HAM or CB radio mounting location (1 Viewer)

[Fitzgerald]

Thread revival!

I'm upgrading from temporary use CB to a permanent HAM setup soon. I was doing some searching on the best setup (especially antenna location) and found this to be the most relate-able thread.

I liked the question 5Cruiser asked, but I feel it wasn't properly addressed.

Here's the questions again:

Not sure the best antenna location on a 100 series...
-don't want to snag branches on the tight Colorado trails
-don't want to ruin my range with poor placement
-don't want to "trial and error" it on the location either​

I have stock bumpers, so I'm thinking:

1) Rear tailgate, down low, with a longer antenna

2) Rear hatch, higher location, with a shorter antenna

3) Up front, where bracket comes up from under the hood (I like this option least, but if it works the best..maybe.)


Any other ideas / opinions much appreciated.


Thanks,

 

[nakman]

Thread revival!

I'm upgrading from temporary use CB to a permanent HAM setup soon. I was doing some searching on the best setup (especially antenna location) and found this to be the most relate-able thread.


I have stock bumpers, so I'm thinking:

1) Rear tailgate, down low, with a longer antenna

2) Rear hatch, higher location, with a shorter antenna

3) Up front, where bracket comes up from under the hood (I like this option least, but if it works the best..maybe.)


Any other ideas / opinions much appreciated.


Thanks,

Ok I'll jump in.

My vote would be #3, then #2, then #1. I'll be as brief as possible... I have seen a lot of rear tail gate or rear bumper installs where the antenna tends to get bumped by passers by, fridges, bikes, well you name it, it's just in the way. Plus your propagation in front of the truck is blocked by the vehicle, so you go really long with the whip to compensate, which then smacks into the vehicle, so you then rig up some type of retention device, and it's just more crap and it's still in the way when you go to Costco. I did this on my Taco and will never do it again. just my experience, ymmv.

#2 is better, and the new brackets that have recently been made seem really well done. My experience there though is unless you run a shorty (like SBB-1) then the antenna is too high and it catches branches. I had a nice Comet on the rear hatch and it caught a tree on Steelbender and snapped in half. Yeah, like the only tree in Moab, I found it. I had this on my 80 and after that I swore I wouldn't run an antenna back there again. Plus I had to lower it to get in the garage, or leave it off, or forget and smack the top of the door Also the antenna is in your way when loading your roof rack, and if you go with a lip mount on the hatch itself your antenna will smack your rack & gear when opening the hatch.

#1 seems to be the best compromise, IMO. You get the added ground plane of the hood, plus the folks in front of you have the best chance of hearing you (which is often when you most want to speak to them) and depending on your lift you could even run a full 5/8 wave antenna and still get in your garage. if not, then you can run shorter ones that still transmit better than the stubbies. Which means you can leave it set up all the time. Could be just me though. I don't like flipping up antennas, or turning hubs, or removing covers on KC lights, disconnecting sway bars, or even airing down half the time... I think mods should enhance the experience, not add chores to it. again, just me and ymmv. My vote is on the side of the front fender, and on the passenger side because it's out of view just about all the time.

 

[Fitzgerald]

Great info. Just what I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[azcarguy]

............. My vote is on the side of the front fender, and on the passenger side because it's out of view just about all the time.

Do you have a workable mounting solution for this suggestion? Also is the fender mounted solution better than say a front bumper (think Slee Blueberry) solution?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[Fitzgerald]

Is there a good mount available for this location? My searches have produced mostly homebrew stuff.

 

[nakman]

Is there a good mount available for this location? My searches have produced mostly homebrew stuff.

yes, here http://gamiviti.com/html/products_antennamounts.html

 

[Fitzgerald]

I saw similar ones and figured they were homemade. I don't know what I was expecting. ???

Thanks for the link!

Cheers!

 

[jemsec]

Toyota did a great job designing the interior of 100's. But no one gave any thought when considering add on's like cb's, ham radio's or anything else.

You have got to be extremely creative when making modifications. Think I'll put my ham radio in a trailer to tow behind with all the new switches I want to install.

 

[Fitzgerald]

Ha! No doubt.

