K6ON
Old & Soft
I take a lot of teasing for the HF antenna on the truck, so I thought I’d show the hams on the forum (we seem to be getting quite a few) why such a large antenna. The present antenna is even larger than the one that was on during the Death Valley Rally and Hog Festival for those that were there.
The radio is a Yaesu FT-857D driving a Henry Radio SS-750 HF amp. While conservatively rated at 750 watts output, I’ve never seen one do less than a KW on the lower bands given enough voltage. Mine does right at a KW on the lower bands and about 750 watts from 17 meters up. When I had an Ameritron ALS 500 amp, the old antenna worked OK, although if I got long winded, the coil would heat badly and it would wander out of resonance. The Henry, with over twice the output power really strained the old antenna so I upgraded to the Hy-Q 4-80 RT. This antenna also heats up with long transmissions, it holds resonance better and with it’s higher “Q” is a bit more efficient.
Attached is a picture of what’s under the back seat of the truck to support the Henry, etc. I ran two # 2/0 cables from the batteries in the engine compartment (through a 200 amp fuse) to the rear of the truck where I power everything from a couple gold plated distribution blocks, including the camper. To get adequate voltage to the Henry under load (in excess of 100 amps) I had to add an auxiliary battery within 3 feet of the amp for full output.
I also power the camper from the distribution blocks with #6 wire, and of course changed the primary camper cables to #6 since there’s 2 deep cycle batteries and a 1.5kw inverter in the FWC. I use 75amp Anderson Power Pole Connectors for the FWC with a 70 amp breaker in the truck.
So, what’s under your back seat??
The radio is a Yaesu FT-857D driving a Henry Radio SS-750 HF amp. While conservatively rated at 750 watts output, I’ve never seen one do less than a KW on the lower bands given enough voltage. Mine does right at a KW on the lower bands and about 750 watts from 17 meters up. When I had an Ameritron ALS 500 amp, the old antenna worked OK, although if I got long winded, the coil would heat badly and it would wander out of resonance. The Henry, with over twice the output power really strained the old antenna so I upgraded to the Hy-Q 4-80 RT. This antenna also heats up with long transmissions, it holds resonance better and with it’s higher “Q” is a bit more efficient.
Attached is a picture of what’s under the back seat of the truck to support the Henry, etc. I ran two # 2/0 cables from the batteries in the engine compartment (through a 200 amp fuse) to the rear of the truck where I power everything from a couple gold plated distribution blocks, including the camper. To get adequate voltage to the Henry under load (in excess of 100 amps) I had to add an auxiliary battery within 3 feet of the amp for full output.
I also power the camper from the distribution blocks with #6 wire, and of course changed the primary camper cables to #6 since there’s 2 deep cycle batteries and a 1.5kw inverter in the FWC. I use 75amp Anderson Power Pole Connectors for the FWC with a 70 amp breaker in the truck.
So, what’s under your back seat??
