Ham Radio, Motorhome Ham Shacks and Coax Installations

[summerwinds48]

Class A Ham Shacks and Coax Installations

I'm a full timer in an Itasca Suncruiser.  Could anyone out there share your experiences with ham shack installations on your own class A's?  So far, I've set the rig on the dining table or a pull-up table top behind the front passenger seat, and it does get cluttered with rigs, and a laptop.  I've fed the HF, and VHF coax around the window screens, making it easy to shed the wiring during lightning storms.  Can't decide on a suitable location to install permanent coax entrance points, etc.  Any ideas?  How about running conduit or PVC feed-thru's on the floor deck?  I ran several 4 inch coax feedthru's on a previous trailer, but this time I don't want to breach the outside surfaces. 

Have quite an arsenal of antennas, including a TA33jr., 40m. dipole, several vhf/uhf beams and hamstick verticals for most HF bands.  I  have several push-up masts to set up whatever band I want to work.  When away, I often use a 33 ft. fiberglass pole with wire wound around, and a counter poise wire on the ground.  Makes a good random wire antenna using an antenna tuner.  The rig is an Icom 706 Mk 2, and .  Also have several scanners.  Will be adding a solar panel and controller to cut the electric bill this summer.

Hope you'll post your experiences and photos of permanent ham shack installations on a class A, it sure would be great to read and see what you've accomplished to get some ideas.
DM

[Ron]

There are a few members that have Ham equipment in their rigs and hopefully they will be able to give you some good advice.

[John From Detroit]

Well, if you like crowded....... My Motor Home is a bath & a Half model, my "Shack" is the half bath. So if I have to go during a QSO,,, I'm there (Came in handy more than once)

I have 4 antennas hooked to a TS-2000, the HF antenna (80-10 meters) runs through the floor, to the back of the rig, the back cap on my rig is a "False" cap (the real back end is about 4 inched in from the one you see if you follow me) so I cut a large hole in the back, fished the coax up and through it and mounted a KAT-1 tuner for the TS-2000, This is a random wire tuner

I currently have a wire tossed over a tree behind the motor home

For 6mtr, 2mtr and 70cm I cut a standard stove type vent into the side of the rig in the bathroom next to the rig,  Wires pass UP into the rig, rain drips DOWN outside the rig, Ventelation is optional as you can seal off the opening from either the inside or the out by locking down the flapper or shoving a foam block in the hole.  Works great.

VHF/UHF mast is a flag pole, drive on stand.

I monitor 7.07 MHz PSK 31 most of the time  Finding I really like PSK-31

[Clay L]

Except for an old Icom 2At, all my gear is in storage so I haven't installed much yet.
Like you I have an adversion to making holes in my motor home but had to break down and do it to install my Wilson Trucker cellphone antenna. I put it on roof of the front cap and brought the coax into the cabinet over the driver.

My friend K2RQB isn't bothered at all and has a pretty elaborate setup. He brings coax in through the side, roof and floor.
His ham shack is in the bedroom where there is a small desk area between the two closets. Somehow he got Nancy to let him have the whole closet on the right side of the desk and that's where his rig is.

Some hams pretty much try to route coax along the frame and bring it up where they need it.

73s