Doctnj

I look at an overall project and if there is a delay, what can I do in the meantime to keep the ball moving forward. Well except for those nights where I just throw in the towel. While waiting on the drill bit I thought well I can go ahead and measure the swr etc. UH... no. I just learned I need to order adapters for uhf. Yes I went with a cheaper meter and really didnt study things closely enough to notice I couldnt put it in between the radio and antenna without an adapter that didnt come with the meter originally. Ok they will be here sunday. Yep!!

Wow Im glad I came across this thread. I just got the surecom and havent used it yet but thinking about the connectors it came with it wasnt quite making sense how I could get it in line between an antenna and a mobile unit other than a hand held. That should be emphasized a little more with that unit I guess.

So Ive been working on installing the radio kg1000g in my house as a base station first. After this I will get it installed or install it in truck so I can go back and forth with it. First thing I accomplished was putting together a box on the outside wall where the surge protection is located and ground plate will go directly to ground as will antenna. Last night I mounted the box and planted the base of the mast in the ground and checked it for plumb and also have ground rod in. I decided I would use my radio in my reloading room so I can listen to it while loading which is actually getting less and less these days. The only time I wont be able to is when using electronic scales to measure powder. The EMF would kill those scales. I dont even take my cell phone when loading for match shooting. Ok so now I just have to drill a hole through the wall into the top of the wall in the basement. Its a walk out basement so this location is a couple feet above grade. I chose to use the level of the gas line at the other end of the side of the house to get an idea where this would come through the wall. Ok seems straight forward. So I got out the extension cords and my hammer drill and went to work. By the end of the first evening I quit after drilling a 6" deep hole. I could not find my long drill bit. No problem, Ill stop by the hardware store on the way home and pick up a couple masonry long drill bits. So at the end of evening # 2 is when I had the junction box up and the mast base set and the hole..... well it was as deep as the long bit would take me and still was not through the wall. I dont like to work while frustrated so I stopped for the evening. However I went around to garage to get a better measurement of the thickness of the brick and poured concrete on inside of brick. Looks like I was about an inch and half short of going through. If I could tell exactly where it was I could drill from the inside but I couldnt tell for sure where it was inside a three inch area. So I ordered an 18" masonry bit that will be delivered Saturday. Meanwhile I work on setting up mast and getting measurement of coax to junction box and get connectors on and do some swr testing and trimming. The chief household engineer wants the mast painted to blend in with the outside wall and part of the mast above the gutter painted shingle color. Hey if the chief is happy Im happy It almost never fails when I think through an entire project and order everything I will "need", there is always that THING that trashes my plan.

So the only thing missing is the radio which should be here tomorrow!!! Have my box to be mounted outside by the mast. Grounding and surge protection. So ground rod in and going to use automatic weld joint on ground rod. Have mast ready to go, wall mounts and and base. LR400 and fittings. Took the antenna and trimmed it to within 1/4" to the final lengths in three sections. We will see what the swr says. As far as the mast goes I'm going to clamp ground wire to all three sections.

And honestly don't know that. It's Hummer H2 pickup so there is a real nice flat spot on bed cover between back glass and the flip up part of cover. Very exciting news that my radio shipped Friday so probably here today or tomorrow. For the time being ill swap the radio in and out to house. After they start shipping regularly I'll get a second one to keep in the car.

Was just about to drill antenna hole then started looking for ways to run the coax back up front. It was at this point I decided to have a pro install done. I know it's not the same but they have done some good work when they replaced my factory radio. Now the house... I got that.

I went with this clamp. The other one I saw was back when I was looking at other folks installs. Now can't find the web site. I think this will be just as good. Clamp it down on bus bar and run ground wire through and down to being welded on rod.

I would have actually bet my life I would not have been able to do that and really expected it to take a while with the rotory hammer. I do have another question along the same line "grounding". I have a bar to mount the surgery protector on but can't seem to find a clamp as a pass through clamp that will mount on the bar. The holes are 1" centers or 3/4" center depending on the direction of mounting. I pretty sure one that I saw was a square with a single mounting bolt and a screw to clamp down on wire. Im sure there is a metric ton of talk about grounding. I'm just first trying to source the clamp I saw. Thanks again

I put in a pool years back and took hours to pound in a rod. This one is around the corner but 8' up from foundation in basement. The ground rod for pool was just started at the depth in the soil. The dirt on side of house is dirt taken from basement and used to fill in. So maybe not as much rock. If you don't haul in dirt, the back yard will resemble a gravel road. I guess an up shot on this is this will make the third ground rod tied in to our house. However I have lost two HD projectors and two receivers and 7 channel amplifier. An on top of it all, all utilities are underground. HDMI ports a very susceptible surges. Now it's become part of my prestorm routine to unplug everything to protect everything in the movie mostly

This is what it looks like when you rent a hammer drill for the weekend and then turns out you can shove it in the ground bare handed with a couple light taps with an actual hammer. Can not explain it

Another surprise, that company said that my order should be here tomorrow!! That's pretty exciting. Have to call the tool rental place to see if they have the big hammer drill and adapter for ground rod. I've never used one. Just sledge. I think by Thursday my antenna gear should be here. Just got back from getting a new soldering iron. It was time. Had my other since I was 20 years old.