I'm excited about making the switch to HAM, but concerned about how I'm going to make it look clean.

I don't like having a cluttered dash / console. I like it clean...clean...clean.

We'll see. I'll make a choice on a radio and go from there.

 

[Fitzgerald]

Something like this.

 

[FlammableFishie]

Probably a stupid question, but is there a CB that will fit in a single din radio slot? I'm thinking that if I swap my factory radio for a single din radio then I could mount the CB below the aftermarket radio. My guess is that there is no such thing or else it would be fairly common for people to do this.

 

[paflytyer]

I saw similar ones and figured they were homemade. I don't know what I was expecting. ???

Thanks for the link!

Cheers!

I've run the Gamiviti PS mount for a while now. http://www.gamiviti.com/html/products_antennamounts.html
with a small-ish Diamond NR72BNMO antenna. http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantm/1578.html

No problems whatsoever with the mount or antenna, no snagging anything here in Colorado. Seems like a perfect location. Distance even with that little antenna is amazing both on repeaters and simplex.

I will probably step up to the break-over style NR77 for longer distance travel and radio coverage, but I'd only use that on runs and leave the little 72 for around town.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Probably a stupid question, but is there a CB that will fit in a single din radio slot? I'm thinking that if I swap my factory radio for a single din radio then I could mount the CB below the aftermarket radio. My guess is that there is no such thing or else it would be fairly common for people to do this.

Cobra makes one. I ran this radio in my 80 Series and loved it:
http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-18WXSTII-Mobile-Radio-Watch/dp/B00005N5WU

You could also go this route but I think it would be hard to hear without an external speaker:
http://www.wearecb.com/store/access...h-mount-kit-for-smaller-cb-radios-p-3914.html

 

[petrotk40]

for the actual radio, why not go with the Cobra 75 WX ST? No base, it's all in the handheld.

http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-75WXST-40-Channel-CB-Radio/dp/B00005N5WW

 

[Fitzgerald]

I've run the Gamiviti PS mount for a while now. http://www.gamiviti.com/html/products_antennamounts.html
with a small-ish Diamond NR72BNMO antenna. http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantm/1578.html

No problems whatsoever with the mount or antenna, no snagging anything here in Colorado. Seems like a perfect location. Distance even with that little antenna is amazing both on repeaters and simplex.

I will probably step up to the break-over style NR77 for longer distance travel and radio coverage, but I'd only use that on runs and leave the little 72 for around town.

Cool. Thanks for the info. I plan on taking the test in the next week or two. I have a radio picked out, but I wasn't sure about an antenna. I'll definitely check one you recommended.

Thanks!

 

[Fitzgerald]

Ok. Finally got my Yaesu FT-7900r installed yesterday.

I had a difficult time finding a place for the base unit. I have a 2002 with nav, so there's no room under the seats, and even after fabing up a few brackets, I couldn't find a place under the dash that didn't either block a vent or make the unit almost inaccessible for future data uploading.

So, I decided to move the base to the rear of the vehicle and ultimately decided on the passenger side rear panel.

Then I ran the power cables, external speaker cable, and remote face cable up to the front.

 

[Fitzgerald]

Once under the hood, the powerwire got a nice wrapping.

The base fit nicely in back. Should stay nice and cool in there as well.

I haven't decided on a permanent antenna set-up yet, so for now, the mag-mount fits perfectly into the upper storage area.

 

[Fitzgerald]

Looks nice once all the covers are back on. Wouldn't even know it was there.

With keeping with my idea of as clean an install as possible (and keeping the console uncluttered), I decided on placing the remote faceplate under the driverside armrest. Works out quite well.

The mic is also out of the way, but still easy to grab when needed (although it's only been a day, my kids think it's a new kick toy).

 

[nakman]

Your faceplate is where my remote speaker is... Wait, where's your speaker? Also that is going to be tough to make adjustments to while driving... I guess see how it goes though.

 

[paflytyer]

Your faceplate is where my remote speaker is... .

Same for me. I think you'll realize that it's too hard to adjust frequencies/volume (although you can do some of that from the mic). I took my setup ideas from Nakman. I didn't drill one hole for wires and everything is mostly hidden away.