Amateur Radio

I'm going to install a dual-band amateur radio in my truck soon. If anyone here at TW has done this, did you experience any engine noise? Also, I've read that running the ground wire all the way to the battery isn't necessary and it's actually better to ground the transceiver as close to the unit as possible. (Radio manufacturers recommend running the wire to the battery.)

Any advice?

Thank you in advance.

KE5YLF

 

ive noticed when its hooked to the fuse box i get engine noise try hooking it up straight to a power source, should eliminate engine noise

 

I'll definitely run the positive wire straight to the battery. Thanks for the head's up.

 

I was wondering how your installation progressed. I am KJ4P and I am thinking about installing FT-8800 with remote head in my 09 Double Cab. Any suggestions or hints would be appreciated.

 

I run a scanner in my truck. I just ran the power chord to one of the power recepticles in the center stack. All the proper groundage and fusible linkage is already there for your sensitive unit, I have zero noise on mine
on the other hand, your transmitter amp may need a direct connection to the battery. How many watts are you going to run?

 

Rig runs 50 watts, so I need to go directly to the battery. I saw another post with a gromet from the firewall being used. I could then run the wires through that and then under the carpet to mount the unit behind the back seat. At least that is what I am hoping will work. I hope I will be able to run the wire to the remote head under there too. NO WIRES VISIBLE... LOL. That is orders from the other half. Wife ain't happy, NO ONE IS HAPPY! LOL

 

Maximum 50 watts..though most will be around 5-10 watts.

KE5YLF

 

I'll be following this lead:

http://www.thestevensons.org/tmv71a_install

 

Mounted a 2x4 into the rear cupholders and screwed the radio to the 2x4. Ran the power direct to batter and the ground direct to battery. My power wires I ran 8 gauge wire (big stuff). My radio does 130 watts barefoot.

Hope you don't mind my "cb" lingo. It can be a bit different than ham lingo but you get the idea.

Don't mind the tape holding my DOSY meter on. It was a temporary setup while I was checking my 1000watt amplifier out...just keeping an eye on it until I was satified everything worked properly.

 

i have a kenwood 50w TM-271 open, i use it for off road comunication and chase. Very good, also pick up on some mexican police frequencies, jaja!...thats too funny!

the guy at the HAM radio place gave me all the instruction to "open" the radio to more frquencies and also gave me an antenna and told me hos much i needed to cut of the end to make it gain as much power as needed.

 

sorry, no noise at all. i hooked it up straight to battery power so i have the option on turning it on and off whenever, the man suggested i hook it up to the cig lighter but that would cause it to loose some power.

 

Do NOT hook a high-end radio up to a ciggerate lighter and expect it to recieve well. You may get all kinds of "ground loop" interfereance and or computer noise, alternator noise or wiper noise.

 

wire straight to the battery with a fused line... otherwise you'll have a lot of engine noise....


Adam
KD7MRJ

 

I just run the positive wire to the battery. Then I ground direct to the chassis instead of running a wire to the negative terminal of the battery.

 

I'm a little concerned about the proximity of the drink holders. I don't want to dump my soda onto the faceplate of a radio.

Your thoughts?

 

I bought a mounting bracket for the faceplate from mountguys.com It bolts to the passenger seat and has an articulating head. I have my radio now too but won't have time to install it for a week or two. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

KE5YLF

 

I installed my Yaesu FT-8800. Here are a few pics.

Thanks for all the advice.

73

KE5YLF

 

Great Job, Ole Man!
I got mine installed also. I will post pics later. I put my head in the area below the dash. I used the double sided tape to stick the mounting plate to the back side of the compartment.
73
KJ4P

 

Looking forward to seeing the pics.

Now comes the fun part: programming this bad boy.

73
KE5YLF

 

Finished installation of Yaesu FT-8800 Dual Bander in 09 DC/
73
Mac
KJ4P