Any Radio Hams ever fitted a rig in a K11?

Kaptain Klang

Kaptain Klang

Just curious as to the feasibility of installing my Icom IC706 into this 5 door, and as I hate finding out the hard way I thought I'd ask here first. Main issues are getting 30A power cable through the firewall/bulkhead, and antenna placement. Any help would be appreciated.

Klang.
 
There 2 large grommets in passenger footwell you can use I have a 0 Guage going through one of mine. Theres also one in the passenger wheel well, right up near the top of the arch.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
 
Cheers. I thought there would be something of the sort. That just leaves where the hell do you mount the antennae WITHOUT drilling holes into the bodywork! any ideas on that, anyone?

Klang
 
Well, I managed to get a smaller VHF rig for the car, and found that without the center console there's a nice gap under the ash tray....

20140716_163257_zpslvoav7wd.jpg


And the old Boot Mount fits on the bonnet quite well!

20140720_154432_zpsgxozjm15.jpg


So, job jobbed :)
 
Kaptain Klang said:
So, job jobbed :)
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And very nice it looks, too! I'd have ended up drilling a hole in my roof and mounting the antenna there, so my car would look like a dodgem. Do you have any ground plane issues, with your antenna on the bonnet? Or is that only something that affects CB radio? I don't know as much as I should about radios and things, haha.

Either way, good job. Just don't go overboard.
 
mad_turk said:
And very nice it looks, too! I'd have ended up drilling a hole in my roof and mounting the antenna there, so my car would look like a dodgem. Do you have any ground plane issues, with your antenna on the bonnet? Or is that only something that affects CB radio? I don't know as much as I should about radios and things, haha.

Either way, good job. Just don't go overboard.
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all frequencies will be affected in the same way regarding the radiation pattern

attachment.php
 
1275 said:
all frequencies will be affected in the same way regarding the radiation pattern
Click to expand...

That's a useful thing to know. My mates use CB and PMR 446 radios when they drive in convoy - little handheld things, but the range is terrible. I'm toying with the idea of installing a radio in my car (when I get the thing), and a proper antenna is definitely the way to go. Like I say though, I'll have to put up with my car looking like a dodgem :p

Cheers for the infographic.
 
mad_turk said:
That's a useful thing to know. My mates use CB and PMR 446 radios when they drive in convoy - little handheld things, but the range is terrible. I'm toying with the idea of installing a radio in my car (when I get the thing), and a proper antenna is definitely the way to go. Like I say though, I'll have to put up with my car looking like a dodgem :p

Cheers for the infographic.
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The range of the 446 radios will increase dramatically if it's handheld to a decent UHF set up in your car.
 
1275 said:
The range of the 446 radios will increase dramatically if it's handheld to a decent UHF set up in your car.
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How would that work? Would the proper UHF rig basically act like a repeater for the little handheld? If so, I'd probably need to be a licensed radio ham for it to be legal, right? I've been toying with the idea of doing my Foundation license with the local radio club. It's just a matter of finding the time.

On a side note, what is your opinion on the Midland GB-1?
 
mad_turk said:
How would that work? Would the proper UHF rig basically act like a repeater for the little handheld? If so, I'd probably need to be a licensed radio ham for it to be legal, right? I've been toying with the idea of doing my Foundation license with the local radio club. It's just a matter of finding the time.

On a side note, what is your opinion on the Midland GB-1?
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Having a antenna on the roof means you can receive the weaker signal for a greater distance than the handheld, and transmit considerably further. Years ago I used to talk to a friend over a distance of about a mile, I had to stand up at the window to hear him, for a short while I spoke to him with an antenna on the roof using milliwatts, it was BBC quality both ways then.

I'd not seen the Midland before, a lot of money for what it is, but legal of course if you're worried about using something else. 446 is of course outside the ham band so if you only want to talk to your mates on 446 it isn't an advantage having a license.
 
1275 said:
Having a antenna on the roof means you can receive the weaker signal for a greater distance than the handheld, and transmit considerably further.
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I see what you mean, now. Thanks for the tip!

446 is of course outside the ham band so if you only want to talk to your mates on 446 it isn't an advantage having a license.
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Yeah, but there are other attractions to amateur radio. Talking to the International Space Station, for one! Still, I seem to be straying further and further from OP's topic, so I'll drop out of the thread for now.

Dennis said:
If you want to go CB why don't you buy the little Wilson antenna.I use one with my Icom706mk2 it is less than a metre high so the Micra doesn't look like a radio controlled car Ha Ha!!!!!
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Mostly because I think it would be hilarious to drive around in something that looks like a giant radio controlled car! But yeah, when it actually comes down to it I'll probably end up with a smaller antenna.

On a side note, there's a bunch of chavs around my way that operate a pirate radio station in a tiny little Renault Clio. You can see them driving around at night, massive antenna wobbling on the roof, blasting rave music. It's pretty funny.
 
mad_turk said:
Yeah, but there are other attractions to amateur radio. Talking to the International Space Station, for one! Still, I seem to be straying further and further from OP's topic, so I'll drop out of the thread for now.
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I think we're okay, we're on topic really. Certainly if you have an interest in radio it is now very easy to get onto the first rung of the hobby with the Foundation license. The exam is very easy, especially if you've already done a bit of CB. Go for it. Having said that I know a lot of licensed operators who have also returned to CB, as long as you avoid ch19 it can be okay.

I've listened to the space station a few times as it passes over, the window for talking to them is very small given the speed they pass over.
 
1275 said:
...as long as you avoid ch19 it can be okay.
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Around my way, C19 is full of older gents talking about dogs, politics and pigeons. There are a load of pigeon coops near my house, and there seems to be some sort of weird correlation between pigeon fancy and CB radio.

C26 is the Clio crew and their Wigan Pier CDs. A few of the other channels have chavs and gyppos generally being loud.

C10 is the way to talk to the local conspiracy nut.

The other channels are dead.

I've listened to the space station a few times as it passes over, the window for talking to them is very small given the speed they pass over.
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It's still pretty amazing. And even though the ISS is one of the most obviously exciting things you can do with a radio, there's a ton of other interesting things. Ever heard of the AMPRNET? It's TCP/IP implemented over amateur radio. Someone's managed to host a telnet BBS using it, and all sorts. Amateur TV looks like good fun, too.

Yeah, I think I need to get my license lol. It can be the next goal after I've got my car.
 

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