Real Ham radio operators aren’t afraid to drill some holes in a vehicle as evidenced by today’s project: drilled a hole in the roof of The Little Pathfinder That Could. Yes, it’s a real pain in the butt to get the headliner out far enough to drill. But I got it out, drilled, installed the new NMO mount and dual band antenna, and ran the coax to my FT-1900 in about three hours.

Next weekend, I think maybe I’ll swap out my FT-1900R for my FTM-10SR. Or maybe I’ll just add the FTM-10 instead of replacing and come up with a better mounting option for my FT-1900.

Oh, the other day at HRO, I realized another thing a real ham would do: they have no qualms putting $15,000 worth of electronics, accessories, and antennas into and through a $1,500 minivan.