That is what they told me this morning. So very happy with that. Im going to have to get the house power washed after work this week to buy time to put the antenna up this coming weekend lol.

Turns out I got incorrect info from the place I ordered the antenna. Apparently it indeed does come with the ground plane elements. So all is good

So I ordered the tram 1486. Looking around I saw it shown with horizontal elements. I ordered through another dealer and there are none in the pic. I even did live chat and asked specifically about if it came with any and was told no and they weren't needed? See pics

I ordered enough to probably have almost 10' extra.

Well just took a deap breath and placed order. Except for few small items I can get locally. Which isn't much.

A few years back I put in a pool, in ground. That is a bonding nightmare. I live in the country so dont have to pull permits but when I run electricity or plumbing I always run it to code. Dont want to run into surprises if I ever sell the house. And as far as loosing some equipment, I have a movie room in the basement and twice in 15 years Ive had to replace projector and the receiver / amp. Not to direct hits just in the area. Our utilities are all sub grade. Apparently hdmi cable transmits power surge very well.

I have every option available but I plan to bring in through the wall above grade. Ill be combining two hobbies in one room. Wont be able to have radio on while measuring gun powder on electric scales. Although lately they havent been on very much. Hence new hobby. More important every day. Wow thanks for the pics. Ill be looking at them on my phone so I can really zoom in. Im the son of a master electrician so I grew up helping dad create new equipment for the cable company on our dining. So that just means you are very detail oriented and challenge accepted. Although it may be a bit before looking polished. I watched a video where the center conductor is soldered as well as crimped. Thats a first for me. But I want it done right.

So real quick. On the N style. The female side is on all equip? Usually?

Thanks now off to research and read some new stuff and add to the list. I havent paid for my mast and grounding gear yet. keeping the cart open for a bit till I think I have most of what I need. I plan to have mast attached near a peek on side of house then run coax down to the basement which is just above ground level. Ill have my radio in there so it will terminate just inside to a surge protector on a grounding bar then over to radio. Question about the grounding bar. I was contemplating grounding the power source and radio to the bar. This could just be linear thinking but if the antenna took a hit and it came down through the ground bar, wouldnt that "back feed" to the radios?

Well I saw the radio was backordered when I ordered it, estimate ship date may 7, so it gave me a time to start educating myself and trying to get the best I can afford. There are those who would have said that was a while back lol. But yes Ive been reading non stop and watching and reading reviews and right or wrong getting help from the place I ordered most of my equip. They would give me some names and I would research then go back and place an order. Pretty much all of the grounding equip is coming from the mast maker, or seller or what ever. Looks like ill be all in on mast, mounts, grounding, surge protection about 4 bills. Pretty reasonable. I was running some errands yesterday i.e. getting stuff for my wife. And I took my hand held and just left it on scan. So inside my truck I heard others both trips out. Bother were very quick, enough to stop the scan but not to understand just a voice. I think there are a few in this area and once I get my antennas up, will be surprising how much better it will be. Pretty excited.

Im missing what type of connector you are saying to use? I get the shrink wrap use it pretty often but I dont know what connect? If it were just an electrical issue Id solder and shrink-wrap. thanks.

Wow that hammer drill thing sounds great. Usually if I have to dig down past a foot Ill go rent a baby backhoe . Hammer drill attachment sounds a ton better.

Don't know if you didn't see but I'm getting the best coax. Forgot the name. But yes it's lmr-400. And yes you may be correct about guy wire. I am connecting to house up to 10 '. My thoughts is having 28' mast only extended to 22 feet max increasing the area of overlap making it more stiff. I'll eval it and yes if it's a sway machine it's not hard to throw on guy wires. It comes with rings. Living in Ozarks every hill is a sand stone pile. When I drove a ground rod for a pool I put in I hit a rock every 3". That's really the issue. Spose I could rent an auger for the stakes and ground rod.

So handhelds came in last night and had a fun time seeing how far they could reach half charged. I could not wait till they were fully charged. Most rechargeable batteries are shipped between 30 and 50 % at least in the drone world. Way better than expected even though. Almost 3 miles with rolling small hills and trees. KG-805G and NA-771G on top. Wife was still in the house and I was in my truck so pretty nice. Now the rest of the plan. ----- What is already on order JetStream 25 Amp switching power supply. Tram 1486, Kg-100G radio, and for mobile, NL-770g, Tram 1296 mno-UHF adapter, Br-1258 UHF 3/4 inch hole mnt, comes w 17 ft coax. ----- What is about to be ordered ROHN 28' MAST pushup, ROHN 24D WALL MOUNT, ROHN BASE, GROUND WIRE, GROUND ROD, GROUND WELD CLAMP, GOUNDING BAR, ALPHA DELTA UHF COAX SURGE PROTECTOR, GROUND COPPER WIRE, COAX CONNECTOR WEATHER PROOFING TAPE, ( not sold on guy wire etc ) since it goes up, it can come down or lower for storms. Ill have to look at it, the mast is 28' max and I dont see going much past 20 if that. For the coax Ill use will be the good stuff. I need to do some measuring and figure out how many fittings I need plus 2 and how many feet of coax plus 5' AND AN SWR METER - but im not saying which one So far for now. Any suggestions excepts swr's welcomed