arapier

figured I would introduce myself a little. Got my 2nd jeep last week 2000 XJ and going to be turning that into the family light off-roader/mobile ham radio station. My first jeep I got as a graduation present in high school was an 1988 Comanche short bed but it had a blown motor and college stuff unfortunately took priority then adn it since been sold. But now with the XJ hopefully it'll be the rig that I've always wanted slowly yet surely. As well the stickers will be removed due to I hate stickers on my vehicles.

investinwaffles

That thing looks mint! Congrats on the pickup and welcome back to the cult club!

Lots of CO cherokee owners on here. I'm usually up and down the front range but live in Denver.

CurrySoSpicy

Welcome!

arapier

Thanks I figured there would be a lot of CO people on this forum. Throw a rock any direction and you're likely to hit an XJ. But mine is pretty decent got it for $2500 for a 2000 with 184K on it guy originally was asking $2800 for probably could have talked him down more after driving it a couple days and finding all the little things. but it's all stock never modified guy I bought it from had the cooling system rebuilt a month ago. No rust on the unibody itself, but it still needs some TLC. Got a squeal in the engine that I need to investigate I think it's the serpentine belt other than that it's been little things back hatch supports, driver door switch assembly after a failed soldering iron fix, and I gotta figure out why the driver seat has a lean to it. But in all it's a good rig since it has 4-doors and it's going to be duel purpose.

investinwaffles

All sound like characteristic issues for the XJ. Tons of info on google about em all (belt squeak can be alot of different things though, hard to pinpoint sometimes but start with pulling the belt off and making sure it is tensioned properly, pulleys are clean and all the pulley bearings are in good shape.

For the seats, the driver's seat is known to crack on either the seat pan, or the seat frame where it bolts to the sliders. Honestly, I just replaced mine with WJ seats I found on Craigslist for $60. Much more comfy but if you are tall you do end up loosing 1-2" of headroom (I am short luckily)

arapier

eh I'm any where from 5"11- 6'1" depending on which convenient store I'm leaving. but I have thought about the wj swap

'00 XJ

Welcome. That is a fine looking rig.

Very curious about ham radio. Is it possible to set up a whip antenna on the XJ, and set up a stationary remote nearby?

arapier

As far as just the antenna or the transceiver going back and forth? As well what class are you license to operate on? I got a cheap baofeng uv-5r handheld with a mag mount antenna that I use in the city. Or I have a yaesu 3100R which is just VHF bands with a mag mount but the transceiver is meant to be a permanent install but some quick disconnects will fix that. But even then the Mag mount antenna I have for that goes in and out and I use the mag mount on the filing cabinet in my office when I decide to use it inside.

Or are you thinking about setting up a repeater?

'00 XJ

Cool. I'm on the outside looking in, so far. But curious, with the means to follow up. My wife and I have run into a few ham operators, and were thinking about doing the same. Wondering what kind of set up would go well with Jeeping. Seen some fairly tall antenna set ups. I was thinking about a whip antenna. The magnetic antenna sounds like they don't necessarily have to be huge.

arapier

A good setup for Jeeping depends on your license level, Technician, General, or Extra. Each one gets you on different wave lengths for more power and greater distances. Honestly in my opinion for the average jeeper a technician license is probably all that you need depending on how much you get into ham radio.

Mainly cause the technician is the easiest test and once you know how to operate your radio you're able to communicate state wide through the repeaters. Given you have the side band or pl code pre-programmed or know them for the repeater in your area, so if you get in trouble you can either summons or render aid. However with Ham radios the handhelds and mobile power is key so my baofeng is only a 5watt radio thats why it's good in the city repeaters are close enough and that I can communicate with relatively ease. Where as my yaesu is a 75watt unit and I live 30miles north of denver and on a good night I can reach the repeater 30miles south of denver and the repeater can reach out farther from there. As well it'll get you more reliable comms from radio to radio in your group.

But if you're just looking for more reliable comms while you're wheeling with a group you can do the same with gmrs radios, you'll still need a license to operate those but I believe there's no test and one person in the group is needed to have a license with you to operate the GMRS radios as a group per the FCC.

investinwaffles

Oh crap, I have the same radio (UV-5R)! (not ham licensed though )

Only use it to talk to my friend that IS ham licensed though so he usually makes sure we are legal

We should do a test and see how far the handhelds will run - I just have a small ~8" whip on mine but the range is pretty far last time we messed around with it

arapier

Yeah the uv-5r has the gmrs channels capable as well i have a 16" one. But the uv-5t has so manu revisions its hard not to get one or 2 cause theyre so cheap and capable. You can listen to the repeaters without a license just dont hit the ptt button. Hams are self policing and they'll find you and turn you in. Which kind of sucks cause i missed out on some good opportunities when i was listening before getting my license.