Third's Build Discussion

[chucky]

I just got a cheap set of 4' fiberglass trucker whips for now, I bolted them to the A1R grab rail that goes up and over the side windows. I'm not a huge fan of dual phase antennas but they were a cheap solution for now. I added HD ss springs to each antenna (because they will hit trees).

Yeah, I need to start looking at tubing benders and finalize my cab rack. There will be a lot of antennas up there. LOL

I would really look at those weld butt 90s all the affordable pipe benders seem to make too big of a radius on the bends plus you can grind these weld butts if you want to open up the angle or radius some ! Ive had really good luck with FRANCIS fiberglass antenas and they are dirt chep and very forgiving on swrs

 

[chucky]

View attachment 894678

I have a 10hp Yanmar that was a 24v battery charger. I pulled the alternator head off it and put a 6KW Northstar generator head on it. Worked great for a couple years (only had 50 hours on it and was only run for short duration). The generator head died a nasty death during the big Texas freeze a couple years back. By the time I was ready to replace it, COVID hit and the world stopped. I'll find a replacement head (or look into rebuilding this one) someday.

Until then I 've been toting around a little 6KW Westinghouse that's a little brute.

Is it direct drive or belt driven and how do you set the rpms to get clean 60 hrts ? MARATHON makes some good 6k heads and theyre pretty abundant

 

[Third From Texas]

Is it direct drive or belt driven and how do you set the rpms to get clean 60 hrts ? MARATHON makes some good 6k heads and theyre pretty abundant

Not a belt, it's a tapered shaft direct drive.

 

[chucky]

Does it have a keyway on the shaft or bolts like a flywheel ?

 

[Third From Texas]

Does it have a keyway on the shaft or bolts like a flywheel ?

It's an older design with no key. Just a long tapered shaft on the gen that slips into the cone of the power head. It's all bolted together and friction holds the connection. It's called a "single bearing" gen head (opposed to the belt drivens that are dual bearing).

To make matters worse, there are a couple variations in length and taper of the cone . It's quite a specific fit. I actually have the military Yanmar and a civilian version of Yanmar's 5K genset (circa 1980's). Each uses a different shaft and thus power head (the civ version is a short shaft, the mil version is the long shaft).

Before the pandemic, Northstar made both tapered shaft and belt driven gen heads (you could pick them up at any Northern Tools). But all you see since are a hand full of belt drives heads out there.

The Northstar power head seemed pretty heavy duty, and no idea why it failed but it appears something came apart inside the housing and it was showering sparks (from like metal debris inside) the night it failed. The civ short shaft power head I took off the other genset was damaged and not rebuildable. Have not taken the Northstar one apart yet...but it was fraging itself to death so I don't hold high hopes.

I keep expecting some things (like gen heads) to return to the market some day, but.....<crickets>

I paid $300 ion Amazon for the Northstar (pre-pandemic).

 

[chucky]

Weve decided to come camp out at your house this fall for a few weeks and help ya work on your truck and cruze up and down the beaches on a talent search for hot tan trim carpenters to help us finish your truck up rite!!!!!! Do you have a keg refrigerator ? Charcoal grill ? Humidor ? Bartender ? Maid ? wifi ?

 

[Guyfang]

The Clampets are on the move.

 

[chucky]

The Clampets are on the move.

You just keep to making that awful kraute mess yall eat !! Instead of being my travel agent ! Private cupcake ! And quit throwing your empty schnapps bottles in my yard at night !

 

[chucky]

Hey remember this place???? I think the fella moved off to some other fourum ! Dosent like us anymore!!!!! Hes got NEW friends with NEW stories doesnt like our stories anymore ! Spends all his time with the renters ! Still hasnt trimmed the hedges out front Codes dept will be there anyday now ! I guess all the TEXAS boys found a new place to hang didnt invite us !!!! SUPER DOUBLE SECRET CLUB !

 

[Third From Texas]

I made some progress prepping the hab for paint two weeks ago. Got all the glue from the light fixtures off finally, filled and sanded any existing screrw holes, etc. Right up to the point tha the disc in my back failed again.

Three months healing.

Two days work.

Rinse/repeat.

Scheduled for another MRI end of the month.



That said, I got in the last of the amps and sub for the cab build. I should have all the thermal and sound insulation stuff need now. As well as the antennas for the cab (CB, GRMS, HAM, AM/FM) but they'll await the roof rack. Only remaining purchase for the cab is the 24v a/c unit.

I have to sort out a plan for the additional electrical in the cab. LOL

 

[chucky]

Which cb/ham antenna did you go with ? And which 24 ac unit did you decide to go with and are you going to drive it with the factory altenator ?

 

[coachgeo]

.....
Three months healing.

Two days work.

Rinse/repeat.

Scheduled for another MRI end of the month.


.....

unless building the rig is really a huge part of your life enjoyment..... Then remember "take a break" from building it and drive the rig, enjoy the camping with friends and loved ones.

 

[chucky]

Have you ever tried the inversion table for your spine or some of the ski boot things where u hang upside down in them WILLE used to do that for his back years ago not sure about now

 

[Third From Texas]

Which cb/ham antenna did you go with ? And which 24 ac unit did you decide to go with and are you going to drive it with the factory altenator ?

We touched on this in another thread but damned if I know where.

