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Amateur-band (HAM) radio installs?

tentoes

Member
Hi all:
Just curious if anyone has done an Amateur-band (or HAM) radio installation in their plane? I wouldn't think it would be a very big deal to install a VHF/UHF band radio at all. I have seen videos of guys who fly WAY OUT over water who use long antennas for HF communications, but I would be interested in just a VHF/UHF rig at the moment......

Thank you everyone!
Don
 
Hi all:
Just curious if anyone has done an Amateur-band (or HAM) radio installation in their plane? I wouldn't think it would be a very big deal to install a VHF/UHF band radio at all. I have seen videos of guys who fly WAY OUT over water who use long antennas for HF communications, but I would be interested in just a VHF/UHF rig at the moment......

Thank you everyone!
Don

I have APRS installed in my RV-10.
 
Simplex on 2 meters is fun, too many repeaters for air mobile with handheld. You'll be an alligator with power. For me, it's more hassle than fun. Never tried it as a passenger.
 
I had a 2m mobile rig in my 6A for awhile. I used it twice - once to talk to a random guy in a deer stand on .52 simplex, and once to coordinate with my wife in the car doing a search and rescue for an overdue mother-in-law. I found in general that it was not as useful as I thought it was going to be and took it out to save weight and allocate panel space for something else.

In general, I find flying too attention-demanding even on autopilot to feel comfortable rag-chewing. Also consider how many repeaters you'll get into at once, at altitude, if that's your preferred mode of operation.

HF may be another matter, but I've never wanted to mess with the antennas or the operating while aviating. That says a lot coming from a guy who runs HF mobile to and from work every day of the week and has improvised ways to make every conceivable conductive object into an HF mobile antenna at one time or another in the past 40 years...
 
This.....
Also consider how many repeaters you'll get into at once, at altitude, if that's your preferred mode of operation....

Yes and I would have thought the FCC might have made a rule regarding this, since you WOULD be hitting a bunch of repeaters at altitude. Still the APRS functionality appeals to me even though there are a bunch of other NAVAIDS out there....

I appreciate the opinion!
 
Hi all:
Just curious if anyone has done an Amateur-band (or (sic) HAM) radio installation in their plane? ...
I installed an Icom IC-706 HF/VHF transceiver in my old Long-EZ (first picture) but didn't have room in my RV-8A. So I fabricated an "extension" to my audio panel (second picture) so I could plug in my handheld and use it as COM2. Works well but as others have mentioned, it's distracting and I only use it on cross-country flights.
 

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I have an APRS unit mounted in a wingtip with a power switch on the panel. It's an easy way for family and friends to track me via Google maps
 
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