A G90 Handheld? Have You Lost It?

Executive Summary

Yes, I've lost it.  Again.

But portable operation has taught me that if you can operate your radio while holding it, even if it's a bit heavy, you can operate places that you can't set up an antenna.

The G90 is small enough, and if you set its bottom against a fence or a table, you CAN operate it for quite a while as a handheld, and get on and off the air quickly.

As in before you get caught.

So I'll outline the generic steps for making a G90 antenna bracket.

Short and sweet for once.

How to Make the G90 Antenna Bracket

Yep, it's a wee bit bigger than a KX2.  But it's 20 watts, and with the great tuner in the G90, you can put out a very respectable signal on 20 through 10 with nothing more than an 8 foot tall 3/8-24 whip screwed into this bracket.

If you have to operate handheld on 30, 40 and 60, you can try the MFJ-1889 pictured here, as it tunes through 60 meters.  It won't be very efficient, but I have made contacts.

With the whip, just extend it and hit the tune button, it's long enough to do well up through 20 meters.

If you use the MFJ, you merely have to peak the noise, then hit the tune button, and you're set to go.

This makes QSY almost immediate, just the thing if you've only got 45 minutes to get on the air.

The close-up of the bracket leaves little to the imagination, but a bit of explanation is in order.

The bracket mounts to the radio by the same four threaded holes that hold the handles on the radio, front and back.

If you've read some of the other blog entries, you've seen handheld brackets for the KX2 and FT817, with detailed construction notes.  This will be the LITE version, I'd suggest you look back at those more detailed entries if you have any construction questions .

The screws will need to be longer, so the first construction instruction is:

Measure your screws, measure the thickness of the metal you will use for the bracket, and get screws of that length.  

There's not much extra thread in the screw holes, so don't add extra length just to "be on the safe side."  But, if you look closely at the sides of the radio, you'll see that the front and rear mounting surfaces aren't the same, and that the case may prevent the bracket from being firmly affixed to the side of the radio. Also, the bracket may cant out slightly because of the case construction - you'll know it when you see it.

In this case you may want to use some small washers in any gaps between the bracket and the radio to firm things up, or to align the bracket parallel to the case side.  Or not, it will work either way.

The second construction instruction is to remove the handles from the radio, get a piece of masking or painters tape wide enough to cover the entire side of the radio, and mark the hole locations by sticking a small object through the tape into the holes.

This makes a template for drilling that you can remove and put on your metal stock for drilling.

The third instruction is to buy and cut your metal stock to size.  I used 2 inch wide aluminum bar stock from the hardware store, cut to 8 1/2 inches long.  The stock measures about 0.11 inches thick on my Harbor Fright micrometer, so I'm guessing it is 1/8 inch by 2 stock.

The forth instruction is to decide how you will bend the top of the bracket.  

The bend needs to be at 7 inches from the bottom.

Depending on what you have available to bend the bracket, you'll decide whether to drill the 1/2 inch hole for the antenna mount before or after bending.  

If you have a nice brake, you can bend the bracket after drilling the hole, but if you need to pound the bracket over a piece of wood to bend it - equally acceptable - you should drill the hole after the bracket is bent, because otherwise the metal will want to bend in the area of the hole, and not where you want it.

Now that you have a plan, the fifth instruction is to transfer your template to the metal stock, mark the hole for the antenna mount and the line for the bend, and bend and drill as your plan dictates.

When you're done, you'll have something that looks like mine, but without the extra holes in the bracket where it is flush to the radio.

You can add those holes or not.  It probably helps cooling, but my radio doesn't get very hot on the side, so that may not matter.  But it does lose a little weight, and looks cool, so I'd go for it.

I drilled those holes after the other holes were drilled and the bracket bent.  I did it quick and dirty with a - you guessed it - Harbor Fright step drill bit.

And you're done.  Add your 3/8-24 antenna mount, and favorite antenna and ground wire- a Buddistick is good, I'm liking the MFJ-1889 much better because of the ease of QSY.

And have it.  You're going to have to put your battery in your pocket, or in a belt pack, but that's a minor inconvenience for the portability provided by having a mount on the radio.

 

As always, these are my experiences, not my recommendations, and you need to do what you need to do to operate safely.  Follow common sense and RF safety guidelines. Watch out for people pets and electrified objects.  Etc.

Cheers, hope to hear ya on, handheld.

Scott ka9p/zf2sc