KE5EUA's 818 Build

[juanprado]

Let's try this again. 3rd time is the charm right?

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Nice radio set up!

 

[ke5eua]

Nice radio set up!

I tried to use the entire setup but it was like putting a square peg in a round hole since the 809 series bench and transmission hump are different. I could have cut a rewelded but wasn't really in the mood for it.

 

[4x4 Forever]

Subbed...

 

[ke5eua]

Got the batteries relocated and equalizer installed. Truck fired right up, was a little concerned as I had to relocate the frame ground to where the radio bolts would go on the cab floor. Will add another ground wire from there to the frame when I get another stretch of 1/0 wire.

Also after having to use the winch on the atv to get the battery boxes out I'm probably going to put a storage box there and put the bank of 8 batteries on the back deck and just run 1/0 wire inside the cab. Now if I can get a plastic box as a replacement I might consider keeping the battery box in it's current location.

 

[ke5eua]

Alright, got the VIC-1 in and wired up, and mounted my rigrunner. The rigrunner uses anderson power pole connectors which is highly used in the ham radio world.

 

[patracy]

Dual fuel line is worth it. $40 in parts. And you can feel/tell a difference.

 

[ke5eua]

Dual fuel line is worth it. $40 in parts. And you can feel/tell a difference.

Yeah I saw your thread, just not really wanting to cut a hole in the firewall. I'm going to see if I can squeeze my harm back there before I get the saw out.

 

[patracy]

AMGeneral said he didn't have to with his truck. He could reach it from the engine bay.

 

[ke5eua]

Alright, got the radio mounted and interfaced to the VIC-1 and for mono it sounds decent. Ran the truck at 2K rpm and it drowned out the enginge noise and I could still hear the radio.

Got my FT-857D bracket where I wanted, just need to get some new screws to hold the radio and it will be mounted.

Wired the rigrunner to the equalizer since it was right next to it.

The VIC-1 might end up moving back to the other side as I bumped my head on it and I don't want it to be a safety hazard. I might get the angle bracket for it and put it on the radio base.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Are those golf cart batteries?

 

[ke5eua]

Are those golf cart batteries?

No marine batteries from walmart. For 100 a piece they have done good so far. Bret had to jump me off when I left his place but I figured they would drain down because of my USB charger constantly plugged in.

 

[Jeepsinker]

I was kind of wondering why you are going to an eight battery setup. That radio shouldn't draw anywhere near that much power when keyed up. If you are having starting problems you need to find the cause of the drain, not add more batteries.

 

[ke5eua]

I was kind of wondering why you are going to an eight battery setup. That radio shouldn't draw anywhere near that much power when keyed up. If you are having starting problems you need to find the cause of the drain, not add more batteries.

The radio only draws about 30 amps now but I'm going to put a 500 watt amp on it so I need the reserve power for it and for the doh moments when I leave the Vic 1 on or the power switch on.

I'm going to run a separate relay for all my 12 accessories and another one for the 24v accessories so everything shuts down with the main power switch.

As far as starting problems only issue I have is loosing prime to the ip and that is going to be fixed next week. Orings need to be replaced in the selector valve and I'm going to put that pickup pump in as an added primping to the ip.

Other than the orings she starts no problem, actually starts a little better since I put the copper bar as a crossover instead of the cable.

She is going to be 10/20/30 standard by the end of next month if it or the wife doesn't kill me first.

 

[Jeepsinker]

You are going way overkill man. I used to run a 2500w box driven by my 10m Magnum S-9 and only had two 1000cca group 31s and a 100 amp alternator with a 10 farad capacitor inline. Talk about shutting down a truckstop.

 

[ke5eua]

You are going way overkill man. I used to run a 2500w box driven by my 10m Magnum S-9 and only had two 1000cca group 31s and a 100 amp alternator with a 10 farad capacitor inline. Talk about shutting down a truckstop.

This amp covers 1.5 - 22 MHz and requires 84 amps at 14 v to power it at full power.

Take the radio into consideration that's 114 amps full power ever key down. I'm just being cautious cause when I do contest or digital modes I'll be on for hours at a time.

Those cb amps are dirtier than the levees in New Orleans.

 

[Jeepsinker]

"Some" of those amps are dirty. If you have a well tuned and aligned radio that doesn't drift and you have a decent quality amp with good finals then they aren't too dirty. I still have a Davemade 5 pill in my closet. 900 watts of bleed over inducing fun! 1 toshiba 2sc2290 driving 4 2sc2879s. Real 2879s....

 

[Jeepsinker]

And 84 amps at only 500 watts is terribly inefficient. Most comparable amps like RMItaly and Palomar products only draw around 30 amps at the same output, and have quite a lot of modulation if driven properly to boot.

 

[ke5eua]

And 84 amps at only 500 watts is terribly inefficient. Most comparable amps like RMItaly and Palomar products only draw around 30 amps at the same output, and have quite a lot of modulation if driven properly to boot.

It has 5 2SC2879A transistors that each has a collector current of 25 amps. For what it does it is actually very efficient. It has a power draw of 40 amps on SSB, an 80-90 on CW.

The transistors used in cb amps have a frequency range typicaly of 20-30 mhz, ham radio amps have a frequency range of 2-30 mhz.

Typical transistors in cb amps have a power output of 20-75 amps, and the typical ham amp has 100 watt per transistor.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Ok, I see. You are drawing more because you are driving all of the 2879s with just the radio, and the linear has no onboard driver. And I didn't realize you were going to use CW.

 

[ke5eua]

Yeppers.