Clean VHF/CB radio installs

Yes. You use a momentary on dash switch to manually flip/flop. With more ingenuity you can force a flop (off) at power down.

Remember a simple 40 amp auto relay coil activated on ignition will do all this for pennies. It is only if you are worried about rfi AND you might want power on with ignition off sometimes that you might want to explore a latching relay.

 

Many modern ham rigs have an auto power off feature.

 

Right, except the Rigrunner (which is weird that I haven't seen much by way of power distribution setups) I have in between the battery and radio does not.

 

It makes so much sense now that you mention it— having more control is fantastic. I'm just thinking through the user experience here and if it seems right— the switch should light up if it's on, indicating it's on, and so it should not come on (or display a darker lamp) if the ignition is off. That's something to consider. Example: it's on, you shut the engine down, but the switch remains lit, while the rest of the cab stays off.

 

Tada! Have the work is making it cool!

 

Trying to find the tool name to cleanly cut a hole in the roof. Hole saws weren't the answer, were they?

 

Larsen NMO holesaw.

 

"Antenna Hole Saw." You can find them on Amazon and other places. The problem with a regular hole saw is that there is no stop so it's very, very easy to go right through the headliner.

 

step bit? Looks like a cone with different diameters stacked up?

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Seriously, that's an almost perfect way to destroy something. If your drilling through the roof, you can go through the headliner or worse. It's ridiculously easy to drill too large a hole and then you're really screwed.

I've owned one of the original Cone Cut bits since the 1970s and still don't trust it.

 

No.

Greenlee punch.

 

I've used them, but they are less than ideal. You have to be able to get to both sides of whatever you're drilling. Again, using a roof top installation, that means taking the headliner down. Which might not be a problem with a Tacoma, I've never installed an antenna on the roof of one. I've used a Greenlee on trunks of sedans and they work well. For any other surface, you have to look carefully at the work before you start.

Which is good advice for anything involving drilling, cutting, or even using sheet metal screws. Measure a dozen time if necessary and then cut, drill, saw, or screw.

 

Worked fine for me. :shrug:

Of course, I made sure the headliner was out of the way, and triple-checked what size I needed first.

 

Drop the headliner first?

I was just seeing if that's what he was Thinking about since a hole saw wasn't it. I don't have plans to cut holes in my roof so I haven't looked into what the best options are.

 

Has anyone drilled the 3/8 hole out on the Victory 4x4 mounting bracket to handle a CB Antenna stud?

 

If you're doing a one time installation, you can do that. If you're a commercial operation, you probably want to be more efficient. The other complication with a roof mount is air bags. A and B pillars often have airbags. C pillars are less likely.

 

I use mine all the time, much cleaner and way more accurate than a hole saw though they have their uses, just Sharpie the proper diameter of the step drill. It’s not like they go so fast you can’t control when it stops and they come in a variety of sizes and increments. As with any drill they produce a lip on the inside and you’ll want to cold galvanize the bare metal before sealing. Anytime you drill anywhere on your truck you want to be damn certain what is or isn’t behind it. Drill stops do ok but if it were production work I’d want the stop permanently fixed for the correct depth. It’s ridiculously easy to fuck up anything but it’s not that hard not to.

 

Thanks to everyone for their help!

I think the greenlee was the one people were talking about earlier in this post. I remember now the issue was how expensive this was.

Do anyone know of places that rent these or if the Harbor freight versions are any good?

 

I've never used them, but the HF punches are probably sufficient to do a hole in a car body panel. Lube the threads well.

But... unless you're good at fixing F-ups (like me), it's probably worth the money to just buy a real greenlee to start with.

 

Look up you local radio shop, they do commercial installs all day long. Talk nice and I bet they’ll put a hole in your roof for you for $20.