Clean VHF/CB radio installs

So for those of you that have head units on an A-Pillar ram ball or openly mounted center dash area, what do you do about security? Do you just leave it out and don't worry about it, or what? I know HAM faceplates look unlike most things car electronics one would want to take, but I dunno I have seen weirder things.

I live in a good part of town, but wouldn't want to leave a GPS out for example. It just bugs me since I had my truck broken into 6 months ago. Part of why I was planning on an over mirror mount since it "hides" pretty well. Thieves don't really look that highup I would think.

 

Looking for clean installs of Ham setups, I've got a FT-7900;

Previous install was under the seat with the faceplate tucked in nice in the second gen pen cubby;


Trying to come up with something similar in the 3rd gen.

 

I really like how tidy that looks, but I usually keep my phone in that slot since it is close to the charger cable.

I am putting a switchpro face next to the rear cup holder on an XPOTRPR mount so the whole unit would look super clean. Hmmm...

 

Yaesu FT 857 D

 

I don’t really worry about it, especially because my windows are tinted pretty dark. But it takes a few seconds to remove the face plate from the x mount. Just unclip the rj45 connector and put it in the center console.

 

Really want to only have one radio in my vehicle and am thinking about the FT-857d as it seems like the one to do it all. I want to be able to monitor the CB frequencies and I know you can mars mod to monitor 11m. My question is with antennas. I have noticed some companies are making "quad band" antennas, but what would you have to do in order to receive 11m besides just modding the transceiver? Would you just have to run a CB antenna in addition to an antenna for whatever other bands I want to receive?

 

I have the 857-D in my truck for the same reason...only want one radio cluttering up my cab.
The 857 has 2 antenna outputs one for HF and one for UHF. I have mine setup with a "CB" antenna on the HF side to monitor 10-11m frequencies and a dual band antenna on the UHF side for 2m & 70cm use. It has worked well for me and my needs so far.
If you wanted a more all-in-one solution, you can use Yeasu's ATAS-120 antenna which is designed for this radio and will tune itself for any frequency you use no matter the band. I have considered this solution myself, but haven't bit the bullet yet.

Also, besides just frequency memories, you can program things like power output for each stored frequency to better comply with some of the power limited frequencies the radio is capable of.
This is handy when using in conjunction with handhelds and/or trail buddies that are nearby and don't want/need 50-100 watts of power to reach them.

I'm at work so don't have access to pics, but can post some this evening if you're interested in my setup.

 

That answer just helped me so much! Pictures please! Trying to decide where to place the remote face plate. I was thinking in the headliner right above my head in front of the driver sun visor but that might be too out of the way. Ordering a radio before I decide that so I can test the faceplates in different locations.

Also, looking at the ICOM 7000 because I’m an electronics nerd and love the color screen but haven’t found a good reliable source for a MARS mod to monitor 11 meters. There’s a used one on eBay that states it’s unlocked for 11m but it is being sold from Greece for like 1350!! Insane. Any knowledge or advice on the two radios? From what I’ve read, they’re pretty much identical except for a couple things. Me being a newb, not a damn clue how those things would affect the radio.

I looked at those screwdriver style antennas and am really interested, but I haven’t found one small enough that interests me. I’m willing to sacrifice some performance for looks as I have to entertain some corporate clients and don’t want to look like a prepper when I have to entertain them. Not sure if you can easily remove those kinds of antennas easily? The baby tar heel is the smallest I’ve seen so far, any other recommendations?

 

I have the body of the radio mounted under the passenger seat and made a custom black Plexiglas mount to hold the faceplate/bracket in the Qi charger cubby. I did have to drill a small hole in the back corner of the cubby for faceplate wires.
All the wires run under carpet/console. The mic is run into center console and lives in one of the slots of the Salex organizer I have in there. Easy to get when I need it and neatly out of sight when I don't.
Power is run through passenger firewall to 2nd battery I have mounted at the rear passenger side of the engine compartment (off grid engineering).
coax cables are run through grommet in the floor just behind passenger seat and along frame rail to rear of engine bay and antennas I have mounted on each fender.
changed the screen color setting on the radio to closely match the blue of the dash lights and to the casual observer it looks like it came that way from the factory.

 

Looks super clean! I’ll post some pics whenever I pull the trigger

 

Clean-
Where’s the antenna?

 

One on each fender. You can see one of them in the last picture.

 

I use the

$90 Midland 75-822 40 Channel CB-Way Radio

Midland 75-822. There’s a hole in the center console already to run the antenna cable through and plug the cb into. Then I made a simple bracket that mounts to the console lid using two existing screws from the lid. I can easily take the mount off whenever I want. It’s not in the way of reaching anything in the cab at all, and very easy to grab when I need it.

 

Looks real good dude. Especially that custom ARB twin mount w/ custom bracket!

 

@MJ_PDX Is that the Slee bracket for your air compressor?

 

Just switched from a Uniden to the

$90 Midland 75-822 40 Channel CB-Way Radio

Midland 75-822 and its pretty sweet with 2in1 feature.

FYI your truck is to clean...

 

Haha - it was only a couple weeks old in that pic. I assure you it’s dirty now.

 

As @nwAdamR alluded to, the compressor is on a Slee 2nd Gen vertical mount kit with my own custom upper bracket to work on the 3rd Gen Tacoma.

 

Which antennas are you running? and are you running a tuner for the 10/11 meter antenna or are those only required for those screwdriver style antennas like the atas 120 you were talking about?

 

Looks good! I just got this and the cobra 75 the other day and I am going to send the cobra back. Love how versatile this midland is. Where did you mount your antenna and how?