tcp2525

Thanks. I do have the service manual and noticed the pinout and do see the TX/RX audio circuit as well switching. It would be nice to not need a controller. I assumed I would need one for timeout timer and ID to be legal?

For a portable repeater setup. I plan on using two Vertex VBX-4207 radios. Got the radios and duplexer, just need to hook this stuff up. What would be the best way to go on controllers?

Look at it this way, a Nigerian scammer sends out thousands of e-mails a day knowing that he will get a small percentage of bites from suckers. Same way with the Chinese, very little outlay with cheap labor and Americans happily buying cheap goods making the ROI very high. Flood the market with millions of these information gathering devices that phone home to a server that has the right algorithm to find what they want. Of course, a small percentage of these devices will find their way into an information rich environment. Time and the odds are on their side. I'm with you on the astronomically small chance that a Baofeng will be phoning home. Below is an example of cheap Chinese CCTV cameras that were phoning home. And yes, this company manufactures and rebrands the cameras. https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/25/23478132/fcc-china-huawei-zte-hikvision-camera-telecom-authorization-ban

Those boneheads should be more worried about some of the Chinese apps they put on their smartphones.

Definitely agree with what you say about hardline. I've installed enough hardline connectors to see how they are precisionly machined. No solder required. Like you, I've seen many cheap "aftermarket" crimp connectors on the end of coax, even on RG-400. I rather spend the money on good coax and terminate it with good connectors. I hate doing things twice.

Good point. You gotta know your limitations as well as the tools you're using. If you want to make a great coax collinear use 3/8"Heliax. RG-8X really isn't a good choice for that. I've made many coax collinear antennas that came out great and are still up and running to this day. Here's what it looks like prior to soldering.

That's nice. I've always used the silver plated connectors that require soldering the center pin and have been extremely happy with the results. I have yet to use a solderless crimp connector, but I've seen them used in the field.

Doesn't anyone solder any more? I'm old school and still solder.

I'm going to go against the grain and say probably not. I'm assuming it is an RG-58 or equivalent? If so, and is of decent quality, it probably has a solid dielectric which can sustain a moderate amount of abuse and bending. Foam dielectric isn't as forgiving. I'd be more worried about pinched coax with trunk lip installations or coax being pinched my the door for magnetic mounts.

Gortex2 gives great advice on antennas. For a few dollars more you can get the Tram 1486-B antenna that will give you a bit more gain. I have one on the side of my tower and it performs really well for its small size. https://www.amazon.com/TRAM-1486-B-Tunable-Black-Antenna/dp/B092DWP4NG/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2ZYF5H8KAOIT2&keywords=tram+1486&qid=1678122509&sprefix=tram+1486%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-2&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc

Just looking at the extremely tight tolerance of the line section speaks volumes of the type of gear the Bird is.

Or just use the chart.

My advice spend the extra money and buy the Bird so you have peace of mind. I had two Daiwa 901s and I had to replace a meter on one for $50 and a diode in the other, all common documented problems. I always thought Daiwa was a great second choice, but no, just more crap. You don't want to see the slop inside one of them. Buy the Bird, I did and ain't looking back.

Thanks for the compliments. Since you have no moonfoof your options are unlimited. You will have a really nice install once all is done. My son has the V8 in his 2016 F150 as well. My F150 has the twin turbo 3.5L EcoBoost lawnmower engine it and the gas mileage sucks. I get between 13-14 MPG while my son gets over 20. Got lots of power and torque, but nothing economical about the EcoBoost. I'm trying to get my son to sell me his truck as some dumbass hit me head on and totaled my other vehicle. When you get your hole punched in your truck, if you have a micrometer handy let me know the thickness of the roof skin as I want to plan an install once I get my son's truck. Thanks.

Yep, nothing beats a great well thought out install. I won't tell you how many whips I went through on the F150 due to low indoor parking, even took out a few fluorescent tubes as well and no sheetmetal distortion!? A bit off topic, but here's what I did for the two motorcycles I have. The red 2018 Goldwing has Larsen NMO2/70B and NMO27 on a custom antenna mount that I fabricated. The blue 2014 Goldwing Valkyrie just has a Larsen NMO2/70B on a custom mount. Both bikes have a Kenwood V71a running full output with good SWR. Here's what one of the mounts I made looks like prior to installation. Coax for both antennas is RG400 with N connectors. And the V71a head mounted in custom mount that allows me to slide the head in and out when I'm away from the bike.

NICE!!! I love it!!!

Best way to go! A couple things to keep in mind before you start. Do you have a power moonroof? My 2013 Limited has one and putting it in the center of the roof wasn't an option due to the tracks for the glass panel to slide on, so I opted to do the third brake light area. I put the hole in there and added extra reinforcement by putting a thin fender washer on the inside to distribute and force that might impact the antenna. As for electrical performance, it has been great on both UHF and VHF. Even though my goal of putting it center roof wasn't met, I feel the performance would be close to equal. If you can put it center roof, hopefully you have a flat support brace so you can go through two sheets of aluminum. If not, definitely add the fender washer for added strength so you can use larger antenna antenna without worry. Here's what my ham install looks like. FTM-400XDR control head installed in sunglass holder for stealth. Folds up when not in use and looks totally stock with no radio in vehicle. Microphone plugged into jack installed in console.

That should never be an issue if one observes proper weather sealing of all connections. Moisture in ANY connection is a no-no, so do it properly with any cable and never worry.

Interesting. I know the repeater I use only uses two, one for the group and 141.3 as a travel tone. I don't think, with modern radios, booting someone via PL would be a useful too as it will be circumvented in minutes. I just find all these available tones strange and not useful.

I remember those days and thought they were long gone, but it makes sense.

I've been noticing some repeaters in my area have up to eight different PL tones to get into it. What gives with this? Is there a legitimate reason or is this sloppy programming?

Now that is some pretty cool looking innards. Electrically I would guess this is equivalent to a rubber duck with about as much gain. I'll stick with the 1/4 wave.

On a different note, did anyone every crack one of these antennas open to see what's inside? I would be curious to see what they did to get that "3dB" gain they claim.

Agree! I'm kind of disappointed that he didn't, intentionally or not, include the basic 1/4 wave in that video as it's unity gain and a baseline for measurement. I'm sure there would be a negligible difference electrically between all the antennas tested and the 1/4 wave would be the perfect choice for most installs, especially for rough service. I would hate to have a ghost antenna drilled into the center of my roof and have a low hanging tree branch catch it as there's no play like a stainless steel whip. Just bend the whip back to vertical and move on.

As the old saying goes, there's no replacement for displacement. Gotta get more metal in the air if ya wanna get out and be heard.