Ikom Radio - extending Ariels - Adapters and other questions
davie...@gmail.com
I am a non-advanced user of licensed commercial VHF handhelds for a
large national charity.
We have a need to communicate between two sites. For various reasons
that I can't easilly explain in text I need to be able to put an ariel
on the roof and connect it to the handset in the building (there is a
large grass bank outside both buildings, but the roof <--> roof is line
of sight and works well.
I spoke to someone over the weekend who told me that it was easy to do
- all I need apparantly is an ariel (identical to the ones that people
have on their cars), cut to the appropriate length for my frequencies
and then some standard TV cable to connect the ariel to my handheld.
Naturally, I have some questions
1) Where do I get adapters to plug one end of my TV cable into my IKOM
F-15 ariel socket?
2) Where do I buy the ariel? How do I calcualte the length that I
should cut it down to?
3) What sort of end do I need on the other end of my TV cable to plug
that into the ariel, or is this a solder job?
If anyone can help me with any of these or if you have any advice or
suggestions they would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks,
Alex Davies
an old friend
if the link is already close (you hear point to point the matter shoud
be pretty simple likely the radio has bnc or sma conectors you need an
adactor or at each end. the tv cable may not be the best idea unless
you already have it it has f type conetor and is not exactly right in
orther ways but if a close link, ("bs or ham cable would be better and
give easier to find adapters)it will not matter with the right copy
oftyhe same adapters you could put the rubber duck up there , this will
wod out fine no cutting if the proble is that you just need a bit
better signal not a massive inprovement, asuume the power level is lw
ifyou need a big in provement you could c0onect the cable to tv
direction antennas (esp a Log periorditcs types (asomewhere on the
label it should say so) pointed at each other.
some of this advice is quick and dirty of course
KB9RQZ
Al Klein
>I spoke to someone over the weekend who told me that it was easy to do
>- all I need apparantly is an ariel (identical to the ones that people
>have on their cars), cut to the appropriate length for my frequencies
>and then some standard TV cable to connect the ariel to my handheld.
The type of cable is determined by the frequency and the cable length,
but definitely not TV cable, which is the wrong impedance.
>Naturally, I have some questions
>1) Where do I get adapters to plug one end of my TV cable into my IKOM
>F-15 ariel socket?
Any good electronics supplier.
>2) Where do I buy the ariel?
Same place, or a two-way radio shop.
> How do I calcualte the length that I should cut it down to?
You should be able to buy one already cut to the band you need. If
you need to cut it (and you only do that with a 1/4 wave vertical),
look here:
<http://www.1728.com/freqwave.htm> there's a calculator - plug in the
frequency and it'll give you the wavelength. The antenna should be
1/4 that long. It also need a ground sheet at least that large in
radius immediately under it.
DON'T cut any other type of antenna - you'll need to know a lot more
than you do now to cut any other type.
>3) What sort of end do I need on the other end of my TV cable to plug
>that into the ariel, or is this a solder job?
All connectors should be soldered. What you'll need at the antenna
end depends on the antennas you buy. Some need connectors, some need
bare wires. The ones that need connectors need all different types of
connectors.
>If anyone can help me with any of these or if you have any advice or
>suggestions
Find someone who's done this before to help you. That's the best
advice I can give you.
Alex Davies
got at rec.radio.scanner
(http://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.scanner/browse_thread/thread/744429b9e4a13808/8afaf1b34748296b?)
- which I discovered after posting was the one I was supposed to use -
and will give this a go shortly and will post back here to let you know
if it works in case anyone else finds this useful!
Many thanks,
Alex