INSTALLING AMATEUR AND CB RADIOS IN 2016 TACOMA

Just for temporary; to make sure everything was good, before finalizing. See my notes again on that.
Actually; so many eyes locked on that ugly tape, instead of the installation, I may just put it back in for conversational merit.
There is actually quite a bit of room behind the totally worthless "Cell Phone Charger"; if you don't mind cutting out the back of that area. Get down and look behind it. I just didn't want to cut it out.
Put plastic wire clips on the wire, used Black Silicon Rubber Adhesive; it holds if you put it on the back of the clips, set them in place, and let them dry for 24 hours before feeding the wire through them; all ugly tape gone, life is good.

 

Great thread and info.

I'll be taking the amateur test soon and running both cb and ham. A lot of reading so far. About 4 months worth.

With the trips we do and the freetime in the nights, QRP has stuck an interest in me.

Will be a radio rig in no time. Thanks for the great thread !

 

I'm liking everything about this thread.

I've had my Tech License for a few months and ready to move from a

$20 UV-5r VHF/UHF Dual Band Radio 144-148MHz 420-450MHz Transceiver

UV-5r to a proper mobile rig. The V71A is the front runner right now. I think I've got the radio install figured out (radio body under the driver's seat and face in front of the cup holders, where you have the CB). I already went the ditch light antenna mount route for my CB install so I was hoping to use the other for my ham install (my antennas will be on opposite sides of yours).



Some of the guys in the ham thread don't love the ditch mounts (for the RF reasons you've addressed here) but also for performance reasons. What kind of range have you gotten out of your rig? What is your SWR like? What antenna are you using? What NMO mount did you use? Did you have to drill out the holes in the ditch mounts?

You've made me feel better about the ditch mount route and RF being projected right at me. I'm on the same page as you, that it will be rare I run the radio at 50 watts, but it will happen. Thank you for providing facts to backup exposure issues.

 

I'm not in the "ham thread," and haven't read it, but I do know a few things about installing a radio and antenna in a vehicle. The "bible" on this subject is Alan Applegate's website, but if you don't have the time or inclination to read what you need there, hereres a few nuggets.

SWR measurement will just tell you (indirectly) what the impedance mismatch is between your transmitter and the radiating element is. But that has very little to do with how much RF actually gets radiated -- for example, a dummy load, which shouldn't radiate ANYTHING, has a perfect 1:1 SWR. And it certainly doesn't tell you what the pattern of that radiation is. Really lossy coax also soaks up power, and will show an artificially low SWR when, in fact, the antenna isn't radiating much at all. A portable RF power meter is a better tool for that.

Fundamentally, the radiation effeciency of an antenna on a vehicle (how much power gets radiated, versus the power sent to it) is primarily a factor of how much metal is directly below that antenna. A lot of folks try to compensate for a less-than-optimal location by running ground straps, but that won't do the trick.

The radiation pattern (where the majority of the RF goes) is also dependent on the ground plane beneath the antenna. For a windshield/hood mount, assuming a decent coupling to the body, that pattern is skewed to the rear of the antenna, and towards the side of the vehicle opposite the mount (where the most metal is.) That's probably not the direction you'd like. In addition (to keep flogging that dead horse,) it sends a good percentage of the power through the glass and into the vehicle. Remember also, if your antenna has a gain above unity, that means that power is probably concentrated in a planar disc originating from, and perpendicaular to, the middle of the radiating element. Read up on "effective radiated power" and how the gain of an antenna is determined.

Congratulations on your technician's license -- you're doing the right thing by graduating from an HT to a decent mobile rig. Now go learn a bit more and get that general ticket!

73,
John DE K5JY

 

I've read through a few of the pages on the site you linked and it is for sure good info and maybe a little over my head, but I'm trying to soak it all in.

I understand what SWR is and generally how it works. I was just curious how OP got his antenna tuned, because I knew their might be some issues with the ground plane and the base of the antenna not being the highest point on the vehicle.

I'm just getting a little discouraged with a lot of conflicting info I'm reading. I was hoping this would be very easy and I could go the same antenna mounting route I went with my CB and everything would be all hunky dory.
Good thing I'm poor and it will be a little while before I'm ready to buy all this stuff.

 

A lot of good info here-

Mounted my radio and aux speaker under drivers seat;


and the antenna is on the ditch mount;

I'm comfortable with my install, radio is always on 5w, and realistically I Tx rarely, basically only during club nets. I've spent years driving around in forestry trucks with fender mounts infront of me. I'm good with it.

 

What kind of antenna is that? What kind of distance do you get with your setup with 5 watts, and any other power setting you used?

 

Larson 270B NMO.. 5w is more than enough to hit the local repeaters. They are each within 25km (15mi) and I have no problem at all.

