Fiberglass trunk? Thanks a lot Ford.

[cvfd1615]

This discussion has hopefully been a real awareness raiser for anyone who installs a radio, whether it is a one-time single install in your own POV or dozens (or more) on a professional basis. Two very important points have come out of this thread:

1. Make sure you mount an antenna to a surface that has a decent ground plane. If there is no ground plane, learn out how to make an adequate one or relocate the antenna.


2. At least have SWR and Reflected Power checked before any radio install is placed in service. If you can't do it yourself, have a tech do it.


We could endlessly debate what quality level of meter is adequate for this without ever coming to a single acceptable answer. But I would offer that a rudimentary check with a lower grade of meter is still a whole lot better than no check at all.


If you can't afford one of the higher quality meters, you could have a tech check out whatever meter you can afford to see if it is giving you decent info at the frequencies that you commonly install. If you go that route, it would be prudent to have your meter checked periodically to insure that it is giving consistent readings.

I completely agree with this Steve, I just wanted to let him know that atleast getting it checked out before giving it back to the customer to be used in service was very important. Like I said, I do it as a hobby and while I've never had any issue with the small line of equipment that I have, I can see the point of having better equipment at a professional install service.

 

[cvfd1615]

You should also take your own advise, the MFJ unit is not an SWR analyzer, it's an antenna analyzer (SWR, Impedance, Reactance), and per MFJs site and information that come with it, is not meant for commercial use on commercial services, and the diamond unit become less reliable the further out of the amateur bands you go, just sayin'.

I'm quite aware of that Dan, I was just saying on my end I was stressing that "I'm not worried about SWR, it transmits, it works good enough" isn't the method to have when giving a radio back to a customer. I don't own a "professional install service" and the stuff I install is on our own fire trucks/my own vehicles. I have never had any problem w/ the "amateur" equipment that I have and as Steve said, checking with lower grade equipment is better then checking it at all and when the customer comes back with a damaged radio he is technically responsible for because he didn't check those readings could be a big time cost saver in the end.

 

[acousticman]

First, there is a copper tape made by 3M that has conductive adhesive. Second, if the system is 800 MHz, cheap wattmeters will not work.


I was a radio tech for both Motorola and a state police. We lived by our Bird wattmeters. They bought us the MFJ antenna analyzers, but found them to just not be reliable. Wattmeters made for amateur radio are for people that do not want to spend money for something only used occasionally. But, those serious about what they do go ahead and buy a Bird. I have a top of the line computer analyzer, still bought a Bird.


I know about theose infamous aluminum trunk lids. Several times the antennas were ripped out by carwashes or someone putting a load of marijuana from a grow plot raid. I developed a friendship with a guy who did aircraft welding. He could tig two Pepsi cans together! He would repair the break and a body shop would do the paint.

 

[SafetyLighting]

I'm quite aware of that Dan, I was just saying on my end I was stressing that "I'm not worried about SWR, it transmits, it works good enough" isn't the method to have when giving a radio back to a customer. I don't own a "professional install service" and the stuff I install is on our own fire trucks/my own vehicles. I have never had any problem w/ the "amateur" equipment that I have and as Steve said, checking with lower grade equipment is better then checking it at all and when the customer comes back with a damaged radio he is technically responsible for because he didn't check those readings could be a big time cost saver in the end.

I wasn't making a general statement about radios. I was saying that I wasnt very concerned about the SWR on the RISCON system.


After hearing everyones input on the subject I contacted a friend that programs for the RISCON system. As I thought, the XTL series that is used for RISCON will shutdown if the SWR is too far off. He also said that given my location the fact that the radios are able to connect with the system is a good indicator that the SWR is fine. That being said, he is going to teach me how to test the radios after they are installed and was able to set me up with a source for the SWR meters that are used for the RISCON.