. With sprinkles).
V). If you’ll read RV-centric ham radio threads you’ll note that
most operation is done while stationary. Vehicles detached. While that state may define the majority of Amateur operation, it will not describe
all operation. (I may have son and his family along; driver doesn’t necessarily equate to operator).
So, if we emphasize that
the vehicle is one-half the antenna then surpassing what’s necessary
may not be obvious where two vehicles are effectively two-in-one Station. At least,
I have not seen this addressed in this manner in reading around.
I don’t care if it’s just some extra work. If the effectiveness of the work tapers down to nothing . .
that’s fine also.
Will it create its own problems? I’m not that far long, yet.
You’d have to admit it’d be damned funny if, say, reception improved by hitching the other vehicle. (Some guys turn the array. I back the Dodge under and snap the latch).
That it won’t be so doesn’t change that an effect is present.
The bigger picture:
Something important which truck driving teaches a man is that there just isn’t time nor a safe place to try to pull over on the highway and re-work that weakly-received signal. One gets it the first time or not at all. Chance encountered. Won or lost.
That’s the goal.
VI). Thus, the “expense” of more RF Bond supply isn’t significant versus the initial acquisition cost of the tools, gear & supply. (Plus that there are other vehicles yet to do). Takes longer to create the RF Bonds than it does to attach them. The dollar-expense of 25-made versus 75-made just isn’t great, nor is the time (past my infirmities).
.
VII). The trailer is a subject I haven’t yet surveyed; unlike most RV’ers who sell the house and hit the road full-time, it’s already my home prior to retirement. Removing panels that enclose the underside isn’t a job I’m looking forward to, but RF Bonds will be installed before it’s done as part of other work needed. (Effectively, skin & structural ribs are rubber-isolated from each other).
A travel trailer already thirty years of age — dealing with corrosion & electricity in its various manifestations — is a FAR bigger job than what the pickup requires. I won’t be doing a body-off-frame rehab, but all systems access is primarily from underneath coupled to interior access provided.
So, . .
perspective:
RF Bond Job Description: Laying on the ground after sitting around on the couch.
.
