Toyota Sequoia Latch Fix

Last year, the handle on the rear hatch of my Sequoia broke, and I replaced it with an all metal mechanism. This is a common problem on Sequoia's, and a well documented fix on YouTube, etc.

Just recently the latch became progressively more difficult to open, and then finally, the door wouldn't open at all. The cable that activates the latch had stretched too much and wasn't moving the mechanism enough to un-latch it. With the door stuck closed, I had no other option than to remove the molding around the rear window, and then carefully pry off the inside door cover to gain access to the latch mechanism. I cut a small notch in a piece of 1/2" square aluminum rod (wood would work as well), and used that as a hook to grab the cable and pull up on it, therefore opening the door. Once the door was open I was able to further remove the inside covers. I needed a quick fix and didn't want to replace the entire cable system. I had a small 0.25" motor collar sitting around, and it was almost the right size to slip over the ball on the end of the cable. I drilled out the hole so that it would slide over the ball, and then I replaced the set screw with a regular screw so that it would grab on to the thin cable. This would act as a spacer to take up the slack in the cable. With the collar in place it was easy to reassemble everything, and now the latch handle works more effectively than it ever has! I realize not everyone has the supplies laying around to do this, but it might spark the idea for a similar fix.

FT-817ND LiPo Setup

Here's the components I use to power my FT-817ND in the field:

Zippy 3S 5000mah 20C Hardcase battery. I went with the hardcase as a little extra insurance against knocks and drops. If I did it over again, I'd skip the hardcase and just go with a standard shrink wrapped battery so I can visually inspect for faulty/puffed cells. Something like this. I cut off the bullet connectors and installed Anderson Power Poles.

Turnigy E3 Compact 2S/3S AC Charger. Small and simple charger. Charges slowly, which is good for extending the useful life of your batteries, but bad if you're in a hurry.

HobbyKing Cell Checker w/ Low Voltage Alarm. This is essential to help prevent over discharging your battery. The piezo alarm is incredibly loud, so I popped open the case and ripped out most of the sound diaphragm. It's still audible, but not so annoying now.

Automotive Inline Fuse. Just a simple fuse holder from the local auto store. Wired inline on the positive battery lead as another insurance measure against short circuit/fire.

Just a heads up if you've never ordered from HobbyKing before - make sure you select the warehouse nearest to you before adding items to your cart. HobbyKing doesn't let you make one order that ships from multiple warehouses. There is also a 3200mah capacity limit for international shipments, so that's another reason to choose a nearby warehouse.

Lithium Polymer Batteries for Amateur Radio

The topic of batteries for portable radio operations and SOTA (Summits On The Air) often comes up on the various forums and email reflectors. When I first began operating portable with my FT-817ND in 2009, I used SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) batteries to power the radio. These batteries are often found in emergency exit lighting systems, uninterrupted power supplies, motorcycles, kids scooters, etc. They have their place, but they are large, very heavy, and voltage output drops considerably under load. The advantages are they are relatively easy to come by, don't require any special safety concerns, and require a very simple trickle charger to charge them. In the end, I just couldn't get past their size and weight. If I was taking my radio on any sort of long hike, I didn't want an extra 3 pound chunk of lead in my backpack.

I decided to take the time and educate myself on other batteries available, and ultimately decided to use a Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery made for remote control hobby applications. These batteries pack a lot of capacity and voltage into a small, light package. They work well in cold weather, and have a relatively flat voltage discharge curve. They do come with their own set of rules, however, and it's wise to do your research lest you unwittingly burn your house down. With care though, they are an excellent tool for portable electronic applications. 

For a much more detailed look at LiPo batteries follow this link: A Guide to Understanding LiPo Batteries

I'll give you a quick overview here:

The nominal voltage of a single cell LiPo battery is 3.7 volts, and they are usually put into multi cell packs to achieve the desired voltage. When you shop for these batteries they are labeled by cell number with an "S". 1S = 1 cell (3.7v), 2S = 2 cells (7.4v), 3S = 3 cells (11.1v), and so on. The next number is usually their capacity (750mah, 2200mah, etc.) The third number to pay attention to is the "C" number. This number is the maximum amount of current you can draw from the battery in relation to the capacity (C*Capacity = Max current draw).Common "C" values are 25C, 35C, etc. Suppose you have a 3S 2200mah 25C battery - this means the battery will provide 11.1 volts @ 55 amps. That is a lot of power! Usually the higher the C value, the more expensive the battery. Even using a 100 watt radio you're not even going to come close to the common 25C rating, so go ahead and get a battery with a lower C rating and save yourself some money. 

