Radio Amateurs Serving The Community

Ok...so what's all this about?

I have been asked a number of times about working /'motorcycle mobile'. Its a bit unusual in the RAYNET and amateur radio world, although it is fairly common in the emergency services.

Living in Plymouth, in the SW of England, like most other cities and popular holiday areas, in summer (that's when the rain is warm), the roads are a little bit busy to say the least. Parking in the city can be a nightmare, and of course it is the most popular time to play the game of 'lets dig up the roads again.'

So apart from the pure fun of riding the beastie, it is also a very quick and practical way of getting around. (As long as you make extra allowances for the blind, deaf and daft homicidal maniacs who can make up the rest of the driving public!)

So how does it work?

My trusty steed, 'Thunderbird 1' is a Honda Silverwing Interstate.. a bit of an armchair on 2 wheels...comfy or what? The current radio is a VHF/UHF dual band FT8000 which is fairly rugged and covers everything I need. More importantly it works on the KISS principle. 

Controls are minimal and easy to use. 

From this I have run a cable for the speaker and microphone built into my helmet with a safety break away connector, and an additional speaker built into the fairing. Remote switches can also change the frequency, select the speaker, power etc. There is a separate PTT switch built onto the handlebar. I am not keen on using VOX (voice activated transmission) on the bike in case I say something a bit 'naughty' about my fellow road users! ...see above!

Although the bike has a fairly large capacity battery to power all the normal bike bits, I have added a second 40ampHr gel battery linked via an isolator switch. The radio is connected to this and means that if all else fails, i.e. I forget to switch off the radio when I park up, I can still start the bike and ride home.  (Similar to a caravan split charger system.)

That's it. It works and I have had quite a few interesting chats with various other radio hams, not just locally but via the local repeater network literally all over the world.

Please send mail to west.devon@raynet-uk.net with questions or 
comments about this web site.   

Thank you.	

Copyright © 2009 Ian G6BJJ