Well, no in-depth second ride report for the new mobile rig. I spent most of my drive home last night expecting a front wheel to fall off of the truck. I have ignored a humming wheel bearing for too long. Yesterday, the noise upgraded to rumbles of distant thunder punctuated by the screech of a pterodactyl. Well, what I imagine a pterodactyl might have screeched like.

So, I’m back to the HT/amp combo in a different truck today. With the now available mag mount, I put the antenna I had on my truck before I got the Comet SBB-7. I didn’t even know exactly what model it was, so I went out and looked at it just now. It’s a Comet SS680SB, a compact dual band with a bit of gain, 2.15dBi on 2m and 4.15dBi on 70cm.

The bigger uglier problem with this truck is EMI. It’s a Ram 2500 with the Cummins diesel engine. With no spark plugs, you’d think there would be less noise. I need to investigate farther, but I suspect it’s alternator noise introduced by the connection to the amplifier.

It’s temporary in any case, but I do get to remain on the air while my truck is repaired. Expecting to be back in it by Friday evening, maybe Saturday.