Clean VHF/CB radio installs

You didn't say if you were using a Ham radio or a CB radio. Ham radio's don't often work with a spring as part of the antenna, that could be the cause of your High SWR.

 

Suction cup mount..? Did that come with it..?

 

Hey His Dad, I want a 3730 how did you get one??? total jest. It looks just like my 2730 head however.

 

It is, and no it did not. Have to buy it.
So far, I am completely unimpressed with the suction cup mount on this. It is not very good. The radio itself is awesome but the mount I will probably figure out a way to replace.

 

Where did you find the straps?

 

I am looking to roof mount a dual band antenna (VHF/UHF). There is already a satallite antenna there that I do not use. What I would really like to do is adapt the HAM antenna to the hole the satellite antenna is in. Why cut another hole when one is already there.

I thought about just leaving the antenna housing and just drilling it out and modifying it for the new antenna and cable, but I think I would end up with a leak.

Anyone done this or anyone have any ideas?

It would even be great if there where just a plug for the whole it leave. I could probably modify that.

Thanks

 

Here's how I setup my

$355 ICOM IC-2730A Dual Band VHF/UHF 50W Mobile Radio

ICOM IC-2730A head controller on my dash. I installed an Expedition Essentials 3TPAM dash mount and used RAM mount hardware with some minor modifying to hold everything in place.

 

It's been a year since I got my 2019 Tacoma and of course one of the first things I did was start to plan out installation of the radios and other electronics. I found this thread which has a great information. I posted my install pictures and notes in this thread URL="https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/clean-vhf-cb-radio-installs.415584/page-80#post-23619749"]Clean VHF/CB radio installs[/URL] and a few others.

One thing I wasn't happy with was the scanner install. It worked, but the rear of the radio was crammed up against the back of the little cubby. Which meant that wires were getting kinked and eventually could break down. The antenna cable was bent at an angle and put strain on the BNC cable. I had to redo that a couple of times in the past year.

I didn't want to hack up the console in the case I decided to sell or trade it at some point.

So, the search for a replacement 3rd Gen lower front console began. I kept looking on Ebay until back in March one popped up for sale for $30.00 shipped from the west coast. I wasted no time in hitting the "But It Now" button and in due course it arrived.



So, the project began even though I knew it would be a while before I actually had time to do the install.

First step was to measure the console and make a template. Here is the template as cut out.



I used Kydex sheet for the actual face plate and then worked out how to attach it to the console. I did the cutting free hand, so it's not as straight as I wanted, but it was serviceable.



Here's the first test fit before I put saw to Kydex. It looked reasonably good, but I knew that it would need more trimming and adjustment to get it right.



The radio placed into the face plate so I could figure out how to set up the brackets. My plan is to remove the faceplate anytime I have to pull the radio. I abit of PITA, but I think it looks a bit cleaner than putting in a massive bracket and then still have to remove the faceplate to get at the screws.



Of course I had to take it all apart to mount it in the truck. Actually, in the end I had to remove the faceplate and radio a bunch of times to get the fit right.



I removed the scanner, pushed the wires out of the way, and took out the front console. At this point I figured it wouldn't be too long until I was done. As usual, I was wrong. There's not as much space I thought even with the cubby removed. Of course the air bag computer lives back there and the lower dash extends down.



I had to remove the faceplate and radio to re drill the side brackets three times before I got the depth right. The radio sits a bit more forward that I like, but unless I want to hack chunks out of the lower dash (I don't) that's about as far back as it will go.

Here everything is sitting flush, but when I went to put the upper front console back in, I discovered that it wouldn't clear the faceplate. I trimmed the faceplate a bit more and installed the upper front console before putting the faceplate back in. I also had to remove the lower section of the face plate to get the scanner to tilt enough for the antenna connector to clear the edge of the lower dash. It finally all fit together.



