Fluff in non-fluffy times
Jul. 7th, 2007 12:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogFrom the packaging from the antenna I just bought this morning. Had to share. Chester's, it seems, has some stock that really doesn't move very quickly.
Not only is that actually a sticker that I have to figure out what to attach to, but it came with a mail-in card to join the "Knights of the Road" club. *giggles*
Working yesterday and this morning, off and on, I got my CB radio and scanner connected in the trucklet. I took the dashboard apart but I still couldn't figure out why the heck the cigarette lighter wouldn't work. I even unbolted the fuse box and looked for bad connections or fuses and found nothing. So I spliced into the power lines to the radio instead.
I removed the ash tray and bolted two lengths of pipe strapping where it used to be, then used that to mount the two radios. I put the new antenna on the roof, and then even managed to fix the old antenna I had by reattaching the connector to the end of the wire so I have two good antennae on the truck. I zip-tied all the power wiring into a bundle to tuck up by the dashboard and routed the antenna feed lines through the cab, and I'm pleased to say that everything seems to be working. I have the CB radio that I can actually transmit on (couldn't tune the antenna yet though because, while I bought an SWR meter, I forgot to buy a patch cable to plug it in with) and I have the scanner which is receive only but picks up CB, NOAA weather radio, and police band.
And finally, I bought the ARRL Technician class license manual. It doesn't look any harder than the CompTia A+ cert, for example; I can probably knock it out in a week or two. I'll have to look up my local club to find out when I can sit for an exam.
I love living close to a fantastic store like Chester Electronic Supply. Everything I've needed has been available just a couple minutes drive from home. I really missed that place living in Michigan.
Not only is that actually a sticker that I have to figure out what to attach to, but it came with a mail-in card to join the "Knights of the Road" club. *giggles*
Working yesterday and this morning, off and on, I got my CB radio and scanner connected in the trucklet. I took the dashboard apart but I still couldn't figure out why the heck the cigarette lighter wouldn't work. I even unbolted the fuse box and looked for bad connections or fuses and found nothing. So I spliced into the power lines to the radio instead.
I removed the ash tray and bolted two lengths of pipe strapping where it used to be, then used that to mount the two radios. I put the new antenna on the roof, and then even managed to fix the old antenna I had by reattaching the connector to the end of the wire so I have two good antennae on the truck. I zip-tied all the power wiring into a bundle to tuck up by the dashboard and routed the antenna feed lines through the cab, and I'm pleased to say that everything seems to be working. I have the CB radio that I can actually transmit on (couldn't tune the antenna yet though because, while I bought an SWR meter, I forgot to buy a patch cable to plug it in with) and I have the scanner which is receive only but picks up CB, NOAA weather radio, and police band.
And finally, I bought the ARRL Technician class license manual. It doesn't look any harder than the CompTia A+ cert, for example; I can probably knock it out in a week or two. I'll have to look up my local club to find out when I can sit for an exam.
I love living close to a fantastic store like Chester Electronic Supply. Everything I've needed has been available just a couple minutes drive from home. I really missed that place living in Michigan.
