Going mobile with the HT

As I mentioned in my last blog, I have a Kenwood TH-F6A. I love this little HT. Well, it’s been gathering a little dust over the last couple months as I worked on the IC-7000 and getting it set up just the way I wanted it. Well, a few weeks back, I was listening to the Resonant Frequency podcast hosted by Richard, KB5JBV and he was talking about the HT being a good first rig for a newcomer to the hobby. I couldn’t agree more as that is where I started as well. Well, I’ve been considering putting together a mobile rig for my truck and Richard mentioned using the HT with a mag-mounted antenna as a good option for this. Well, I took it to heart and started saving my pennies.

Last weekend I broke down and made my purchases. After visiting all my favorite online Ham radio stores (the nearest ham radio store besides Radio shack is about two hours away) and reading up on the reviews posted at eham.net, I decided on the Comet SSB-224. It was an easy choice since I previously purchased the HT-224. I also bought the mag mount from Comet as well an SMA to SO-259 connector…. Some parts used, some new. Some new mainly because I couldn’t wait around for everything to show up at a hamfest, flea market, or ebay. I think my total cost was around 90 dollars for everything. Not bad considering I decided that I needed a tri-band antenna. Most of the dual band or single band antennas I found were very reasonably priced new and used.

Well after watching my UPS tracking numbers for the last five days, the last box showed up this afternoon. I put it all together and I turned on the radio and wow, I am very happy. With any luck, I’ll make a contact with the new setup on the commute to work tomorrow morning. I recommend doing this same setup to any ham out there. Thank you Resonant Frequency for this suggestion!

So what’s next for me? I’m going to work on getting mobile with the IC-7000. That will be a task and I will probably have to spend a little more money, but I like the idea of setting up the 7000 at a park or maybe even taking it camping sometime. Who knows, maybe I’ll use it in the truck. It is a mobile rig after all. I’ll need to consider power (solar, gel cell, generator). That seems to be my main consideration for a radio this size and how and where I’m heading.

I’d also like to look into putting a directional antenna in the attic and hooking up the HT to see how far out I can make a contact. Maybe a handheld directional antenna and I’ll try out some of these fox hunting activities.

Until next time… 73s,

Bob, KB3OQY