300 Weekender and Ham Radio

[Happy Dean]

I'm WA0RJ. Anyone have suggestions for a Ham Radio HF setup on a 1988 300 Weekender?
Thanks

 

[hughespat57]

Well not a HAM and have a 300DA not Weekender
I plan to make a run to the Bahamas this summer for a few weeks cruising around if weather and Covid rules allow.
So I got an ICOM M600 marine HF SSB mounted in the aft cabin near the dinette. I only put up the antenna if I think I may need it.

I have coax to an AT-120 tuner at the bow then feed up to the bow rail with some Ancor 150110 Marine Grade Electrical GTO15 High Voltage Cable.

It's not connected to the stainless steel handrail just has a junction point there. Then I have a poly rope with more GTO15 threaded into the core. The rope attaches to the rail and goes up over everything to a pole on the stern. This gives me about 30 feet fore and aft and another 5 feet down to the tuner. The AT-120 will tune anything over 23 feet to 2-24Mhz ICOM says.

Not optimal as its at about a 50 degree angle not nearly vertical. The alternative would be a marine vertical for HF but that's a 17' 6" antenna and they cost $385 or so. I would have to brace it alongside the arch and my arch is aluminum. So tuning to some kind of long wire is typical for sailors, they would use a back stay.

The next issue is a ground plane. You will find all kinds of ideas, options and stories on the sail cruiser forums. I haven't dealt with this yet. Right now just grounded to the thru hulls. There is flat copper foil, DynaPlates, and the KISS counter poise.

 

[Sundancer]

Studying for the Technician test right now and hoping to sneak the general in on the same day. Big plans, don't know WHEN it will happen. A 2 meter or 70 CM? Beats me!! I was hoping someone would respond so I could copy the same antenna setup on my 89 300 DA!

 

[northshore]

N8MVZ - Been a while since I was on air but interested in what you may come up with for the HF.
Marine SSB whip and a tuner could get you through but might not be optimal.

ARRL always has great info.
http://www.arrl.org/marine-mobile

Good luck with the tests!

Do you still have to do code to get your license?

 

[be_prepared]

Good luck with your exam. I've been an amateur for a while, K1RON, formerly N1GFS. In your first note you ask about an HF setup, but your second note mentions 2M or 70cm. If you want to operate there, around 144Mhz or 440Mhz, you can get fairly compact antenna's to mount on the radar arch with no problem. Marine VHF is not too far from 2M ham band, so the antenna needs are similar. Channel 16 is 156.8Mhz, for example. If there's decent repeater coverage in your area, you will be amazed how far offshore you can be and still hit your local repeaters, even with a 5 watt amateur handheld.

For HF, most power boats do resort to the classic 17.5' or 23' vertical's. That works better on a bridge boat, where the base can be secured to the deck, then a higher place on the bridge enclosure to secure a mid-antenna support. On our express cruisers, it's not a great option. As you also mention, getting a decent groundplane is also challenging.

I only have 2M capability on the boat, in addition to Marine VHF and some CG Auxiliary VHF capability. I'd like to have HF, but on my 340 DA, the antenna thing has been a problem.

Good luck, and definitely go for the General Class, lots of additional frequency allocation.

 

[Sundancer]

N8MVZ - Been a while since I was on air but interested in what you may come up with for the HF.
Marine SSB whip and a tuner could get you through but might not be optimal.

ARRL always has great info.
http://www.arrl.org/marine-mobile

Good luck with the tests!

Do you still have to do code to get your license?

Code is no longer a requirement to get the Tech or General license. It's something I should have learned years ago when I still had enough memory space to remember. I think my older sisters got it, but I didn't. My father taught them, but he became a silent key when I was very young. I grew up with a shack full or Heathkit and Hallicrafters stuff. He built and repaired of a lot of it. So I'm thinking I'd like to experience it before I become a silent key! Spending time on the boat with a mobile sounds kind of fun, especially at night. We'll see!

