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I utilize a 1996 Toyota Camry as my daily driver, to and from work, and to the grocery store, and when my wallet permits, to our local radio store. As of this writing, the car is 13 years old, and I have NEVER used a car that old as a daily driver. But in the case of the Camry, it's been the best car that I've every owned, and after over 150,000 miles, it runs as good as new, and is trouble free. It looks years younger, as it has spent much of its life in the garage. It doesn't just sit around, as I've taken it on several trips to Baja California, and many other places in the American Southwest. The way I see it, the car is a winner, so I want to stick with it. To top it off, we didn't buy it, as we inherited it from my wife's cousin, George Pocan, when he passed away, 10 years ago. It's been a great car, and we're ever grateful to George for his gift...
Photo: My Camry, parked in the driveway at our QTH. Note the quarter wave stick antenna mounted on the lid of the trunk... it really works well! Power comes directly from the battery, fused at both ends, and fed to a junction box on the passenger's side floor, via a 10-gauge stranded wire, which is more than adequate for the 15 amps that the radio requires on high power. The radio is attached to the junction box, along with a few extra cigarette lighter adaptors, which power an XM tuner, a GPS, and other accessories on an as-needed basis. The ham station in my car is beyond modest, as it consists of a Yaesu FT-1802M single-band rig, for 2 meters, and a quarter wave vertical antenna, mounted on the trunk. Years ago, I worked in a radio shop, and I learned how to install NMO mount antennas into vehicles, so both my Camry and my truck sport NMO antennas, as they are far superior to mag mount or other antennas the mount of the exterior of the vehicle. I don't have a gain antenna mounted on the car, as the quarter-wave stick fits fine in the garage, and doesn't rub against anything, like a 5/8 wavelength antenna would.
Photo: There aren't many options in regards to mounting a rig in a Camry, but I managed to attach it to the tranny hump, and it's easily accessible for me, and easy to read. The passenger has a lot of leg room, so it really doesn't take much away from them. When I'm on the road, I consistently receive good signal reports with my modest set up. Copyright(c) 2009 eRench Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since January 19, 2005. Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custom photography for any occasion...
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