Now lets compare the specs:

5ah SLA battery: $15 from Amazon. 39 cubic inches. 56 ounces.

5ah LiPo battery: $23 from HobbyKing. 28 cubic inches. 14 ounces.

Anyone looking to reduce the size and weight of their system should appreciate those numbers!

"Well, I can buy 3 SLA batteries for the price of 2 LiPo batteries" you contend. True, but let's take a look at the usable life of each battery. SLA batteries are usually only rated for 200-300 discharge cycles. A properly cared for LiPo can theoretically be discharged anywhere from 500-1000 times. That's a lot! Depending on how you use the LiPo during that time can lead to much shorter or longer lifespans, but the point is they typically last much longer than SLA's.  

If LiPo's are so great why isn't everyone using them? Because if they are mistreated they can easily catch on fire! If you accidentally puncture a cell, it usually leads to a fire. If you short circuit the battery it dumps a lot of current very quickly, creating a lot of heat, which melts the cells, and usually leads to a fire. If you charge the battery too quickly or discharge the battery too much, it creates heat, and can cause the battery to catch on fire. With a little care though fire can be avoided! Store them in a fireproof container, use a LiPo Safe bag when charging, don't throw them/excessively drop them, don't leave them charging unattended, etc. as long as you follow these rules, you should never run into any problems.

Many people prefer LiFePo4 batteries because they exhibit a lot of similar qualities as a LiPo, but are typically much safer. While they don't like being discharged too much or being punctured, just like the LiPo, the odds of them catching on fire are very slim. They have a nominal voltage of 3.2 volts, which makes for a convenient 12.8v 4S pack. The reason I did not go this route is these batteries are a lot more expensive, and are a tad bit larger and heavier than LiPo's given the same capacity. For example a 4S 4200mah 30C LiFePo4 will run you $41 from HobbyKing, 44 cubic inches, 19 ounces.

Whatever battery you decide on, make sure that your radio will handle the voltage. While a 4S LiPo has a nominal voltage of 14.8 volts, when fully charged they can sit around 16.8 volts, which is typically too high for your average radio. For the FT-817 a 3S LiPo @ 12.6v charged, 9.9v discharged is just about perfect. Other radios aren't happy under 11 volts, so a 4S LiPo with a voltage regulator might be an option. 

LiPo batteries come with a variety of connectors, but I always cut them off and install Anderson Power Poles so all my electronics gear is interchangeable. Just be careful not to short the wires if you do decide to cut off the connector and install something different, because short circuiting these batteries can cause fires!  Most sources agree that LiPo's should not be discharged below 3.3v per cell, so I use a small voltage alarm plugged into the balance leads of the battery to ensure I don't accidentally over discharge my battery. For $3 they are cheap insurance!

Baofeng UV-5R Review

Baofeng UV-5R

I once again found myself strapped for cash for a new radio project and sold my Wouxun KG-UV3D to help fund it. This left me without a VHF/UHF rig for a few months until I stumbled upon the Baofeng UV-5R. These little handheld VHF/UHF radio can currently (as of 12SEP13) be had from Amazon.com for a mere $32 USD. As the saying goes - "You get what you pay for", but in this case I feel like you actually get a little more than what you pay for. It's a very compact handheld radio that will easily fit in a pants pocket, or the nook or cranny of you rucksack. It comes standard with a respectable 1800mah Lithium rechargeable battery, that, from a full charge will power the radio on squelched standby for 2-3 days. It's fully capable of wideband TX & RX (be careful where you transmit!), 4 watts output, CTSS, DCS, standard repeater offsets, split frequency offsets, and dual channel receive. Needless to say it will functionally do 90% of what other fancy handheld radios will do, for a fraction of the cost. Now, keep in mind it is NOT waterproof, or dust proof, like the Wouxun, Yaesu's etc. but the thrifty know that a heavy duty Ziploc bag can solve that problem! I wouldn't expect this radio to survive a tumble off any mountain cliffs, etc. but if your life doesn't depend on it, no worries! Just go order another one! You could easily buy four of these radios before you're up to the initial cost of a Wouxun KG-UV3D. The UV-5R has a full coverage FM receiver which is a nice feature. It also has a bright LED flashlight on the top of the radio, that can be turned to strobe mode with a second push of the button.

