40m mobile question

[BJ radionut]

Brett: Wish I had picture of ATAS mount on old truck...I made a bracket out of SS Uni-Strut/1" 5/8th size to clear cab on 97 Chevy crew cab...with two "L" brackets on bottom...used a quick pull /"safety pin" on bottom...pulled the pin and laid whole antenna and bracket into bed...however with long whip it did stick-out past bed...but was good enuf to get truck thru a drive up or get in garage...Thank goodness for my deluxe step rails otherwise drivers side bed mount was answer. The antenna worked OK thr on drivers side, but was Super hot in direction off passenger front and rear corners...dud perpendicular off drivers side!!
73
All the Best
Gary/W9FNB

PS: The monster screwdriver shown had similar set-up on bottom. I could "lay-it over" to get in garage...but so large was the entire antenna...too much trouble to lay-over for any drive-thru.
I enjoyed 80m mobile...coast to coast capable on good evenings and night time...hence the freq limitations of the ATAS drew me to sell it. On 6m the KJ7U antenna was a 3/4 wave "Center loaded" vertical...it screamed.. HF / 40m and above, I got NO-WAY UR Mobile !!!

 

[BJ radionut]

The KJ7U antenna has now been retired...standing in corner of shack...Not driving 25-50K plus miles every year since retirement...Now 6m 1/4 wave whip at 45 degs for SSB...and Comet Triband for FM. I also, on vacation long trips replace Comet w/ Hustler CT-144 Collinear for 2m...both antennas on Breedlove ball mounts and "stake bed" inserts. I get many strange looks with that set-up also.

 

[2RT307]

I’m really wanting to ditch 11 meter. I’ve got a alinco hf and a tarheel. But I dunno that’s a whole thing. I had it set up before but didn’t use it much. Not enough to really see before the car broke down.

In central Arkansas what would my local coverage look like in a mobile on 40 if I was using a ham stick for 40? And instead of the alinco all band I saw a hambuilder 40 mobile.

And of course I’d have to get a few others on a vertical instead of those dipoles.

Edit: thank y’all for the replies on the bandwidth of the antennas. But I’m more interested in the area coverage using the above setup. We use 2.10.11 for mobile but we are looking for more land coverage. Distance. Reliable mobile coverage.

What's funny about 40 meters (daytime) is that if you are too close, you won't hear the other guy. It seems like you need to be about 100 miles apart, or at least that's been my experience. I'm guessing you and your friends are closer than that to each other. I remember there being a pretty good linked repeater system in Arkansas for 2 meters, but folks probably don't want you and your friends to be ragchewing on there.

10 meters sideband with an amp might be a decent option

73,
Brett

I’m really wanting to ditch 11 meter. I’ve got a alinco hf and a tarheel. But I dunno that’s a whole thing. I had it set up before but didn’t use it much. Not enough to really see before the car broke down.

In central Arkansas what would my local coverage look like in a mobile on 40 if I was using a ham stick for 40? And instead of the alinco all band I saw a hambuilder 40 mobile.

And of course I’d have to get a few others on a vertical instead of those dipoles.

Edit: thank y’all for the replies on the bandwidth of the antennas. But I’m more interested in the area coverage using the above setup. We use 2.10.11 for mobile but we are looking for more land coverage. Distance. Reliable mobile coverage.

All I can say is try it... for ground wave, the hamstick should work ok out to about 40 miles depending on the terrain, and I would figure while mobile you could maybe get some NVIS action from it for 100+ miles, too. Or you could use your cell phones. I'm curious how you'll make out...please let us know when you give it a whirl.

73,
Brett

 

[nfsus]

What's funny about 40 meters (daytime) is that if you are too close, you won't hear the other guy. It seems like you need to be about 100 miles apart, or at least that's been my experience. I'm guessing you and your friends are closer than that to each other. I remember there being a pretty good linked repeater system in Arkansas for 2 meters, but folks probably don't want you and your friends to be ragchewing on there.

10 meters sideband with an amp might be a decent option

73,
Brett

All I can say is try it... for ground wave, the hamstick should work ok out to about 40 miles depending on the terrain, and I would figure while mobile you could maybe get some NVIS action from it for 100+ miles, too. Or you could use your cell phones. I'm curious how you'll make out...please let us know when you give it a whirl.

73,
Brett

O m g you did not just suggest cell phones? That’s so 2010s.

 

[N8YX]

A member on another forum built a tunable loop and put it on the inside of his truck's fiberglass cap. This worked well for 40M NVIS.

I'm thinking about doing same. My truck has an 8ft bed and they make cargo racks which go atop the caps. They cover almost the entire thing. Put the tuning box at the tailgate end and cut the loop gap there. Switched inductors could allow coverage of 75/60/40 (use one per each side of the loop). Neat thing about such a setup is that the cap comes off if I need the bed for hauling - I suspend it in the garage on pulleys. Control and feed lines simply disconnect prior to removing the cap - antenna goes with it.

Also planning on a hitch-mount Tarheel or similar when running an open bed. The remote wiring can be used to control this setup too.