Clean VHF/CB radio installs

2'

 

Looks great what does your microphone mount look like? How did you attach it? Can you post a pic? Do you think this below would work for a third gen guy with an open blank with a larger mic piece like a cobra 75?

http://www.shapeways.com/product/95...ic-mount?key=b9ff5f3eacfd8d43045b8ec5c8d574db

thanks

 

I'm using the microphone mount and hardware that came with the radio. It mounts securely to the dash. The dash on the 3rd gen is modular so its screwed directly into to a smaller piece so I could fairly easy replace it if needed. From my expierence the little round piece thats on the mic are all about the same size so I'd imagine that it would work as long as it's the right fit for your blank.

 

I relocated my Cobra 75 WXST. It was bothering me not having it permanently mounted. I'm weird like that I guess.

This clears the cupholders, the shifter, and the E-brake. Puts the speaker in a good place to be heard, and offers easy manipulation of the controls. Cord runs between the passenger seat and the console and the connection is under the passenger seat. Cord can easily be pushed around to accommodate multiple beverages in the cupholder.

Mic clip is a Motorola clip.

 

Do you find that heavy duty spring to too stiff for that 2' antenna? I have the exact setup with a medium spring and it moves around a lot on the interstate. Just didn't want to risk breaking it with a HD spring.

 

Does the antenna ever bump the canopy?

 

Nope! At least not that I'm aware of.

 

what did you use to mount the tire on the back of the truck?

 

Two long bolts through lug holes and T-nuts in the bed rail plus a ratchet strap across the top.

 

didn't want to clog up this thread with all the pics.
here is the head unit



and the mic extension



Full install thread

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/luckys-new-comms-ham-radio-install-pic-heavy.473757/

 

Why is your shifter knob backwards? OMG my OCD is killing me right now

 

quick spin that knob around, @Leeland111 is starting to twitch.

 

I took the pic right after I put the console back together before I noticed its orientation.

 

I added a

$20 Uniden BC7 Bearcat 7-Watt External Communications Speaker. Durable Rugged Design, Perfect for Amplifying Uniden Scanners, CB Radios, and Other Communications Receivers.,Black

Uniden BC7 extension speaker in the access cab console / cubby. The speaker, once the back of the housing is removed, is flat enough to fit in the front of the cubby without intruding into the actual storage compartment. Easy $15 upgrade, just got to dremel out a chunk of the front of the console.

 

CLOG THE THREAD!!!!!

 

Anyone in the greater Wisconsin area interested in helping me figure out why my radio is being so uncooperative? I was under the impression that I was doing everything correctly, but apparently not.

 

What kind of problems are you having?

 

I ended up figuring it out -- where I have my antenna mounted isn't getting a good enough ground. I have a headache rack drawn up that I am planning on getting made, and hopefully that will either act as a large enough ground plane, or I'll find a better way to ground it to the frame.

 

I'm not sure if you're familiar or not but ground strap is ideal if you need to extend your electric ground. You can also use it to connect body panels together which helps improve your RF ground plane. I used a grinder and ground everything down to bare metal and installed the mount, antenna, stud ect on a bare surface then masked off and painted. My tailgate mount works great but I recognize that kind of mount will typically have an uneven radiation pattern. Good luck brother!

 

Thanks man! The mount I have currently is really just a hold over until I can get the rack built -- I was just surprised that the bedrails didn't ground well enough to the frame. Once I can get some time to get that build up I'll do a much more professional install, and also include my Yaesu.