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- #41
how does a greelee punch work?
K
K
What radio and antenna? (1 Viewer)
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rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
Drill a small hole, the die goes on one side the punch on the other. Then you thread a bolt through the hole and tighten it down until the punch cuts the bigger hole out. It's the cleanest way I know to cut sheet metal.
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
- Thread starter
- #46
alia176
SILVER Star
as far as the water tight question, the answer is a simple O ring that comes with the NMO connector. Once you see it, you'll go ah haa
The bigger concern I have for those of you who wants to do the roof hole thing, is how are you going to drill a hole with the head liner in place? If you guys are unsure of this task, just have the local commercial radio shop mount the base and the run the coax for you to your desired location. These guys do this all day long and can make a quick job of it. They don't remove headliners as normal practice when mounting antennas on the roof.
Just a thought!
as far as the water tight question, the answer is a simple O ring that comes with the NMO connector. Once you see it, you'll go ah haa
The bigger concern I have for those of you who wants to do the roof hole thing, is how are you going to drill a hole with the head liner in place? If you guys are unsure of this task, just have the local commercial radio shop mount the base and the run the coax for you to your desired location. These guys do this all day long and can make a quick job of it. They don't remove headliners as normal practice when mounting antennas on the roof.
Just a thought!
They don't remove the headliner during this type of installation? I just assumed the best way to do this would be to remove the headliner so #1 I wouldn't drill through the headliner
and #2 then I could fix the cable to the inner roof to prevent rattling of the cable...Plus I am thinking of installing a small speaker in a little 'bubble' of the headliner on the DS left of the visor. And also relocating the remote face to the area above the sunroof/map light area. Both of these jobs would be better if I could access the back side of the headliner to get reinforcement plate on the inside for better support.
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
as far as the water tight question, the answer is a simple O ring that comes with the NMO connector. Once you see it, you'll go ah haa
The bigger concern I have for those of you who wants to do the roof hole thing, is how are you going to drill a hole with the head liner in place? If you guys are unsure of this task, just have the local commercial radio shop mount the base and the run the coax for you to your desired location. These guys do this all day long and can make a quick job of it. They don't remove headliners as normal practice when mounting antennas on the roof.
Just a thought!
I'm pretty sure removing the headliner in the 100 is straightforward. No idea on the 80 & 60 series.
alia176
SILVER Star
Dan(s),
Just call one of the installation shop and find out but I have a feeling they don't remove the headliners. Otherwise, this project would take a long time.
Removing the headliner in a 100 or 80 is probably not very hard but time consuming I'd imagine. Lots of little things to remove out of the way before the whole thing comes out as a single piece.
One possible scenario would be to drill the hole directly above the dome light. At least this way you can drill w/o damaging the headliner and you have access to the hardware and coax. If you remove the dome light fixture, you can touch the actual roof, at least in the 80 anyway.
Once the NMO mount is installed, you have a world of antenna choices based on your particular need!
The pics on this thread shows the NMO rooftop mount thread Scroll down a tad to see the pics.
This thread talks about drilling holes in the roof!
Take a look at slides #25 & #26 to see the mount, hole and the 90* coax that's attached to a NMO mount typically.
Safe drilling
Just call one of the installation shop and find out but I have a feeling they don't remove the headliners. Otherwise, this project would take a long time.
Removing the headliner in a 100 or 80 is probably not very hard but time consuming I'd imagine. Lots of little things to remove out of the way before the whole thing comes out as a single piece.
One possible scenario would be to drill the hole directly above the dome light. At least this way you can drill w/o damaging the headliner and you have access to the hardware and coax. If you remove the dome light fixture, you can touch the actual roof, at least in the 80 anyway.
Once the NMO mount is installed, you have a world of antenna choices based on your particular need!
The pics on this thread shows the NMO rooftop mount thread Scroll down a tad to see the pics.
This thread talks about drilling holes in the roof!
Take a look at slides #25 & #26 to see the mount, hole and the 90* coax that's attached to a NMO mount typically.
Safe drilling
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
Thanks for the links Alia. Sounds like the E-Ham guys like to use the Greenlee punch.
I found one at Graybar but it was the electricians punch, which is for 3/4" ID conduit. To big for an NMO.
I like the idea of letting somebody else take on the liability of drilling the hole. I'll swing by the commercial radio place on Glendale sometime and get a price.
I found one at Graybar but it was the electricians punch, which is for 3/4" ID conduit. To big for an NMO.
I like the idea of letting somebody else take on the liability of drilling the hole. I'll swing by the commercial radio place on Glendale sometime and get a price.