The final (for now) product. When time and ambition permit, I'll pull the faceplate and use it as a template for a new improved faceplate. For now though, I accomplished 90% of what I set out to do. More secure mount, relieved the stress on the connectors, cleaned up the look a bit, and most importantly it all went back correctly.

For those who might have a SDS200 scanner, those knobs are aftermarket and available on Ebay. I also bought a set for my 536HP, so they fit those as well.

 

DAMN that looks good - I like it. Been thinking about dropping in something recently again.

PS - don't ever try to get that CAT5/6 passthrough on the left out of your panel. I tried to take mine out and there was zero chance of it coming out intact.

 

Thanks for the tip! I don't think I'll have to take that out In fact, I'm pretty sure that will stay there forever. That's actually a remote microphone jack for the ham radio. Its' the same one as in the post above mine, but I used the option to plug the microphone right into the body of the radio and then used an extension routed to the dash. The RJ45 panel came from Ebay.

 

i was planning to ise one for a cb.

$142 Cmx760 Bearcat Off Road Series Compact Mobile CB Radio, 40-Channel Operation, Ultra-Compact for Easy Mounting, Large 7-Color Backlit LCD Display on Mic with Built-in Speaker Mic, Black

Cmx760? Can’t remember the number. Anyway - not a fan of the radio so I am probably going to get another (CB) and put it in same spot as you. I pulled it out and it didn’t work so I screwed the mic mount in there and that looks good.

 

Got one of the Arkon cup holder mounts. The suction cup mount is unimpressive, and the heat is concerning. So with this in there it looks like I can still get a decent sat signal. Hopefully this keeps the heat down. I intend to run some cord sleeve up under the dash to help control the cable a little more and keep it secure. This also appears to be a little easier to remove/hide the head unit than the suction cup.

 

Looks good. Sure do like those color displays, What I can't believe is that Yaesu couldn't build that radio so the mic could control simple freq,channel,squelch and volume . looks great

 

The display was a main feature that got me onto this set.
As far as I know the mic does have the ability to change freq, channel, and squelch or are you looking at something different than what I am thinking?

 

I was all ready to purchase a new modern VHF/UHF radio last year. Instead I decided to dig my old 25+ year old radio Yaesu 8500 that had been sitting in my attic, for 20 years and install it in the Tacoma. Figured I had nothing to loose, once the 8500 lit up no smoke I finished the install all was good, actually great considering the age of the electronics. What makes the Yaesu 8500 so nice is the mic controls everything, everything. It wasn't well liked because of the unconventional size and shape. It got the nick name of "Mr Potato Head".
Since the rigg is so old obviously no digital receive or access, no aprs, no Dstar, C4fm But it is a joy to operate it sits on a pedestal I fabricated in the cup holder in front of the center console, so I just lay my hand on it as Im driving, zero effort to change channels,banks,freq,squelch,bands,vol. can access all menu's
So, when I started looking at the newest,latest greatest none offer the mobile ease of operation like the old 8500's do. The FTM-400DR wont control volume or squelch via mic from what I read.

 

The mic won't do volume, and I think the squelch is on/off from the mic. I think.

 

Working on my cb install, having some issues with SWR. Can anyone tell me if I got the order of these nuts, washers, and ground strap correct?



From top to bottom:

Lock washer
Washer
Plastic washer
Mount
Fire ring, plastic sticking up
Ground strap
Bolt

I ground down the area under the mount for the other end of the strap.

My SWR meter is old and was cheap when it was new. When I set it to calibrate and key up it won't stay still near the set mark no matter what I set it to.

https://youtu.be/KwwmMPjLjh4

Kinda at a loss at what to do at this point.

 

Think I got the SWR meter figured out. Problem is likely my ground. Has anyone ride used this style antenna mount and grounded to the metal where it bolts in? Not sure if this ground is sufficient. Ground strap doesn't reach much further.

 

It appears your ground strap is connected to the driven radial. A direct short. Remove the braided strap entirely and then check it.