HAM "shack" setup for your RV

[podwerkz]

On 7/13/2022 at 4:38 PM, kb0zke said:

HF is what has me scratching my head. A friend gave me a long, collapsable painters' pole (aluminum) and a pair of mounting brackets for either a single or dipole hamstick mounts. 

[snip]

What has me puzzled is connecting some sort of ground plane to this. I have easy access to the engine and chassis frame, but not to the steel frame that forms the sides and roof. Could I simply run a wire from the aluminum mast to a convenient steel point in the engine area?

HF rig is a TenTec Scout. Current hamstick is for 20M.

Hamstick dipoles (or any other dipole) do not need a 'ground plane'. But if you use one hamstick in a single vertical configuration you might simply be able to use the aluminum pole as the counterpoise. Or you might need a more substantial counterpoise, depending on the SWR results.

Good luck with your TenTec Scout. The one that I had years ago was not a very good radio. 

 

 

 

[TXiceman]

On 10/10/2017 at 4:17 PM, Fred47933 said:

I'm thinking two HF antennas....a screwdriver type for when I'm not staying in one place long....and a 6BTV with the 17M kit for when I'm staying for more than a day or two. I am intrigued by the Eagle One antenna (http://www.w8afx.com) it would be a full quarter wave on 40M....I just question it's ruggedness. I

I had an Eagle One and was not impressed with the antenna at all, even with ground radials attached.  We were in Colorado and the wind got it.  I had to tape the joints to keep it from collapsing and the wind split the joint at two sections.  It was left in the dumpster in Rifle, Colorado.

As for a good set up, you can do well on the Ham Stick dipoles on a push up pole.  I carry a Windom 80m OCF dipole for we have trees to utilize.  For easy deployment and works well, look at the Alpha HD FMJ antenna.  It works great and is up and down in less than 10 minutes.  If I want to get on VHF/UHF, I carry an Arrow J-pole that I can stick up on the ladder.

We had an Avion (silver) travel trailer (all aluminum) and I rigged a tilt mount and installed a Little Tarheel II which worked great.  The only issue was the power converter played havoc with the HF bands.  I found I had to disconnect the converter to operate the radio.  Our current 5er has a Magnum Inverter/converter and it plays nice with the radio.

73s and good DX,

Ken

 

[Jeffk]

On 8/5/2017 at 6:44 AM, NA8M said:

We are Michigan snowbirds.  We travel in a class A (motor home).  

I have enjoyed limited success with a screwdriver antenna.  The best result to date has been hose-clamping it to a metal campground electrical service "substation" box.  It was not noticed by anyone and I think the grounding was very good.  I have not had any success with the antenna attached to the motor home.  I may try to clamp the antenna to a ground rod sometime.

My next antenna will be a dipole supported by a fiberglass "stick" that is twenty-five feet tall and fastened to the rig's ladder.  Maybe twenty-meters will work well for us.  We are headed for Arizona next winter.

Camping in Florida was disappointing.  The campgrounds there did not allow anything in their trees.  Nothing.  

While traveling to our cottage in Canada I have enjoyed some success with a very low-hung seventy-five meter dipole.  Maybe it was NVIS?  Maybe something otherwise.  And again for Field Day the low-lying dipole for seventy-five worked well enough.

I wish you well getting a shack that works for you.

de Bill, NA8M

 

What I've done is carry some 5 foot masts sections that you can find at most Lowes. Put a wood board on top, and hammer the board which then puts the mast section down into the dirt. When done, pull it up, pack the hole and you're done. 

 

[kb0zke]

Well, things have changed. The Foretravel went away in February, and we're now in a 2022 Reflection 315 RLTS travel trailer.

I've decided that my "radio shack" will be outside, rather than inside. Since we're full-timers, we're generally in a place where the temperature is fairly decent. I still have the painter's pole and hamstick setup, but my son found the St. Louis Vertical that looks interesting. We determined that the problem I had with the painters pole and hamsticks was that I needed a balun, so he made one. Unfortunately, I got it just about the time we're packing up from a month of hosting, so I won't be able to play with it for a bit.

In the meantime I'm having fun figuring out how to get electricity from the trailer to the picnic table. It is much cheaper to make marks with a pencil on a piece of paper than it is to chop up wires and attach ends to them only to discover that the idea won't work because I didn't think of something important.

[W7bob]

Hello to All, I am a Ham General, W7BOB, and just got a 5th wheel toy hauler. I want to build a small desk in the garage forward of the drop down sofa near the window. I want it permanent to the wall and floor. I plan on installing a thru the floor plumbing fixture with a screw cap, to be removed and then drop my coax and ground cables.
Has anyone else thought of this? And did it work for you? I'll either have Ham Sticks or a dipole to throw over near by trees. My radio will be a FTDX-3000 which I use to have in the shack, but got replaced with a FTDX-101MP. I do both Digital and SSB modes.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I'm in QRZ for my email.