Author Topic: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?  (Read 16511 times)

.Cheese.

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How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« on: May 17, 2009, 06:36:52 PM »
I went to the Dayton Hamfest and bought a Yaesu FT-8900R.  For those who know what it is - no explanation is needed then.  For those who don't, it's a radio tranceiver that mounts in your car and runs off of your car battery - kind of like CB radio, except amateur radio requires an FCC license which gives licensees the privelege of using many radio bands (sets of frequencies) that the average person can't use.

Anyways, I've decided upon mounting the actual radio in the trunk of the car, and running cables to the front of the car to the remote control head with mic and speaker.  The remote control head is not going to be permanently mounted to the front of my car.  Instead, I'm going to use hole-less mount solutions.

Anyways, it's not the inside I'm worried about as much as the outside.  I will need to mount a quad band antenna.  I've decided on the Diamond brand CR8900A (an antenna designed specifically for this radio).  It's 50" tall and chrome plated with several "traps" (they look like little tapered tubes on the antenna).

Here is a picture of the antenna:



This is the radio:



Bear in mind that the front part of that comes off and will be connected to the rest via cables that will be hidden in the car's chasis.

Here is the antenna mount that will be on my trunk:



Ok.... so, the whole question is - how bad is this going to make my Infiniti G35 Sedan look?  Is it going to look bubbafied?  Or will people not really notice all that much?  I'd rather they not notice to be honest, but be honest in your opinion.

I'm thinking women are going to see my car and just automatically assume I'm a weird guy.

Perd Hapley

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2009, 06:49:11 PM »
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I'm thinking women are going to see my car and just automatically assume I'm a weird guy.

They'll appreciate being warned ahead of time.   =D
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jackdanson

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2009, 07:48:25 PM »
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I'm thinking women are going to see my car and just automatically assume I'm a weird guy.

The trench coat and thin whispy mustache will do that more than the antenna.  =D

yep, it will look a little off, but who cares?  I would be more concerned with clearance... but on the g35 you should be fine.  There is a car on the route that I drive for work that has 125+ antennas on it... no joke, no sarcasm...  Now that's bubbafied. I'll take a pic next time I pass by it.

mtnbkr

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2009, 07:48:26 PM »
I've seen worse mounted on cars.

It might look a bit cleaner if you drilled a hole and used a body mount instead of a trunk lip mount.  I have a 2m/70cm Larsen antenna on a lip mount like that, but it's only 36" tall.

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never_retreat

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2009, 08:41:18 PM »
The trench coat and thin whispy mustache will do that more than the antenna.  =D

yep, it will look a little off, but who cares?  I would be more concerned with clearance... but on the g35 you should be fine.  There is a car on the route that I drive for work that has 125+ antennas on it... no joke, no sarcasm...  Now that's bubbafied. I'll take a pic next time I pass by it.

If you see a vehicle with a bunch of anteni (more than one) and 4 of them are in a square pattern on the roof (short 12 ish inches) its most likely a lojack recover vehicle. It will usually be unmarked of course.

If you see a mini van or wagon style car with a crap load of small anteni, it may be a cellular provider tool. They drive around checking there signals and all of there competitors. The reason for the wagon is they have a top of hardware in the back.
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cassandra and sara's daddy

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2009, 08:45:58 PM »
I'm thinking women are going to see my car and just automatically assume I'm a weird guy.


think of it as truth in advertising

you say weird like its a bad thing....
It is much more powerful to seek Truth for one's self.  Seeing and hearing that others seem to have found it can be a motivation.  With me, I was drawn because of much error and bad judgment on my part. Confronting one's own errors and bad judgment is a very life altering situation.  Confronting the errors and bad judgment of others is usually hypocrisy.


by someone older and wiser than I

One of Many

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2009, 08:51:37 PM »
If the antenna doesn't scrape the roof of the drive through when you go to the bank or the fast-food joint, then you are not serious about ham radio. You need to be able to knock down overhanging tree limbs in the city when you drive down residential streets.

Seriously, if you are more concerned with appearance than you are with effective performance, then why bother putting a rig in your car? The antenna will help you locate your vehicle when you forget which row you parked it in, if it is high enough to be getting the best performance possible. A trunk mount is better than no mount at all, but the best location is on the roof of your vehicle, and for a passenger auto that means either a gutter mount, or preferably a hole in the center of the roof. My antenna is mounted on top of a minivan, using a luggage rack mount. That gets the signal above the interference of the roof-line of the vehicle. Using a trunk mount you will have a directional pattern of radiation, instead of an omni-directional pattern.

lee n. field

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2009, 08:59:54 PM »
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just automatically assume I'm a weird guy.

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Lee

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2009, 09:04:44 PM »
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I'm thinking women are going to see my car and just automatically assume I'm a weird guy.

Just women?

makattak

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Antibubba

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2009, 09:46:35 PM »
Well, you'll never get laid again, but at least you'll be able to commiserate with people on the other side of the world.   :lol:
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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #11 on: May 17, 2009, 09:47:30 PM »
As long as your ride doesn't end up looking like this... you should be fine.