 So what are the negatives of the UV-5R? The stock antenna is inadequate, and you'd be wise to purchase a better antenna for ~$5 from Amazon. After a short QSO on 2m, the 2m loading coil on my stock antenna was nearly too hot to touch! That's not good at all...However, on 70cm's the stock antenna works pretty decently - granted, I have not done any SWR analysis or the like, but it works well enough for general use. Like the Wouxun, the UV-5R has an annoying TX/RX light on the front panel that you can not turn off. Some paint or tape might be a quick fix. The menu system is not intuitive at all, so I highly recommend you also spend the extra $6 or $7 and get the USB programming cable. The software included with the programming cable did not even install correctly for me, but the CHIRP software is available for download at no cost, and quite simple to use.

Annoying RX/TX LED

In summary, the Baofeng UV-5R is a great buy at only $32 USD. It would make a great second radio to keep in your car, take on hikes, or anywhere where you don't want to risk abusing your shiny shack queen handheld radio. It would also be an excellent radio for new amateur radio operators wanting to get their feet wet, and try out VHF/UHF repeaters. I even expect young kids just getting involved in amateur radio could figure out how to get their hands on $32

Baofeng UV-5R size comparison to a normal sized mug.

Par End Fedz 10/20/40 Review

My first HF antenna was a ladder-line fed 40m dipole. My QTH had didn't have many trees to hold up an antenna and it was quite a chore to get it up in the air. Once I did get it up, the weight of the ladder line made it look more like a sloppy "V" than a neat "T"...and everyone knows an antenna that looks good can give you 3db gain under the right conditions :) It was also hard to string the antenna so the feedline came down in a convenient location over the house so I didn't have to run excessive lengths of coax or ladder-line to it. So I started to look for alternatives. I needed an antenna that was shorter than a full size dipole, required minimal supports, was easy to set up when portable, was well built to stand up to the elements, and performed as well (or nearly as well ) as full size dipole.

I looked into the Buddipole & Buddistick (too expensive), folded dipoles (short, but still need well placed supports),  the Miracle MMD (expensive and too long), and others, but none struck my fancy.

Par End Fedz 10/20/40 on 4ft pole.

I came across the Par Electronics End Fedz 10/20/40 and I knew that it was the antenna for me. It's nice and short at a mere 33ft., resonant on 3 bands without the use of a tuner, has a replaceable wire element that can be swapped for any band from 40m-10m, it's end fed so no need for long feedlines, coils up neatly into a Ziploc bag, it's strong and durable, and it only costs $75.

I had my Yaesu FT-817 with me while I was visiting my parents in Lakewood, CO when I received the antenna. I was excited to get it on the air and rather haphazardly strung the antenna about 6ft off the ground between two trees in the backyard. I started to trim the wire element for a minimum SWR as indicated by the meter on the FT-817. The FT-817 doesn't have a very precise internal SWR meter, but it worked well enough in the absence of a quality external meter. It took about 2 minutes to trim the wire before the SWR meter dropped down, and then I was in business! It was still early in the morning, but I spun the dial around the 20m band and stopped at 14.300 during the Maritime Mobile Net. They were taking check-in's so I called with 2.5w from the internal batteries on the FT-817 and the net controller in Washington State immediately came back to me! Needless to say I was very please with initial results from the antenna!

Back at my home I mounted the antenna to a strong hook on the eave of my house, about 8ft high, directly outside the window where I had my radio located. I only needed a short 6-8ft. length of RG-8/U coax to feed the antenna, which helped keep the cost, and feedline losses to a minimum. I then stretched the 33ft wire element into the yard and found that a random 4ft. post that the previous owners had installed was about 35ft away, and was perfect for keeping the wire element tightly stretched. Ah, isn't it good when things work out just so? In this low sloping configuration the antenna continued to amaze me and I was able to work many stations in the U.S. and DX (Aruba, Hawaii, etc.) on SSB w/ 5w or less. It didn't work very well for nearby contacts (0-200 miles) but it when I pushed it up a little higher to around 15ft, it seemed to perform better with NVIS contacts.

