M3XYU - A mobile station on Dartmoor
I live in the Dartmoor town of Ashburton, where for most people, even Freeview is impossible! That coupled with the difficulties of aerial installation in a shared building makes a base station tricky.
So I operate exclusively from my Jeep Wrangler, which is no bad thing. There are few things better than driving a beast like this across Dartmoor, with or without the hood!
And it makes a fitting vehicle for the 19 Set boat anchor, as they were originally fitted to Willys Jeeps!
The arial is a stock 2 metre whip with a mag mount attached to the spare tyre carrier. I am making a new mount to attach to the top of the roll cage, and this should be able to take HF aerials too.
The Yaesu FT2800M seems to perform pretty well for the price, and it seems easy to use with repeaters. I have had one or two reports of low deviation, and I understand that this model can have that problem.
There is an internal pot to adjust this behind the front panel, as well as a 'hidden' service menu, but I'm waiting until I can test things properly before I adjust anything.
The set has easy control over power output, and the LOW2 setting is just right for the Foundation license. The mic feels as though it fell off a Christmas tree, but I suppose you get what you pay for..
I have wanted a 19 Set since I was a kid, and I've only had to wait about 30 years.. This one is an excellent restoration candidate, though I still haven't found a Mk.II/III power supply.
The Mk.I PSU has both negative HT rails tied, and the Mk.III 19 Set requires separate rails. I am building a 12v power supply that will provide the 550v and 275v required from my Jeep battery, and
I will construct a replica case for it. Anyone got an original Control Box and headphone/mic set?
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The Jeep, deep in the South Hams..
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Yaesu FT2800M mobile VHF rig
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The future installation, when I've finished..
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