I drive a 1993 Ford E-250 van, to which I have added a few special features. From the outside, what is most noticable are the antennas... 8 of them to be exact. These serve a variety of purposes, feeding the Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, stereo, a cell phone, and local and long distance ham radios.
Inside, I have built wooden cabinets on each side of the van. (Yes, I really built them myself...if you look closely you'll see I'm telling the truth.)
Mostly these are for storage, but the bay directly behind the driver is special. A desktop folds down, revealing the ham radio operating position. Here are controls for radios for local (VHF/UHF) and long distance (HF) communications. There are also control panels for the 12 volt power distribution and the battery charger.
Underneath the desk is a cabinet that contains an auxilliary deep cycle battery (so I can run all this equipment without running down the van battery). The radios themselves are here, along with the six disc CD changer, battery charger, and a whole lot of wires.
From the driver's seat, I also have access to all of the communications gear, through separate control heads. The computer sits on the console while I am driving, secured by a bungee cord.
There is an AppleTalk network connecting the computer (whether in the rear operating position or on the front console) with the radio equipment. I can use the GPS receiver to feed the current position to the computer, which in turn can plot that position on a map. The position is also transmitted automatically through the radios, where after a little black magic, it can be seen by anyone connected to the internet. You can see my current position here. This same miracle of technology allow two way messaging around the country. And yes, I can type and drive at the same time. It takes a little practice, and I have to go slow since I don't take my eyes off the road for more than a second or two at a time. You can read more about this system, called APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System), starting here.
This page has been visited times.
Send comments to Steve: k4hg@tapr.org.