What I am going with...

[modelbuilder]

Another member on the forum is selling a Yaesu FT-7800R.

He is close so I am going to buy it. Can't wait to take the test!

 

[Luke]

Good call. It's a great radio.

 

[bj70_guy]

If you go to a website called eham you'll see an ad for a company that sells these cool plastic laminated "cheat sheets" for a variety of Ham radios, I'd recommend getting one as there are a lot of controls and settings on that radio and it's nice to be able to just scan the sheet instead of rifling thru the owners manual.

Also nice to keep in the vehicle as they're water and pretty much tear proof.

Nifty manuals? Very handy:

http://www.niftyaccessories.com/Yaesu_cards.htm

Enjoy the 7800. I thought about grabbing it for my second truck, but I snoozed and lost :sombrero:

You won't regret it (the radio AND the license). Totally worth it.

 

[mr r2fj]

great choice. I'm sure you'll be happy with your decision.

 

[modelbuilder]

Is there anyway I can create a small container to house the radio in; then plug it into one of the many outlets I have in the car. Does it have to be grounded to the metal frame of the car. That way I can just store it in the garage when I am not using it.

I also promise to pass my test before I use it.

Just wondering what all of your set ups are.

 

[Luke]

Why not just mount it in your vehicle and call it good? After a few times of taking it in and out you'll decide it's probably easier to just leave it out and you wont ever use it. However, it would be very nice to have two antennas, one for the house, and one mounted on the vehicle so you can bring the radio in and use it inside. You'd need a AC power adaptor but that could be rigged up or bought easily enough. I've seen people mount the radio in a tool box and mount the faceplate and the power wires on the outside. Just need to watch the circulation and make sure it doesn't overheat or anything. You could hardwire the power wires to your battiery and run them into your vehicle terminated with some kind of quick disconnect plug . To answer your question, no, it doesn't need to be grounded. I do not recommend plugging the radio in to your 12v outlets. It's very likely you'll get a lot of 'noise' through the vehicles electical system. You'd be much better off hardwiring it directly to your battery as previously mentioned. Running the antenna would also be a pain, so I would suggest leaving it on the vehicle.

 

[crawler#976]

At high power, 50W, it will draw approx 4 amps. It's best to have the unit wired per the install instructions - both power and ground directly conected to the battery. I suppose you could wire some quick disconnects and make it a mobile mobile unit :sombrero:

 

[modelbuilder]

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to use this in my classroom as well to show the students. I guess I can get a little handheld ham for the class.

 

[frgtwn]

The FT-7800R draws 8.5 amps on TX, according to Yaesu. Power in and power out are very different things. (DC in, RF out.) An "AC adapter" makes it sound a little too simple for indoor (AC) use. What is needed is a power supply. The one Yaesu sells for this radio is 30 amps, which appears to be 25 amps continuous. There are several choices out there for a power supply, but this is not the place to go cheap. Your signal quality starts with your power quality.

Something to chew on. Oh, and none of this is really very difficult-mobile and shack use for the same rig. It is done all the time.

Dale