The radio is attached by removing the top cover and riveting it to the TP-92 door. I could have gone with a normal mounting bracket but wanted to maintain the lowest profile for the unit. This makes it a pain to open up the unit as the radio has to be unscrewed from it's top plate but not the end of the world.
I'm running a 5AH LiPo battery from Turnigy which replaces the original SLA batteries. The original charging circuit and speaker have also been removed. I've added a Power-Meter to monitor the battery......but have put it after the regulator so won't get too much useful info although the ammeter measuring instant and peak current is a good tool to have. With the LiPo in place and the potential to dump a lot of current quickly I have gone fuse crazy with 2 internal fuses and one chassis fuse on the outside.
Without the original internals it does lose some of it's weight and potentially some of it's stability although I have not seen this as being an issue so far. Current weight without an antenna is 4.4Kgs.The main antenna is the 2.7 metre ANT-129 military antenna I got in from Greece - great buy and recommended. Without a tuner I am still getting a sub 1.7 SWR on 10m. If you are looking for one for yourself I bought mine on eBay from a great seller (and their eBay photo below):
Military-Whip-Antenna-ANT129-22-30Mhz-New-Old-Stock-PRC-Army-Radio-Singcar-radio
I'm not running any counterpoise at the moment as when I tried 2 3m wires my receive went backwards so that area needs a little bit of work.
I'm thinking it's nearly time to join the SOTA ranks and start hiking........
If you reverse the extended frequency mod in your Dragon back to 10 meters you can then take advantage of the 10 meter repeaters on 29mhz where the shift function will be operable. Pending on the age and version of your Dragon SS-485, there is a jumper and reset board in the newer versions, where it allows you to switch from 10 meters only to extend bandwidth by the function and shift keys. Otherwise looks great what you have done.
ReplyDeleteThanks Darren, I'll have to look into that as I have not tried any HF repeaters. Thanks for the tip and the kind words. O
ReplyDeleteNo worries Owen, only this morning I was able to have a chat with a Vk3 on 29.640 FM. Keep in mind some repeaters are linked to 6 meter repeaters and am not sure what the go is there regarding foundation licences.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to perform tests on 29Mhz FM feel free to give me call from time to time, I often sit on 29.200. Made some contacts there with JAs on simplex.
Hello, I just discovered your blog. Can you tell me which 13.8Volt Power Converter you have installed and whether the interference caused?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking for a converter to stabilize the power supply, you know with 3s Lipo one is fast at 11v in TX operation