Par End Fedz 10/20/40 on 15ft pole

The antenna is great for Hams who don't have a lot of space to erect antennas but still need strong performance. It's also great for stealth operations because of the black wire element and flexibility of ways you can put it up. It works equally well horizontal, vertical, or sloping. I use the antenna quite a bit while camping and it only takes a few minutes to throw the antenna over a tree limb and get on the air. There are no multiples wires to get tangled up, no baluns to mess around with, no excessively long feedlines. It's simple and works great. For the price and performance, I would strongly recommend the antenna to anyone.

The Par End Fedz 10/20/40 antenna (left) with it's matching box (center) and the RG-174 feedline (right)

MFJ 1899T Review

Yaesu FT-817 w/ MFJ 1899T antenna

 

Another old post from my wordpress site:

March 28, 2011

My wife and I conveniently had last week off of school and work for Spring Break, so we were able to do some traveling and relaxing. My wife brought her sewing machine along to work on a few projects from the hotel room, but I didn’t bring my radio gear because I knew I had limited antenna options from inside a hotel room. I have used speaker wire dipoles with great success but I try not to bother my wife with those on vacation because she is patient enough with my variously strung wires around our home. The weather wasn’t exactly balmy either so I ruled out any outdoor portable work. I decided next time we travel I would have something capable of operating indoors! I’ve looked into magnetic loops and while they’re excellent antennas considering their small size I decided to go with a more conventional and compact vertical whip antenna.

I ordered a MFJ 1899T from Gigaparts and had it here on my doorstep in less than week. There’s not much to this antenna and I’m not convinced that it’s all that sturdy but with a little care I don’t see it breaking too easily… I  hooked it up to the rear PL-259 jack on the FT-817 with a right angle and BNC adaptor. Using the supplied tuning guide I tried it on various bands and found that it doesn’t even come close to the recommended settings -  but with a little trial and error the correct jumper and whip length can be found for minimal SWR. I had my Par End Fedz hooked up to the front BNC connection so I was able to readily switch back and forth to compare signal strengths. When tuned correctly, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the little whip was very close to the Par antenna. Definitely a little quieter, but not enough to lose a station unless they were right on the noise floor to begin with. Even tuned correctly I had couple bars on the SWR meter but was easily rectified with a 3ft counterpoise attached to the ground screw on the rear of the FT-817. Now I still hadn’t transmitted with it yet so I wasn’t setting my hopes to high on this little antenna. I figured the fastest and easiest way to get some signal reports was to run it with WSPR, so I set up the software and let it whisper it’s little whistle into the ether for about 15-20 minutes. Came back to check on reports and….wow! I had hoped it could at least net a couple stateside stations but was quite happy to see the little whip chucking the little signal across the pond into Europe! Here’s the WSPR Map: 

20m WSPR w/ MFJ 1899T

I realize using WSPR is kinda “cheating” because you could probably go outside, holler your call sign, and with the capabilities of the software someone in Madagascar would see you on their waterfall… but I feel it’s a good way to really get a feel of where your signal is going. I will be doing some more extensive operating with this antenna in the future but so far so good! I will keep everyone posted on how it works out… On a side note I’ve been noticing the rear heat sink on the FT-817 gets quite hot with even minimal use, my FT-817ND barely got warm even with heavy use…curious….

29 March UPDATE:
This morning I checked into the New Mexico Breakfast Club on 3.939 mhz using the 1899T and 5 watts. It took a couple tries to get through but I was able to get in there none the less… This antenna is pretty slick. In no way will it ever perform as well as a full size antenna and I would never recommend it as a primary antenna but if your traveling or due to size constraints this is the only thing you can fit, it will get your signal out there reasonably well. Last night I did some listening on 40m and there were times when a station was 100% copy on the Par 10/20/40 and then was completely gone when I switched to the 1899T -  so in some circumstances it can be quite deaf, but if you’re just having fun and don’t mind missing a few stations here and there it won’t be a bother.

Last night I also ran some WSPR on 40m. Was happy with the results on that band as well:

40m WSPR w/ MFJ 1899T

Winter's Day WSPR

Another old post from my wordpress site:
January 31, 2011

Today the teacher is sick. Today also happens to look like this:

 Which then entails this:

 

Which means it's a perfect day for this:

 I can't complain!

First 15 minutes using WSPR on 20m with 2.5w