I was excited to recently add a Codan 9323 HF Land Mobile transceiver and a Codan 9350 auto-tuning antenna with two different whips; the shorter SS whip for everyday use and a longer fiberglass whip and heavy duty spring mainly for extended stationary operations.
The Codan was to compliment my Yaesu FT-857D transceiver however as the Codan has a superior voice to noise ratio compared to the Yaesu this is now my primary radio.
The Codan covers about 2 MHz to 28 MHz and can be used on all Ham bands as well as the 11m / CB band.
The total height of vehicle with SS whip is 2.47m and with fibreglass whip and spring is a whopping 3.15m!
My new fit out included mounting a large, heavy auto-tune antenna and as I own a sedan, this proved to be a little challenging!
After having a tow bar installed on the vehicle (about $250 from eBay) I got a local engineering workshop to make up an offset bracket out of 12.5 mm steel for $30.
The bracket had to be fitted in a way that the antenna was offset from the number plate so it wasn’t obstructing it.
I ‘googled’ a photo of the same antenna mounted on a South Australian Police sedan (same model as my car) so this is what I used as a template!
I earthed the antenna to the tow bar and fitted the leads so they came out from under the boot, where the transceivers were mounted. It was a little fiddly but I got them there in the end!
I will be ordering a custom made antenna switch that will connect the 9350 auto-tune antenna to both the Codan and Yaesu HF radios. That way, I’ll be able to leave them all connected and flick a switch from Codan to Yaesu enabling me to use the TUNE button on both transceivers without having to pull the vehicle off the road and manually swap over antenna leads.
You can see some shots of my dash mount setup showing:
- Codan 9323 2-28 MHz HF transceiver control head
- Simoco SRM9020 Plus 400-520 MHz UHF transceiver control head
- Yaesu FT857D HF/6m/VHF/UHF transceiver control head
- Kenwood TM-V708 VHF/UHF dual-band transceiver control head
- Simoco SRM9022 400-520 MHz control microphone
I have a brand new Codan 9350 and a Yaesu 857D – love that radio. I have just bought a tuning unit off Ebay – https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/272517147641?ul_noapp=true
I am damned if I can get it to tune in on any of the 3 antenna units I have with the 9350. Earth is excellent, as is all connections and what every ground etc. is, an Advanced Amateur did help install it and he’s very fussy with all connections. It just won’t tune. Any help in getting this lovely unit to work for me would be very much appreciated.
I want to use with codan 9350 and FT 817. How i can connect them? Can you send me this schem picture?
Thank yousomuch…
ta2ui.m@gmail.com
Hi Steven. An easier and cheaper way to run both a Codan and Yaesu tx’ver off a 9350 antenna is to buy a coax antenna switch. Connect it up in reverse (1 x antenna in, 2 x tx’vers out) and when you want to use the Yaesu, flick the switch to connect the Codan tx’ver to the antenna, select the desired frequency and tune, then dial up the same frequency on the Yaesu, and simply flick the antenna switch back to the Yaesu rig and off you go! Now the 9350 is tuned up and ready to operate from the 857!
If you’re not aware, you can transmit on any frequency in both USB/LSB within the Codan 9323’s range, even if you don’t have the frequency programmed into the radio! All you need to do is have a “receive only” channel programmed (I have a frequency in each band programmed into a memory channel), select that channel in the memory, then enter the “mode select” menu and dial up the “freeband receiver”. Now select the frequency you want to use the Yaesu to transmit on, then press the “emergency call” button for about 2 seconds. After it beeps to advise it’s initiating an emergency call, release the button and the Codan’s display should be back on the memory channel screen. The solid line that indicates its a receive on,y channel should be gone (indicating you can now transmit on it), and when you press the PTT the display should show some numbers like 65556 or similar where the frequency would normally be shown. This indicates that the transciever is now transmitting on the “freeband receive” frequency (not the memory channel frequency). For this to work correctly, you must have a “receive only” channel programmed that is setup for “emergency calls” and you must start on that channel before entering “freeband receive” mode otherwise it won’t work. Every Codan 9323 is capable of this function despite what some people or Codan itself may say! I believe it is a purpose built factory function that enables the user to be able to dial up any frequency and call for help in a life or death situation (such as a zombie apocalypse :p). The other alternative is to buy a Codan 9360 and you can tune up any frequency a little easier then flick the switch to change the antenna over to the Yaesu.
73 de Geoff, 43DA102
Hi Geoff
Can you tell me where you bought the “custom made antenna switch that will connect the 9350 auto-tune antenna to both the Codan and Yaesu HF radios” that you mention in your article, http://www.delta-alfa.com/my-mobile-hfvhfuhf-radio-shack/
I have a FT857D and will be getting a 9323/9350 soon and want to do as you have done.
Cheers Steven
Great! Mobiles are wonderful….may be the best shack of all. The views are better than a wall map and pins? I operate mobile 100% hope to catch you down the log!
73 Garry 2SD203