Joe wrote:
> But...maybe not.....
>
> I take delivery of my new Corvette next month.
>
> This has the potential of creating a nightmare for me, amateur radio wise.
>
Maybe, maybe not. We do this sort of thing in plastic...er...fiberglass
airplanes all the time and their electrical and ignition systems are
antique in planes fresh off the assembly line. I've had to create a
ground plane out of a sheet of think aluminum (round, square, and odd
shapes) and sometimes I had to reposition the Coax but they were fairly
easy to set up.
Actually you don't have to worry about bonding the body to the frame as
there is no metal connection to make noise, that is a plus not a
negative. You might have to ground the electrical system to the frame,
although it may already have been done.
The only short coming is *probably* the need for a ground plane under
the antenna. In my TA I used the metal frame around the rear window as
a ground and mounted on of the "on the glass" antennas near the upper
portion of the window where the metalizing was not continuous. It
worked just fine. A 60" Diamond collinear it was not, but it doe work
well. It worked far better than some of the comments I've heard about on
the reflectors.
> Fiberglass body and all...I am not excited about drilling a hole in the body
> anywhere for an antenna.
>
Use a hole saw, that way you won't have to drill it<:-)) I had the same
problems with the TA which is why I decided to try the "on the glass"
antenna. There is a vast difference in performance between makes. I
had one that had a pair of loading coils in the base that goes on the
outside. I never did get that one to work. OTOH with the simple 2-meter
only antenna I was working 440 repeaters out to about 25 miles with my
TM-D700. (I also have the RTM-D710) No noise problems at all. I hope
you are as lucky with the radio operation... The car? I had an suv pull
out in front of me and T-boned him. It put the right front wheel of the
TA back in the passenger compartment. The bottom of the dash was against
the firewall all the way across.
I wrapped the steering wheel around the column but didn't get a scratch
on me. OTOH I was punchier than I would have been with 2 six packs on an
empty stomach. Wasn't even sore the next day.
The body didn't even look bad, that is until you looked under the hood
or inside the passenger compartment. It was about 3' shorter than
original. That car had stopped so quick all the antennas were pointing
straight forward. Sure looked strange.
73
Roger (K8RI)
> So..my question is: How do I go about installing an antenna on the car for
> my 2 meter/440 Kenwood radio? (TM-D710A)
>
> I forsee a noise (RFI) issue, as well as a ground plane issue. I am fairly
> confident that I can handle the noise, but the ground plane...
>
> Hmmmmmmm.
>
> Any thoughts? Or anyone who is experienced in these type of fiberglass body
> installs that someone here could recommend to me?
>
> Many thanks in advance!
>
> Joe Wolfe
> WA6RKN
> Reno, Nevada
>
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>
>
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