Well, I finally got around to getting an APRS solution installed on Kyle. I had been using my cell phone and APRSdroid to get into APRS-IS, but that felt like I was cheating. I wanted an RF based solution. After contemplating using an existing HT (Yaesu FT-60), I decided that the power output would simply be too low for the areas I’m likely to go exploring. In light of that issue, I decided to go with the same mobile radio I used for the digipeater I recently built. This would give me an opportunity to use knowledge I already had, and more importantly, it would hopefully get me closer to 25W RF output.
The radio, TNC, and antenna are all installed in/on one of Kyle’s cases, so they are protected from the weather and any puddles I splash through. Antennas on motorcycles are compromises…at best. I went with a 5/8 wave NMO antenna since I had one on hand, and it had the best SWR of the antennas I tried (1/4 wave, 1/2 wave, and 5/8 wave). The SWR while parked showed as a serviceable 2:1. The radio is powered by an ignition switched relay, so it can’t drain the battery once I’ve turned the key off. The power from the relay is fed into the case through an SAE connector, and is protected by a 10 amp fuse (this relay also provides power to auxilliary lighting). Also, I can use an NMO to SO-239 adaptor and a fishing pole mast to put up a J-pole once I’m parked up at a campsite.
