It's ok man. I know myself and a few others check the ham forums daily (a few times a day for me) so I doubt you'll have dead thread in this area.

as for a tuner uhf/vhf does not need a tuner.

What;s your call sign so we can know if we ever meet up.

 

This is too broad of a statement guy. Yes, for mobile coms you're pretty much good to go with the antennas that are available. But, as far as having a VHF/UHF base, it would totally depend on the antenna/s you are using.....especially if they are homebrew. That's why they do in fact make external VHF/UHF tuners.

 

But he was talking mobile. He's not going to be using an end fed random wire for his mobile stuff. (prob :-P )

 

just my 2 cents .... i've tried the yaesu 857d, icom 880d and the icom 2820 (dstar) and the 2820 by far is the friendliest to use not to mention more features and is dstar capable. with the dstar you are able to talk with anyone in the world .... the antenna i use is the comet sbb-5 on a teraflex mount behind the rear tire carrier ... grounds great, puts the antenna about 8 inches above the roofline (good clearance for garages) and i get 1.2:1 on both bands .... if you need any more info, drop me an email gharden (at) gmail (dot) com ........

W4WGH 73's

 

Unless you plan on setting up an antenna whenever you want to do HF I would recommend a screwdriver type antenna. That being said any screwdriver WILL whack a lot of branches as you 'wheel. If your plan is doing mobile HF instead of at your home QTH that will make a lot of difference in how you address the issue of mobile HF. An 857 radio is a great radio and the head can be remote mounted. I have an 897 radio that is the same internal "radio" which will accommodate internal batteries but does not have the detachable head. Radios without a detachable head greatly reduce your mounting options. As far as UHF/VHF goes, keep in mind that any 1/4 wave antenna REQUIRES a good ground AT THE ANTENNA. There are a number of good 5/8 wave antennas out there that will do the job nicely and provide more gain as well. Remember a 3db gain will DOUBLE your signal. A higher gain antenna will also "hear" better. A Diamond or Comet dual band 2/m 440/MHz antenna would be a good choice. MFJ also has one that costs less money but is the same specs and visually the same as the Comet or Diamond. This antenna also has a fold over feature that if you hit an object (ie a tree branch), the antenna will fold over rather than damage or break it. This feature has saved my antenna more times than I can recall. As far as VHF/UHF, keep in mind that many radios nowadays will do much more than just talk on the air. A radio with w i d e receive can also act as a scanner for numerous bands and open up a whole new world of listening if that is of interest. My wife, AF6OV, has an FT8800 with the dual band antenna mentioned. I have the FT8900 with the radio under the passenger seat (along with an inverter). The head unit is mounted to the dash just above the factory radio. That way my eyes can still keep the trail/road in sight as I check or adjust the radio. I use the tray on top of the dash to store the mike. My antenna is a quad band that I currently have mounted on the hinge edge of my tailgate with a trunk mount. Neither my wife or I have any problem(s) with interference or noise on any frequency we use. An antenna analyzer is a good way to make sure your antenna resonates best in the area of the band(s) that you use most. If you don't have one someone at your local radio club will be glad to hook theirs up to your antenna. OK, this has been a little wordy but hope it helps.

 

IMHO UHF and VHF is not to active when driving around. Plus if you are wheeling in an area that does not have any repeaters then you wont be able to make any contacts for help.

With a general ticket you have an open playing field for HF and if you get your extra you will be further ahead than me.

Jeeps can be real noisy for all the HAM frequencies, plus you might want to be able to narrow down a signal with extra filters. If you go with the 857 consider purchasing the extra IF filters. I have an Ic 7000 with a fixed IF plus DSP filters and I use different filter settings all the time. Plus I have an amplified speaker with noise reduction to help with general road noise.

Also as stated be ready to fight the RF demons.


Check out k0bg.com for a web site with lots of information for mobile operations.

 

Of course it totally depends on where you are Don, but I have talked mobile 2m simplex at over 50 miles. My Icom 2000 was also putting out over 50 watts too.

 

Wow great replies, thanks folks! Very helpful! I appreciate your effort and time!

 

50 watts you power demon

While mobile with all the background noise in the jeep I have never had a great simplex contact. It could just be my antenna setup as I made a few errors with this part of my install. Or maybe the 7000 is not a great UHF/VHF rig.

 

What antenna do you have and where is it mounted on your JK.