Credit to Hamsexy.com, which you may go and visit for some hilarious images poking fun at the whackers and such. Probably NSFW.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2009, 10:10:11 PM by Avenger29 »
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castle key

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #12 on: May 17, 2009, 09:52:36 PM »
You need a white work van...
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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #13 on: May 17, 2009, 10:01:18 PM »
I'm thinking women are going to see my car and just automatically assume I'm a weird guy.

As a ham, RF has already done permanent damage to the important bits.  It won't matter if women assume you're weird.  
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AJ Dual

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #14 on: May 17, 2009, 10:34:15 PM »
You just need a (well hidden) 600 Watt in-line amplifier. So you can overload and transmit whatever you want on the speakers of any hooptie-mobiles with a boom-car sound system.

Then I'd start using their car speakers to make entreaties for a rendezvous with the intent of same-sex activities.
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never_retreat

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #15 on: May 17, 2009, 10:56:26 PM »
You just need a (well hidden) 600 Watt in-line amplifier. So you can overload and transmit whatever you want on the speakers of any hooptie-mobiles with a boom-car sound system.

Then I'd start using their car speakers to make entreaties for a rendezvous with the intent of same-sex activities.

What frequency is most useful for over powering the geto superstar shitboxes?
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MicroBalrog

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #16 on: May 17, 2009, 11:09:07 PM »
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As long as your ride doesn't end up looking like this... you should be fine.

All that guy needs is a bolt of lightning?
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crt360

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #17 on: May 17, 2009, 11:26:50 PM »
A G35 would definitely be the best looking car I've ever heard of anyone sticking a big ham antenna on.  Might as well just sell the car and get an old beater pickup with a camper top.  Be sure to put plenty of conspiracy-themed bumper stickers on it.  Then you won't have to explain anything.  Or you could keep the G35 for picking up the ladies, and buy the radio truck for when you want to scare them off.
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Perd Hapley

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #18 on: May 18, 2009, 12:02:45 AM »
There is a car on the route that I drive for work that has 125+ antennas on it... no joke, no sarcasm...  Now that's bubbafied. I'll take a pic next time I pass by it.

You live out my way, right?  I think I've seen that one, too.
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Boomhauer

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #19 on: May 18, 2009, 12:07:55 AM »
You live out my way, right?  I think I've seen that one, too.


Every town has at least one poser like that...lots of antennas, lots of radios, usually an older car, maybe some "emergency lighting", lots of stickers...
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mfree

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #20 on: May 18, 2009, 12:09:01 AM »
"What frequency is most useful for over powering the geto superstar shitboxes?"

Lessee.... best bet is the distance from the head unit to the amplifier since you'd best leak in on the signal path (~2-3v p-p at best)... a 2 meter rig is about perfect, but really anything AM that would have a harmonic in the 1-2M range will probably bleed in, especially if it's a cheap amp install.

I remember back when i had my Tbird I had just installed a CB radio, and had been listening for a couple days when I ran up on some fresh unexpected traffic blockage and decided I'd be a decent guy and broadcast. I turned the radio down, keyed up, and almost went off the road.

Turns out I'd never checked for RF leakage effects; since I was playing music, the radio and hence my two amplifiers were on, and my setup was "standard" and signal was only around a volt p-p. I got one word out and that blasted back to me at about 120db immediately followed by the loudest feedback I'd ever heard in my life.

Replacing the amp signal with something a bit less chintzy solved my issue :)

cfabe

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #21 on: May 18, 2009, 08:53:04 AM »
Who cares what other people think?

I had a Yaesu FT-7800 (I think that was the model) installed in my Mazda6 using a roof mount in the factory radio antenna hole. I initially tried a tall 4-band antenna like the one you posted and I discovered that the sheetmetal the roof was made of was too weak to support it, the antenna would bend the metal when it whipped back and forth. I planned to install a shorter 2M/440 antenna but never got around to it and removed the rig when I tried to sell the car. I'd be careful of a similar problem with a trunk lip mount like you posted. I'm not sure they are really designed for a 4-foot antenna. 

roo_ster

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #22 on: May 18, 2009, 11:47:01 AM »
I have the solution:

Toss all that trunk-lid vs roof vs whatever noise.

What you need is a tow hitch installed under your rear end, a removable square ball-mount for it, a mild brush guard / tow hook up front, and a mighty long & flexible antenna.

Hitch goes in back.  LONG flex antenna goes in ball mount where ball would normally go.  Brush guard up front.  When tooling around town, antenna gets bent over the top of the vehicle and secured up front in a bow.  Parked someplace for a while?  Unsecure it from the front and get full use of your mongo 20'-ish antenna height.

Trailer hitch:


Stuff that uses front tow hook to mount stuff on:
http://blog.stillen.com/2008/11/nissan-gt-r-license-plate-bracket-released/

http://www.bulletproofautomotive.com/catalog-detail.php?ID=6487





Regards,

roo_ster

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richyoung

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #23 on: May 18, 2009, 12:21:13 PM »
Not a good idea.  RF reflected back into such a system would lead to high standing wave ratios....
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.Cheese.

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Re: How bad is putting a ham radio in my car going to look?
« Reply #24 on: May 18, 2009, 06:13:45 PM »
I decided to hell with it.  I'm going to just go for it and not look back.

I realized today though that I need to also install an XM antenna too.  :(  More work.