My new 'mobile' HAM setup...

[ChaseTruck]

Somehow, over the past year my HAM radios all ended up in Arizona - the Yaesu 1900 is now mounted in my K5 (that's my trail truck) and the Kenwood 71A is in the '93 80 that's now in AZ as well. I've got a Baofeng HT here in Baton Rouge, but for ARES stuff, that's not really cutting it. I decided to try the ChiComm route just to see...

China-made Talkcoop KT-8900, max 25W on VHF, 20W on UHF. ~$70 from Amazon, + Nagoya UT-72 magmount ($28). The "English" in the manual is a hoot... manual states that you ought to cut power to the unit if smoke comes out (seriously?? why not let it burn?)...

There's a USB programming cable included, programming with CHIRP actually works, using "Juentai" as the vendor, and "JT-6188 Mini" as the model.

Interwebs say it only draws 5A on transmit at max power;
currently, I have it plugged into the power outlet of the GX. I haven't noticed any noise or interference, and that's with the engine running. Not sure yet if there's going to be a permanent installation in that vehicle, or if so, where it would go.

The antenna is 1/4 wave on 2m (5/8 on 70cm), so middle of the roof on the GX ought to be fine re ground plane, and there's a PL259 to SMA pigtail, so I can run my Baofeng handheld with the magmount antenna as well.

Made my first 2m contact today, hitting a repeater that's about 35 miles away, clean contact with transmission power set on low (that's supposedly 10W).

 

[Scubajeep]

Cool mobile set up, Im thinking of doing a similar set just to get into HAM.

Later
Scubajeep
Thibodaux LA

 

[Joel Kasper]

This is what I am using and it has been working excellent so far. The antenna is a bit of a compromise but found I need a springer when
trail riding in the woods of Wisconsin. I see I did not label the TNC it is a Mobilik TNC2

 

[lovetoski]

Hi Joel - how did you connect the TNC to the Radio? (It's bluetooth between the TNC and Tablet I believe?)

 

[Joel Kasper]

Yes it is Bluetooth between the TNC and the tablet. There is a cable between TNC and the radio. I just Velcro'd the TNC to the radio body and mounted the head up on the roof header.

 

[ChaseTruck]

Update - it has been working fine. The entire setup has moved over to my RX300 for the time being, since on that vehicle I can leave the antenna on the roof (the RX currently lives outside, and fits into the parking garage at work). Still plugged into the cig lighter, no interference/noise issues that I'm aware of (as in nobody complained about my signal...).
May have to re-arrange the channels a bit; I took everything straight from RepeaterBook, and the repeaters I use most ended up a bit too far apart on the channel list.

 

[Dragos80]

TLC on facebook thread.

3D printed mounting bracket for this talkcoop.

See the other pictures too.

Curt McClain

 

[Kofoed]

Not a bad unit.

 

[REKCUT]

picked one up on this post recommendation and so far i very please. Trail rides next

 

[Dragos80]

Wouldn't this radio fit inside the ashtray of a 80 series truck?
It seems about the same size as a Uniden 510 which fits in there perfectly.

 

[ChaseTruck]

It might, haven't tried because there's a Kenwood 710 in the 80, and the little radio is here in BTR, whereas both the 80 and the LX are in PHX. Hearing the speaker might be an issue if the Talkcoop radio were installed in a slot with only the front showing...

And how would you know to shut it down when the smoke (see 1st post, & the manual...) does come out?

 

[Dparo]

When you use a tablet like this can it be wifi only or does it require cell service?

This is what I am using and it has been working excellent so far. The antenna is a bit of a compromise but found I need a springer when
trail riding in the woods of Wisconsin. I see I did not label the TNC it is a Mobilik TNC2

View attachment 1817173

 

[Joel Kasper]

When you use a tablet like this can it be wifi only or does it require cell service?

I do not need cell service. You can download the maps at home if you have wifi. The Rubicon I downloaded from Back country Navigator I still have a mistake on the pic. it is a TNC2

 

[george_tlc]

When you use a tablet like this can it be wifi only or does it require cell service?

No Cell needed, the tablet is providing the GPS fix for the TNC to shoot out of the rig using the APRS network. You load the maps etc to run the aprsdroid app while in town and on wifi.

If you had cell connection, then you wouldn't need the ham rig

cheers,
george.

 

[Dparo]

ok, I thought only cell tablets had a gps chip, still learning this stuff and how it works together.

 

[Dparo]

Would a 16 gb andriod tablet dedicated to comms and gps be enough or go 32?

 

[george_tlc]

Having a tablet with GPS has nothing to do with whether the tablet has a cell connection or cell radio.

I often use an old smartphone as a cheap 'tablet'. No sim card and the GPS etc works just fine...

16gb might be a bit marginal - all depends on how many maps you want loaded and what their resolution is. Many android tablets have a microsim card so you can always add more/cheap storage if needed. I have a 128g in my asus tablet that allows me to have large chunks of bing aerial photography resolution cached when running BCN.

cheers,
george.