For my ssb CB I have 3' fiberglass duals:

Amazon.com

For the GMRS I went with a dual band Tram:

Amazon.com

For my HAM I have an old UHF/VHF Radio Larsen antenna that was a spare off one on my race cars.

Then I have:
GPS antenna
AM/FM antenna for the stereo
Police/aviation scanner antenna

I'll likely be adding a cel booster like a WeBoost or something.
And when I get ready to travel I'll be tossing StarLink into the mix for Internet.
As well as an inReach satellite messenger as a failsafe.

 

[Third From Texas]

Finally talked my doc into doing an epidural on my back this week. Hoping this works opposed to surgery. It's cooled off enough to get back to work on the truck and I'd like to get fixed up enough to at least get it back to where I can take it on some overnights (it's still gutted inside).

A buddy of mine has slowly started to part with some of his scrap metal supply. He worked at the power plant for decades and anytime they rebuilt or revamped a unit he commandeered some of the scrap.. He's got some nice stuff. Buckets of uber-grade German stainless bolts, nuts, washers. All sorts of ss mesh, expanded, gills that were used in filtration. SS unistrut, ss pipe, aluminum tubing, all sizes, aluminum angle, aluminum I-beam, stuff from half-inch up to 4", just tons of good junk.

The other day he was bar-b-quing and invited me over to drink a few beers and watch the eclipse (were were "zero azimuth" for viewing and it was one of the better ones I've seen in my time). Pretty cool event. All the neighborhood kids were out and it was sort of a block party.

Anyway.....

He gave me several pieces of stainless that I had mentioned in the past that I could put to good use. He said since the truck was there, I might as well take a couple sections of the aluminum grading (catwalk) that he had. Two sections of 8' x 30" x 2" (1/8" thick walls, 3"x 1" openings, 2" deep). A bit heavier than I was intending (got to be like 60 lbs ea at least), but it's going to make a very sturdy rear deck. Plan is to have it fold in half as it folds up.

He also threw in a PeeWee Herman Schwinn bike with an 80cc motor and a brand new 4-bike Thule rack that mounts on a receiver hitch. The bike had never been run, but the engine appears sleazed (I'm going to crack open the case and see what's wrong, but the engines are only like $60 t replace). The racks were still new in the box. They'll get put to use on the truck.

 

[chucky]

Finally talked my doc into doing an epidural on my back this week. Hoping this works opposed to surgery. It's cooled off enough to get back to work on the truck and I'd like to get fixed up enough to at least get it back to where I can take it on some overnights (it's still gutted inside).

A buddy of mine has slowly started to part with some of his scrap metal supply. He worked at the power plant for decades and anytime they rebuilt or revamped a unit he commandeered some of the scrap.. He's got some nice stuff. Buckets of uber-grade German stainless bolts, nuts, washers. All sorts of ss mesh, expanded, gills that were used in filtration. SS unistrut, ss pipe, aluminum tubing, all sizes, aluminum angle, aluminum I-beam, stuff from half-inch up to 4", just tons of good junk.

The other day he was bar-b-quing and invited me over to drink a few beers and watch the eclipse (were were "zero azimuth" for viewing and it was one of the better ones I've seen in my time). Pretty cool event. All the neighborhood kids were out and it was sort of a block party.

Anyway.....

He gave me several pieces of stainless that I had mentioned in the past that I could put to good use. He said since the truck was there, I might as well take a couple sections of the aluminum grading (catwalk) that he had. Two sections of 8' x 30" x 2" (1/8" thick walls, 3"x 1" openings, 2" deep). A bit heavier than I was intending (got to be like 60 lbs ea at least), but it's going to make a very sturdy rear deck. Plan is to have it fold in half as it folds up.

He also threw in a PeeWee Herman Schwinn bike with an 80cc motor and a brand new 4-bike Thule rack that mounts on a receiver hitch. The bike had never been run, but the engine appears sleazed (I'm going to crack open the case and see what's wrong, but the engines are only like $60 t replace). The racks were still new in the box. They'll get put to use on the truck.

Was that the same bike PEE WEE used to ride to the theatre where they caught him smashin his carrot and got arrested ?

 

[chucky]

 

[Third From Texas]

Yeah, seriously.

Pee Wee's bike in black.

LOL

It's not a bad bike, though. Beach Cruisers are a big thing down here (especially on the beach) Retro-springer front end a bonus.

 

[chucky]

I stopped by your house a little while back to check on your build but you were gone in the truck i got my folding chair out and set it by the campaign sign in the front yard and had a smoke but ya never showed up ! Oh and your 110 outlet by the garage door must have flipped a breaker i never got my boom box to fire up you might ck on that !

 

[serpico760]

We touched on this in another thread but damned if I know where.

For my ssb CB I have 3' fiberglass duals:

Amazon.com

For the GMRS I went with a dual band Tram:

Amazon.com

For my HAM I have an old UHF/VHF Radio Larsen antenna that was a spare off one on my race cars.

Then I have:
GPS antenna
AM/FM antenna for the stereo
Police/aviation scanner antenna

I'll likely be adding a cel booster like a WeBoost or something.
And when I get ready to travel I'll be tossing StarLink into the mix for Internet.
As well as an inReach satellite messenger as a failsafe.

For Thanksgiving you could just put the turkey on the roof and turn all the radios on! Should cook the turkey good!