VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Ham Radio Operators in the VCCA

Any others beside me? Any period mobile rigs in the vintage Chevrolets?

Here's the 1953 Motorola LMR in my '53 truck.



Just curious.
THX Bruce A. Jones K1JEO
Aiken, SC

Very impressive!!

Bill Barker
N4BKW

Great setup. Never thought to put a ham rig in one of my old Chevys. There are probably quite a few of us out in VCCA land. Sorry to say haven't been on air for several years.

N5VGG

Bruce
I am a active Amatuer (ham) VK2VCR in Aus but my Chev isnt on the road as yet. I dont know of any "period correct" radio for 1938 and havent decided if I will put a rig in at all but may put a set of mounts in for a modern type transceiver.

I often sandbag my local IRLP and echolink repeater (not sure of node numbers) during local day.

Tony

I hadn't even thought of trying to put a rig in my '30 coupe. I doubt the generator would have enough power to run much of a set up, especially a period correct one. And I suspect ignition noise would be a problem.
I'm usually on 20 mtr sideband and 6 mtr AM when the band opens.

Happy Motoring,

Dan KE8ABP

Dan:

You would need a WW2 surplus dynamotor:

While they are not $5.95 any more, they still turn up on Ebay or at hamfests, now and then.

As for ignition noise: you would have to experiment with placement of condensers on the generator, coil and voltage regulator. That should cut down a little of the noise.

In any case, the old sets are only good for a 2-5 watt output, so unless you live very close to an FM repeater, they aren't really of much use (except the "cool" factor). Mine is listen-only (no place for a dynamotor in the truck).

Yeah, I could probably work out the ignition noise. Maybe go with a spark gap transmitter and germanium (or razor blade) receiver. But I suspect the FCC would frown on that (transmitter wise).
Is that a 1965 VW bug you have?

Happy Motoring

Dan

Dan, if you manage to get a spark-gap transmitter mounted in a vintage Chevrolet I'd sure like to see a picture (ever read Dead Wake, by Erik Larsen?). Yes, the VW is a '65 model. It's been with me a long time.

This is an interesting thread! When I was a kid, my Dad (W0CPC) had a rig in our 47 Chevy coupe that we drove from Iowa to California. I don't know what the rig was but it had a dynamotor in the cars trunk and every time he keyed the mike I could hear it kick on. He is long passed away so I can't ask him how it worked but I remember him talking to other guys on it. I also have a general class license but have not been active for years.

WD0AKH
Ed

P.S. I think I still have a 6 volt dynamotor!

Hello,Bruce;Here's another old timer,licensed as WN4NFE (great CW call)in 1962,now KI4BR.
Glad to see a 1 lander found his way down south to 4 land.Did work
bring you down or retirement?
We work 75/80 and sometimes 20 and 40.
It would be fun to see a rig in the '28 National Coach.
73
Bud KI4BR

Bud, I'm mostly on 20 meters (and 2M D-star in the truck) due to antenna restrictions in the new neighborhood. The K1 call was my father's for many years (I grew up in CT; moved south in 1970 for work and school). My former call was KK4VBO. Some pictures on QRZ.

73s
-.- .---- .--- . ---

A fellow I lived next door to had a complete valve transceiver set up where the passenger seat would live in a 1960 Holden (Think baby 57 Chevy). This was topped off by a HUGE base station type antenna which was mounted on the rear bumper and a WWII morse key mounted on the dash. You could feel the "pull" of the antenna when the car was moving!

47Aero
I wonder how many service station awning lights he took out with the antenna?? A HF mobile antenna those days would have been near 10 ft long which makes the tip near 12ft high.
Tony