Mounting a Ham Radio

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
Please post up pictures of your setup. I'm reinventing the wheel once again with my interior configuration and would love some fresh input.

Thanks!
 
Raptor! Cleans it all up quite nicely I think...
 

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chris snell

Administrator
Callsign: NW5W
Staff member
I can't stand the idea of hacking up my dash or installing some hideous aftermarket Top Gun dash add-on so I looked for other options.

My ex-MOD FFR truck had a radio rack behind the front seats. It attached to ears on the roll cage at about head-level. I had long since removed the rack so I made up a U-shaped mount for my Yaesu FT-2900 that attaches to the passenger-side ear:

radio-side.jpg


This tucks the radio out of the way and keeps my dash clean and my Tuffy box empty. The radio is easy to access but not shining a bright light in my eye during night driving.

Cables are run down under the lip of the tub and enclosed in braided sleeving.

I should ditch the ugly white plastic power connector and replace it with a smaller and less obvious Anderson PowerPole.

radio-rear-2.jpg


I use an external speaker, a $9 piece of shit from Amazon that I mounted on a custom bracket to the ear on the other side of the cage. It's plenty loud:

radio-speaker.jpg


My antenna is mounted on one of the FFR's antenna base boxes on the driver's side wing:

radio-antenna.jpg


Power is run on quality marine grade 12AWG primary wire to a Blue Sea Systems fuse panel under the driver's seat.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
This is a stupid picture, but this is where I?m putting mine:
 

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Jeff B

Well-known member
I have lost count of how many of those I have, I think each truck has two plus there are some spares here and in WV. I do prefer the thinner aftermarket antennas they offer.

Cool. Then you can show me how to werk it!
I got my ham letters like 8 years ago and finally bought s $25 Boefuck off Amazon! Ha ha


.
 

Ray_G

Well-known member
Cool. Then you can show me how to werk it!
I got my ham letters like 8 years ago and finally bought s $25 Boefuck off Amazon! Ha ha


.

Ha, I admittedly am basic as F with these things; using them almost exclusively in simplex and primarily for vehicle to vehicle comms. That said I'm increasingly using them in concert with John's GMRS radios. One of the things I'm toying with is modifying the .csv file that is found here: https://radiofreeq.wordpress.com/20...am-frs-pmr-gmrs-murs-marine-weather-business/
to focus on the GMRS channels we use most often in the early pre-sets, make 9 the SAREMT channel, etc.

That's b/c I generally don't mess with repeaters and the like-right now. Prob should, but don't. I'd defer to Chris or someone else who likely gets a lot more use out of their VHF/UHF setups given the terrain they operate in.

For us on the East Coast it is honestly just a way to not be on CB!

I'll have my stuff at MAR though if you want to tinker with radios while drinking some beer.
r-
Ray
 

Jeff B

Well-known member
For us on the East Coast it is honestly just a way to not be on CB!

I know, right?

Walter, Tami, and I took the ham exam way back when there was a big discussion about it on dweb.

Since then, I've yet to send or receive a broadcast... :D


.
 

chris snell

Administrator
Callsign: NW5W
Staff member
I did the handheld units for years but always hated them. The power and range when using in terrain is not good. The cooling isn't good, either, and they overheat when talking on them a lot, even at low power.

Then there's the matter of cabling: the rubber duck antennas suck so you hook up an external antenna and now you have a cable running to the HT. Add a 12VDC power cable and now you have a rat's nest in your cab.

I wanted a true 50+ watt mobile unit and finally got around to installing one. It's soooo much better. No cabling mess, no overheating, plenty of power to reach out over longer distances.

I still keep a handheld unit charged up in the cubby for spotting.
 

SARTech

Well-known member
I did the handheld units for years but always hated them. The power and range when using in terrain is not good. The cooling isn't good, either, and they overheat when talking on them a lot, even at low power.

Then there's the matter of cabling: the rubber duck antennas suck so you hook up an external antenna and now you have a cable running to the HT. Add a 12VDC power cable and now you have a rat's nest in your cab.

I wanted a true 50+ watt mobile unit and finally got around to installing one. It's soooo much better. No cabling mess, no overheating, plenty of power to reach out over longer distances.

I still keep a handheld unit charged up in the cubby for spotting.

Chris, what radio did you install?
 
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