 

[northshore]

Code is no longer a requirement to get the Tech or General license. It's something I should have learned years ago when I still had enough memory space to remember. I think my older sisters got it, but I didn't. My father taught them, but he became a silent key when I was very young. I grew up with a shack full or Heathkit and Hallicrafters stuff. He built and repaired of a lot of it. So I'm thinking I'd like to experience it before I become a silent key! Spending time on the boat with a mobile sounds kind of fun, especially at night. We'll see!

Very sorry about your dad. Lost mine when I was about two and a half years old. My uncles jumped in to help and one was heavy in to electronics. Built me a crystal set with a diode, some wire, a toilet paper tube and a Korean war vintage ear phone. No Batteries? How does this thing work? - I was hooked.

Thank God you dont need the code anymore. Doing 5 wpm was a pain.
Good luck on the exams.

73s

-Mike

 

[Sundancer]

Very sorry about your dad. Lost mine when I was about two and a half years old. My uncles jumped in to help and one was heavy in to electronics. Built me a crystal set with a diode, some wire, a toilet paper tube and a Korean war vintage ear phone. No Batteries? How does this thing work? - I was hooked.

Thank God you dont need the code anymore. Doing 5 wpm was a pain.
Good luck on the exams.

73s

-Mike

Very sorry to hear about your dad as well. I was 4.5 and have a few memories, but not many. Lots of letter from WWII and some pictures. He flew the P-38 and did a bunch of "MARS" stuff in Montana setting up the network or something back in the 50's and 60's. I like to think of it as the predecessor to the internet although it was just military radio bands.

Hitting 5 WPM would be tough at this point in life. I don't think I could look over and find the letter and decipher them fast enough to key them in! I know my memory doesn't have enough disc space either. I think I tried to make one of those radios too. I did it from a picture and didn't have a diode! I'm guessing the made the signal travel TOWARD the ear piece? I tried all kinds of stuff, so I'd just upstairs and turn on the RX and spin knobs and dials. I didn't have a clue what I was doing and got some wanky sounding folks on SSB I'm guessing. I didn't know what to do to tune them in. I still have that Apache or Mohawk RX. When we were moving my mom out of the house, I didn't have room for the TX. IT kills me I couldn't get it.

Fast Forward and I found a stupid little Baofeng on Amazon for $22. It's pretty amazing and yes, it's kind of the Bayliner of the Ham world, but I hear guys on repeaters and just over the air and it's kind of fun. I'd like to pass the test and start looking for some kind of inexpensive 2m and 70 cm unit to mess around with. We'll see. I retire in a few months and should have LOTS of time then to study.

 

[northshore]

Very sorry to hear about your dad as well. I was 4.5 and have a few memories, but not many. Lots of letter from WWII and some pictures. He flew the P-38 and did a bunch of "MARS" stuff in Montana setting up the network or something back in the 50's and 60's. I like to think of it as the predecessor to the internet although it was just military radio bands.

Hitting 5 WPM would be tough at this point in life. I don't think I could look over and find the letter and decipher them fast enough to key them in! I know my memory doesn't have enough disc space either. I think I tried to make one of those radios too. I did it from a picture and didn't have a diode! I'm guessing the made the signal travel TOWARD the ear piece? I tried all kinds of stuff, so I'd just upstairs and turn on the RX and spin knobs and dials. I didn't have a clue what I was doing and got some wanky sounding folks on SSB I'm guessing. I didn't know what to do to tune them in. I still have that Apache or Mohawk RX. When we were moving my mom out of the house, I didn't have room for the TX. IT kills me I couldn't get it.

Fast Forward and I found a stupid little Baofeng on Amazon for $22. It's pretty amazing and yes, it's kind of the Bayliner of the Ham world, but I hear guys on repeaters and just over the air and it's kind of fun. I'd like to pass the test and start looking for some kind of inexpensive 2m and 70 cm unit to mess around with. We'll see. I retire in a few months and should have LOTS of time then to study.

Fortunately, the 5 WPM test is a listen and write test. If memory serves, you only needed about 80% correct to pass.
I used the Radio Shack cassette tapes for learning the code - that worked out pretty well.

Dont feel bad about the Baofeng, My first HF rig was a Tempo One, built by Yaesu but pretty much the bottom of the HF rigs of that time - it did the job though and it was all I could afford!