Updated shot of the operating area

This is always changing but I took a new photo anyway.

Is 27MHz CB still active in Australia?

We had a bit of skip rolling in recently and judging from the amount of activity on 27MHz LSB there is definitely a solid number of people still on the band all around Australia. On my Uniden Grant I was able to hear NSW, Tasmania, Victoria, and of course Queensland, all from a Station Master vertical, the same antenna I use for 10m and 40m.

Mobile is almost done

The KT-8900D arrived and I was able to easily mount it in the car. Programming it however seems to be a different story. I manually entered all my local 2M and 70cm repeaters but the radio does not seem to keep the shift and tone on each memory. I'm not sure where I'm going wrong but will keep at it.

Updating the mobile shack

Seeing as I just spent nearly $3000 on replacing the gearbox in the mobile money pit I thought it would be a good time to get my radios back into the car - I'm not planning on selling it anytime soon.

Starting with the antennas I am running a Nagoya dualband steel whip for VHF/UHF and an RFI elevated feed whip for UHF CB. The Ford Falcon interior does not have that many flat surfaces to mount radios so I opted to use the centre console as the main spot. With the antennas mounted on the front guards and the cables routed back into the cabin I then started dismantling the dash and centre console to mount the Uniden UH089B UHF CB. It was a mission to not break the stupid plastic clips holding the trim together and in the current heatwave Australia was going through not a very enjoyable experience.

Work in Progress

And with the radio mounted.

The bracket on the left side is the mount for my Yaesu VX7R and the other loose cable is for the GPS. I've just ordered the QYT KT-8900D mini transceiver and expect to slot that in under the Uniden. Hopefully I can make it fit.......

Scanner remote is working

I've had this Uniden UBCT9 for a long time and finally decided to get the remote access working on the weekend. Long story short, I could have gotten this working years ago if I had enabled remote working on the unit itself. Doh!!!! I spent ages mucking around with serial cables and USB adaptors.

Now to get the trunking working.......

I've got GAS....

Gear Acquisition Syndrome continues unabated.... I have removed the 40 channel UHF CB in the car and replaced it with a new Uniden UH7740NB 80 channel narrow band one.





Works well, very happy with it...although I don't care much for UHF CB. The Uniden UH012SX is now in the radio shack.....which led me to a need for a UHF CB antenna for that one....time for some DIY. Following the instructions on http://www.aurfscan.com.au/ I tailored it for 477Mhz. Had problems, split the T-junction, bracket was wrong, drilled mounting holes 10 degrees off vertical.





But it's all done, up in the air pointing North West and hitting Ch2 and Ch7 repeaters. At the same time I took down the Station Master antenna and put up the new version from Shockwave Antennas. A bit of messing about tuning it to 10m and I've now got a SWR of 1.2:1 on 28.480Mhz and now getting all of my meager 10 watts up the stick.



Next items on the list are to chase another HF radio, keen to get onto the 40 metre band. Also starting to plan for the next antenna mast (possible another vertical and a G5RV Jr. dipole). Have to balance this with getting the RGV250 on the road....and upgrading to the Standard licence.