 

Once from norteast of

Best distance was from where I live in the desert, to Palos Verdes Peninsula repeater; over three ranges of hills and about 50 miles from me. But I was so excited I went stupid and forgot to put it on the hi-power setting.

SWR Is below 1.5 : 1 over the full VHF/UHF ranges. I believe it, checked it with two different SWR Meters. CB Is the same; set at the mid-range on channel 20, drift a little above on channel 40 but I stay out of the SSB channels anyways.

Did not drill holes in the mounts, they came pre-drilled in the size needed for both antennas.

RF Safety; I leave it on medium power, and have not started to glow in the dark, and actually taught this subject in the Navy among other lesson plans I taught at the Fleet Combat Training Center San Diego.
I do NOT recommend any linear amplifier on any radio (Ham or CB) in any of your vehicles, even if some people use them regularly. Some of those are way above the safe limits; a kilowatt in some trucks, with the antenna(s) just outside the truck cabs! No matter where you mount them that's not safe.

"DX Engineering": Current catalog page 118, "Electromagnetic Exposure Meter". Covers the Electromagnetic Spectrum from 50Hz to 18Ghz. Or just use the safety table on the site I listed in this thread.

Where I got the ditch mounts from was Relentless Fabrication, also listed in the installation procedure posts. Yours actually look better, you made holes to mount both the antennas and your lights I see.

 

Did you screw in the mic holder? I've tried all kinds of adhesive tape but it always comes off..

 

Nothing gets taped/Velcro’d in this truck. Screwed in with the tiny supplied sheet metal screws. Drill a pilot hole and don’t overtighten.

 

They are SOS ditch light brackets, came drilled with holes for both CB antenna AND lights. They have been working out really well so far. Not the lowest profile, but you get used to it.

 

The ditch mount from Relentless does not fit all 2017 Tacomas. I had to do some bending and tweaking to make mine fit. It is good quality, but the thickness is somewhat over-kill. It serves it's purpose but for an antenna mount I'd definitely look at other options and go back to theirs if you see fit.

 

Better than mine, may replace mine with those. Thanks for the info.

 

Here's my wimpy little fender mount bracket. It works well for smaller 2/70 antennas but probably wouldn't be strong enough for most 11 meter/HF or bigger antennas. I'm considering putting my HF radio in the Taco. The antenna mounting point is my biggest concern. I'd be curious to see antenna analyzer data from someone using a ditch light mount for 11 meter or higher HF mounts.

 

What antenna is that? Do you think it has enough flex in it to give if you hit a parking garage roof or something?

I'd love to see your full setup.

 

It's a pretty basic setup.

Antenna is an old trusty Larsen 2/70 NMO.

https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-000565

It's flexible enough to bend for parking structures and tree branches without damaging the mount.

My radio is a simple but bomb proof VHF commercial radio. An Icom F5021. Edit: I use a Motorola external speaker visible laying on the floor.

For a single band VHF radio, I'd prefer a 5/8 wave whip. But the 2/70 antenna is shorter and more flexible than my 5/8 wave Comtelco.

 

Partially because of RF and auto electronics and because I did not want to look through antennas while driving they are all mounted on the rear. The screwdriver is 10-80 meters the other is 2-440 now with a matching one for DMR. Long story on the screwdriver but the mount is lexan because the antenna body is rf hot all of it so it can't touch anything conductive. There is a great deal of talk on ground planes but in the case of HF it's more about ground loss so the higher it is mounted the better off you are. I have over 50 countries mobile so it obviously works.

 

You've got an ideal HF mobile setup. I've thought about a screwdriver. Do you have experience mounting it down below on the hitch? I have a canopy so a bed mount won't work. I see a lot of people with screwdrivers mounted to the tow hitch or frame. But I'm skeptical about how they function.

 

Tow hitch sucks for one you need the coil to be in the clear that is the major length of the actual antenna there is a lot of wire wrapped around that coil. My antenna was once mounted up on a mount higher until the cheap fake (SS) cast brass Workman 3/8 20 coupler snapped off and the $400 antenna landed in the street good thing a friend was right behind me and picked it up. Other than a little asphalt rash it was fine. I installed a standard ball mount on the tailgate bulkhead and remove the tail light to wire it inside. All was good but it still shook I decided that really can't be good for it that's when I made the lexan bracket if you grab the antenna base you can shake the truck now. With the cap I guess you could mount it on the cap itself with a connector inside so it can be removed with the cap. You will of course need to come up with a ground to the mount but don't obsess over that you don't need a 4/O copper braid for your ground it is just a return path to the radio. The stinger is a screw mount it's too tall to fit under a 7'6 garage door. PS working HF mobile is QRP it is what it is but when the bands are open the world is yours.