My 2014 SSV, Overlanding/Ham Radio rig project.

[tamitall]

Great to see another radio operator with a Tahoe. No call plate on this, as our call plates are on other vehicles... but my call is w8tam.

Which pushbar did you go with?

 

[Sparksalot]

Great to see another radio operator with a Tahoe. No call plate on this, as our call plates are on other vehicles... but my call is w8tam.

Which pushbar did you go with?

It’s the GoRhino 5100 series.

 

[Sparksalot]

plates, they come in pairs. Lol

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Nice thread with lots of great photos!

Happy continued motoring!

 

[LiLRedWagon]

Just saw this post. Like how you mounted the rig. Interesting how you mounted that screwdriver out front vs the back. Do you operate HF mobile with the capacity hat on or do you remove it? Do you do any CW? Front mount could be challenging with this push bar on. Enjoyed the pix

 

[tamitall]

Just saw this post. Like how you mounted the rig. Interesting how you mounted that screwdriver out front vs the back. Do you operate HF mobile with the capacity hat on or do you remove it? Do you do any CW? Front mount could be challenging with this push bar on. Enjoyed the pix

Thanks for the kind words! I have operated mobile with the capacity hat on, though I no longer leave it on most of the time. Most of my operating is stationary from parks. We participate in Parks on the Air. I am decent at CW, but rarely call CQ. Mostly return others CQ, or operate in contests. We run mostly digital out of the truck, though a couple weeks ago I operated sideband for the Wisconsin Parks on the Air event.

I'm thinking I'd weld a tab onto a push bar setup to mount the screwdriver on. I know it would either need to be re-powder coated, or watched carefully for corrosion. It would get the feedpoint a little higher, and thus reduce ground losses a bit. I'd also get some of my front approach angle back.

Current projects include a 500w mobile amp for the rig.

73 de w8tam

 

[stocksj]

Thanks for the kind words! I have operated mobile with the capacity hat on, though I no longer leave it on most of the time. Most of my operating is stationary from parks. We participate in Parks on the Air. I am decent at CW, but rarely call CQ. Mostly return others CQ, or operate in contests. We run mostly digital out of the truck, though a couple weeks ago I operated sideband for the Wisconsin Parks on the Air event.

I'm thinking I'd weld a tab onto a push bar setup to mount the screwdriver on. I know it would either need to be re-powder coated, or watched carefully for corrosion. It would get the feedpoint a little higher, and thus reduce ground losses a bit. I'd also get some of my front approach angle back.

Current projects include a 500w mobile amp for the rig.

73 de w8tam


View attachment 351467

Very nice, one of my reasons for getting the 07 Suburban LS is to server as a mobile ham station and haul my astronomy gear. I'll need to replace the front jump seat a find a console to mount my Yaesu FT-857d and ATAS-120. any recommendations for a replacement console that would well for ham radios? also, are you pulling your power from the dual battery setup?

 

[Sparksalot]

Very nice, one of my reasons for getting the 07 Suburban LS is to server as a mobile ham station and haul my astronomy gear. I'll need to replace the front jump seat a find a console to mount my Yaesu FT-857d and ATAS-120. any recommendations for a replacement console that would well for ham radios? also, are you pulling your power from the dual battery setup?

I bought a Jotto floor plate, then built a console.

 

[tamitall]

Very nice, one of my reasons for getting the 07 Suburban LS is to server as a mobile ham station and haul my astronomy gear. I'll need to replace the front jump seat a find a console to mount my Yaesu FT-857d and ATAS-120. any recommendations for a replacement console that would well for ham radios? also, are you pulling your power from the dual battery setup?

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That's the center console I used. I built a little wood bracket that I bolted to the front of the console to hold the ic-7300 at a good angle.

Here's a photo while I was working on the seat install. Shows a decent profile of the Nenno console, and the bracket I built for the IC-7300.

I put in a battery isolator, and installed a second battery. My truck came with only 1 battery. After installing the isolator, I moved the 3 50amp circuits provided in the SSV onto the second battery. I call it the "house" battery, and try to run as much of the accessories off it as I can. That leaves the starting battery untouched by the radios.

I have a voltage booster with a PTT port on it hidden under the console. Boosts the battery voltage up to 14v for transmit, and doesn't cause any RF interference while receiving.

Currently running on the stock 160amp alternator, but I have a Mechman 370amp alternator to go in at some point.

73 de w8tam

 

[Amp653]

Did you buy the leather seat covers from seat shoppe as well when you updated them? They look amazing