Ham / Amateur radio & digital radio communications - Lightning transceiver project & questions

[metroshot]

After years of inactivity in the amateur radio field when I used to go remote places internationally with my ham radio gear, and since the Lightning is now off road / off terrain capable -

I decided I needed a portable, mobile transceiver small enough to fit the Lightning, yet have access to external antennas and power.

For years I have had many handheld UHF/ VHF 2 ways but this time I was looking into a mobile solution.

By chance, I ran across a QRP (low power), self contained, battery operable, portable transceiver made for emergencies, field day, camping, off roading, etc...

This transceiver seems to have every band & feature I wanted: FM, SSB, AM, CW, Packet / digital / satellite...

Yaesu FT-818: HF-UHF multi band 6W transceiver:

Wanted to know if there is slot or hole behind the cab where I can run coax cables to the inside ?

Was planning on getting dual antennas on the Lightning: short UHF/VHF and coil loaded HF.

Here is what I got for the short FM frequencies:

Haven't decided what to get for the low bands.

So in the meantime to start, I was planning on using the 12V cigarette lighter but wanted a cleaner installation.

Since the Lightning has 120V AC, I could use it and plug in a power adapter for 13.8VDC....

Thoughts from any ham, commercial land mobile operators, or trunking digital radio users??

 

[jefro]

I'd think that the cigarette lighter would be cleaner and above 12VDC usually.

The 120VAC outlet may not be true sine and could cause an issue.

 

[hahahano]

The FT-818 is a fun transceiver, but it’s pretty dated from a receive quality, power consumption, and features standpoint. It’s worth noting that the stock internal battery will only run the radio at 2.5W. There’s an aftermarket lithium ion replacement which will run it at the full 6W, but that’s still pretty weak for most HF unless you have a really good antenna position. That said, 6W is fine for VHF/UHF.

If you want something similar to the 818 and are willing to sacrifice an internal battery, the FT-857 is basically the same radio, but will do 100W output, and is a little larger. It also has a corded head unit, so you can mount the body of the radio under a chair and just put the controls and LCD on the dash. There are lots of other modern ICOM and Yaesu 100W mobile radios, too, with much nicer user interfaces.

If portability and all-mode frequencies are your priority, look at the ICOM IC-705, which will get you a more modern interface (with a waterfall) than the 818 and easy to swap batteries too.

All that said, I‘m not hating on the 818, but honestly I don’t think it’s worth its current new price, so if you want to go that route, consider a used one. They come up on eBay pretty frequently.

Regarding antennas, on my F-350 I used a Bullet Proof Diesel 3rd brake light antenna mount along with a no ground plane VHF antenna, and that was great for local communication and APRS. Pricey, but a really clean install. (And the big antennas look so cool on top of the truck! ) Here’s the current F-150 version, which I haven’t yet confirmed works on the Lighting but fingers crossed! I intend to find out soon!

 

[metroshot]

The FT-818 is a fun transceiver, but it’s pretty dated from a receive quality, power consumption, and features standpoint. It’s worth noting that the stock internal battery will only run the radio at 2.5W. There’s an aftermarket lithium ion replacement which will run it at the full 6W, but that’s still pretty weak for most HF unless you have a really good antenna position. That said, 6W is fine for VHF/UHF.

If you want something similar to the 818 and are willing to sacrifice an internal battery, the FT-857 is basically the same radio, but will do 100W output, and is a little larger. It also has a corded head unit, so you can mount the body of the radio under a chair and just put the controls and LCD on the dash. There are lots of other modern ICOM and Yaesu 100W mobile radios, too, with much nicer user interfaces.

If portability and all-mode frequencies are your priority, look at the ICOM IC-705, which will get you a more modern interface (with a waterfall) than the 818 and easy to swap batteries too.

All that said, I‘m not hating on the 818, but honestly I don’t think it’s worth its current new price, so if you want to go that route, consider a used one. They come up on eBay pretty frequently.

Regarding antennas, on my F-350 I used a Bullet Proof Diesel 3rd brake light antenna mount along with a no ground plane VHF antenna, and that was great for local communication and APRS. Pricey, but a really clean install. (And the big antennas look so cool on top of the truck! ) Here’s the current F-150 version, which I haven’t yet confirmed works on the Lighting but fingers crossed! I intend to find out soon!

Thanks for that!

Yes, I used to run dual stacked commercial Yaesu (Vertex) VHF and UHF radios in the trunk with a head unit up front. VHF was 80W and UHF was 60W going to glass mounted low profile public service antennas. They were so much better than the ham counterpart equipment back in the 1990s.

For the Lightning, I wanted HF thru UHF coverage with the ability to take the radio on the go if needed but my primary in car use will be VHF/UHF repeaters that don't need much power to hit the hilltop so 6W is more than enough with a 3dBi antenna...

Thinking back, for my college engineering project, I built and maintained a UHF full duplex repeater (callsign: W6YRA) which was on an itinerant SCRRBA frequency at that time (25kHz analog). It was on top of the engineering building with a pair of StationMaster antennas going into full wavelength filters.

 

[metroshot]

UPDATE:
Magnetic mount antenna did not work.

Truck cab and bed are all aluminum.

Now to find a different mounting method for NMO Compactenna.

 

[hahahano]

I came across a thread on another forum where someone recommended the Tram 1191 VHF/UHF glass mount antenna: https://www.[banned site]/threads/12v-connection-point-for-cb-or-shortwave-radio.1991/

I decided to give it a try and it works! Using a 5W handheld I was able to transmit an APRS packet that was picked up by a digipeater on a mountain 20 miles away.

However, my packets haven't been as consistently received as they were with the 3 foot antenna mounted to the 3rd brake light on the F350, so I may still go with the Bullet Proof Diesel mount.

I'm also still working out the best way to mount a CB antenna. I can't find any passthroughs into the frunk area.

 

[drdirk]

Reviving this topic, has anybody found a way to mount a 2m/440 antenna on the F150 Lightning besides the glass mount? My preferred way would be a front fender mount if I can get an antenna cable though the firewall. Any suggestions?

 

[gern]

Josh @ HRCC has a video about how he installed an antenna on his Lightning:

 

[carys98]

Here’s a great way to get an antenna mounted but it’s pricey.

https://bulletproofdiesel.com/products/90201129_f150

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