- Thread starter
- #53
GOT MY RADIO YESTERDAY!!!!!!
It was sitting on the counter for me when I got home. I opened it and checked all the pieces were there, but thats as far as I got with it.
Im gonna need Rusty Dan's help in setting this thing up right. I see wires, and my eyes glaze over!
Im getting pretty JAZZED about it!
K
It was sitting on the counter for me when I got home. I opened it and checked all the pieces were there, but thats as far as I got with it.
Im gonna need Rusty Dan's help in setting this thing up right. I see wires, and my eyes glaze over!
Im getting pretty JAZZED about it!
K
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
We'll get you set up.
I gotta take care of you after all the welding you've done for me.
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
Sierra Electronics on Glendale SWAGed a price of $60 for the mount and installation.
Assume around $30 for the NMO mount, so they want $30 to drill a hole. Not bad if they run the antenna cable and such.
Assume around $30 for the NMO mount, so they want $30 to drill a hole. Not bad if they run the antenna cable and such.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #56
Im HAMMED UP and BROADCASTING thanks to RustyDan's expertise.
I spent a better part of today watching him work his engineering magic on my rig in between the brow beating regarding the current state of battery terminals. Gotta get those fixed!
Later, we communicated with him at his house and me at mine just to see how it worked!
Thanks again Dan for all the help today!
K
I spent a better part of today watching him work his engineering magic on my rig in between the brow beating regarding the current state of battery terminals. Gotta get those fixed!
Later, we communicated with him at his house and me at mine just to see how it worked!
Thanks again Dan for all the help today!
K
Im HAMMED UP and BROADCASTING thanks to RustyDan's expertise.
I spent a better part of today watching him work his engineering magic on my rig in between the brow beating regarding the current state of battery terminals. Gotta get those fixed!
Later, we communicated with him at his house and me at mine just to see how it worked!
Thanks again Dan for all the help today!
K
So did you drill a hole in your roof? Or did you let Sierra do it?
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
He went with the Diamond hatch mount, nice unit.
We need to work on the mount grounding a bit, there is some static on his transmissions. Maybe just take a little paint off. Worst case we will add a ground strap to the body.
He had a SWR around 1.2 or 1.3 out of the box. I need to read up a bit on antennas before I feel comfortable cutting them, at least other peoples.
I'm not tickled with how we routed the antenna wire into the body. I'd like to re-do that the way Alvaro did his.
- Thread starter
- #59
In all honesty...It seemed to be OKAY to me how it was routed, but again...you know better whats good and what isnt in that department.
Do you think that if I trmmed the antenna a bit it would make the reception better?
BTW, I DID change out the (+) terminal lead today.
Also, I looked at the (-) cable...that would be a MOTHER FU*KER to change out. Its bolted through the motor mount, and its not as simple as pulling the bolt, Id have to remove the AC compressor to get to it, then BATTLE with a rusted bolt. If I can, I MIGHT try and wait till the V8 goes in. Either way, that WILL NOT happen before the run this weekend.
Im thinking that I MAY be able to change out the terminal lead though. That whole thing (as you pointed out) is a MESS! That Battery tray is pretty shot, so Ill have to fab a new one too!
Do you think that its unsafe to wheel it this weekend with the (-) lead the way it is? except for the terminal, it seems to be in DECENT shape!?
K
Do you think that if I trmmed the antenna a bit it would make the reception better?
BTW, I DID change out the (+) terminal lead today.
Also, I looked at the (-) cable...that would be a MOTHER FU*KER to change out. Its bolted through the motor mount, and its not as simple as pulling the bolt, Id have to remove the AC compressor to get to it, then BATTLE with a rusted bolt. If I can, I MIGHT try and wait till the V8 goes in. Either way, that WILL NOT happen before the run this weekend.
Im thinking that I MAY be able to change out the terminal lead though. That whole thing (as you pointed out) is a MESS! That Battery tray is pretty shot, so Ill have to fab a new one too!
Do you think that its unsafe to wheel it this weekend with the (-) lead the way it is? except for the terminal, it seems to be in DECENT shape!?
K
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
It just looked like the wire would chaff over time the way we routed it. Unless you are getting bad reception I wouldn't mess with the antenna just yet.
On the Neg battery wire, ust pull the OEM bolt and replace it with a new hex head bolt, the wire itself looked okay. I was afraid I would strip the threads on the old bolt if I tightened it any more than I did, they are corroded pretty bad.
Are the hold downs still in good metal? If the tray has cancer that would worry me. Having a battery loose in the engine compartment could lead to all kinds of merriment.