The McKinley is short and fits nicely in the can. The Uniden 980 is a good fit too, and I almost used it until I realized that the McKinley is short too.
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Ammo Can Portable Radio
- Thread starter Shadetree Mechanic
- Start date
Currently using the Lincoln box at my mother in law's. I put up a Sirio 1/2 wave antenna on a 30 foot pole at the end of the house, works great. Having it in the portable can is nice, because I can put it out of sight when not being used. Here it is at the end of the table where I sit.
Just got the McKinley box together, putting it through it's paces. At my mother in law's house listening to California work DX into England. And I can hear both sides, what a treat. Even with the 203, it is hard to get a word in edge wise. Talking to some locals, I am getting great reports. I believe I have another winner.
Some more pictures. The battery, amp and power supply are mounted with giant Velcro. The swr power meter and control panel have been drilled and tapped to make putting the mounting screws in easier.
I need to think about doing something like that. I bought one of those slipseater boxes a long time ago at a truck stop on clearance. It's designed for a CB and car stereo, but I'm sure I can repurpose it for a CB/10m rig and a dual band ham radio. Gotta go down in the basement and see if I can find that thing.... I've had it for at least 15 years.
In Ocean City Maryland, on the back deck of the beach house. Nine foot whip on a painter's pole, secured with a ratchet strap. The Syncron CB Matchbox does a great job dialing down the swr.
CQ, CQ, 808 Ocean City Maryland Portable standing by!
CQ, CQ, 808 Ocean City Maryland Portable standing by!
Nothing like an ocean for a counterpoise.
How has your boxes been holding up? I am in the process of finishing up my man pack that houses a Yaesu FT891.
The boxes are doing great, I took the Lincoln out and replaced it with a Quad 6. The Lincoln developed some kind of receive problem where it has a little distortion sometimes. I have the Quad 6 box and the McKinley box both at my mother in law's house. So now I have a choice depending on what I am in the mood for. The 8 ah batteries do well and will last several evenings before needing to recharge. When one box runs down, I can put it on charge while putting the other one in service. I haven't been using the onboard power supplies because they make a little noise in the receive. Some day I will make a filter to clean them up, but the battery power works so well that I am not in a hurry.
My Lincoln has that same distortion in receive. It comes and goes and it's not a deal breaker, but it makes me wonder if it will get worse.
