Mount Anywhere HT Ham Radio Antenna

In search of the best way to operate a ham radio while riding a bike, I came to the realization the higher you can mount an antenna the better off you are. SO.... I mounted mine on my helmet. This project is super simple and pretty plug and play with a small list of easy to get parts. You can splurge for BNC connectors to make your radio a quick disconnect style. The beauty of the this whole set up is that it is portable, light weight, transferable and preforms well. It clears up a lot of static and interference from the radio being close to your body and the bicycle.

Parts list

1. Hand held ham radio
2. Boafeng UV5-R and UV-82 are good choices
3. Hand microphone
4. a ear piece microphone would work as well
5. VCE SMA Male to SMA Male Connector
6. Universal Gimbal Conversion Adapter
7. SMA Female Bulkhead Connector Antenna Jack Adapter
8. SMA Male to BNC Male Cable 3ft + 5pcs RF Coax Adapter Kit SMA to BNC
9.  SMA Female to BNC Female Convert Adapter 
10. GoPro Cameras Grab Bag
11. Bicycle Helmet or whatever you want to mount your antenna to

Tools

1. Pick
2. Plyers
3. plastic epoxy
4. screw driver

The first thing that needs to happen is that the rubber and thumb screw need to be removed from the camera gimbal adapter. The rubber is easy enough to remove with a pick and the plyers. There is a e-clip under the rubber part that can be removed and will allow the screw to fall out. Discard the screw and rubber pieces they're done.

Take the gimbal adapter and thread the bulkhead connector through it. Tighten down the connectors jam nut. Make sure it is tight. Attach the male to male sma adapter on the top side of the bulkhead connector. You should end up with something like the picture.

Halfway there

From here you'll want to attach the sma male end of your cable to the female end on the bottom of the bulkhead connector. Then connect you gopro clip to gopro adapter. Don't tighten the thumb screw yet. You can attach the antenna from the radio at this point

I opted to permanently mount the gopro base to my helmet with some plastic epoxy. Follow the directions on the epoxy and mount the base somewhere your antenna and cable will clear and be most erect.

You're done. Hook up the radio to the cable and attach the hand mic. You'll want to make sure the thumb screw for the antenna is tight now and set the mount up like the picture. I usually mount the radio on belt and the hand mic onto the front of my shirt or somewhere I can grab it while riding.