Motorcycle amateur radio setup

This is how I installed a Radio Shack HTX-202 and various accessories to let me communicate on 2 meters while riding my motorcycle.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• amateur
• ham
• radio
• motorcycle
• motorbike
• mobile
• 2m
• meters
• honda
• silverwing
• gl500
• interstate

[jscott0722]

I am mounting a Kenwood TM271A in my rock crawler and I HATE the idea of putting an antenna on the roof. I think based on this, I will buy a 1/2 wave antenna and ditch my 1/4 wave and run it off a bracket on my tire carrier. I can weld something on there easily. Do you know of a 1/2 wave antenna will pickup 136 to 174 Mhz? That is why got the 1/4 wave was because this one spans that frequency range. Thanks!

[earlyapexprod]

@jscott0722 My antenna, made by Browning, is advertised for 136-174. In truth, you have to cut it to the specific frequency you're actually running. I cut it for 146.5 or so, the middle of the FM portion of the 2 meter band. For receiving, you shouldn't have any problem getting all those freqs if you optimize it for transmitting on 2 meters.

[ku4gw]

I hope the audio is clearer on the local repeater than it is on this video. Sounds like your over deviating and I could barely understand what you were saying with the bike in motion, like you too close into the mic. Too bad the HTX-.202 doesn't have a microphone gain control. Very 73 de KU4GW

[earlyapexprod]

@ku4gw I should've tested my levels on the video with the mobile rig before setting off on the bike, as I had the radio a little too loud. But I've had overdeviation issues with the HTX-202 before. I have a Kenwood speaker/mic I have to hold 2 feet away from my mouth, and that picks up every sound around me. It would be nice to be able to turn that down a bit.

[flynpafo6]

Nice job. I just rounded up all the stuff to do the same on my Yamaha VStar. I will be using a headset that I found from Planet Headset, Icom T7H, and MFJ 1422 dual bander. I noticed a quite a bit of exhaust noise in the background. I beleive that my bike is louder than yours. I hope it doesn't pose a problem.

[earlyapexprod]

@flynpafo6 Thanks! People I've talked to have told me they can hear the exhaust noise, but they can hear my voice just fine over it. I think I just had the mobile rig the camera was listening to turned up a little too loud in the video. There is a bit of noise, though, and I have a stock exhaust. I wouldn't mind cutting down the noise a bit, but I'm not sure how yet.

[barrystamper]

Very interesting, I want to use a 2M HT on my Suzuki V-Strom. Im not sure where I am going to be able to mount an antenna. Nice video.

[allworldpc]

Have you tried using a throat mic? That might do a lot to cut down on background (exhaust) noise. In addition, it doesn't require any modification of your helmet. Prices range from next to nothing on eBay to more expensive models on various specialty websites.

[HighwaySage]

Thanks for such a thorough look. Very informative and a rare look at a bike setup.

I have been considering an amateur radio for my bike but as the exhaust is probably quite a bit louder than yours, I may have to rethink things. Getting rid of my straight-through silencers on my 2008 Bonneville isn't an option. Guess I'll find a way to filter the mic frequencies to favor the voice and reject the lows.