tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) (09/18/89)
I got one of the LiteSets last week from DAK. My boss got one a couple of months ago. Being a ham, I could not resist modifying it. I noticed that when my boss got more than 100 ft from the base, he started to fade. Probably wasn't helped by all the RFI radiating computers we have around the office. I saw the the little antenna on the base was about 1/10 wavelength long, so I decided to make a 1/4 wave groundplane out of hookup wire. I popped open the unit and found the ground connection on the circuit board was common with the ground on the negative power input. I ran out a piece of wire for the ground connection. I also saw that because of the short antenna, they had loaded it with an inductor. I disconnected the antenna, and ran my own wire to the outside of the unit, tapping off the coil just a few turns from the transmitter. I put the base unit on a couple of large metal file cabinets next to my desk, and ran my new 1/4 wave (5 foot) antenna wire up the wall. I used wire that matched the wall, so it doesnt look too ugly. Then I ran 2 ground radials, one in each direction, taped horizontally on the wall, and hooked these to the ground wire I brought out of the unit. Then I ran 2 more 5 foot radials, diagonally from the common ground point across the filing cabinets, under potted plants, and down opposite corners of the cabinets to take care of the excess wire. The range on this thing is now phenomenol. My boss and I ran a tesst where I went outside and just kept walking...wonderful clear transmission. At one point after lunch I took a little hike into the woods north of our office, found a nice grassy area where I could lay down and watch the clouds roll by, and took a few calls from customers! I also got in the car and drove, and found that we still had good transmission several blocks away! This was after I got out of the METAL car, of course. Tad Cook tad@ssc.UUCP KT7H @ N7HFZ MCI Mail: 3288544