Clean VHF/CB radio installs

Finally got around to finishing my instal. Well, mostly. Few more details to button up but its 90%. It’s a Yaesu 857d with yaesu separation kit and yaesu mls-100. I made my own bracket for mounting the face, it was a pretty decent pain as you have to remove most of the dash to get to the back of the panel I wanted… I mounted the radio body under the passenger seat and mounted the speaker under the passenger foot box. First antenna is 18” mounted via victory 4x4 hood mount. All in all really happy so far.

 

What is the mic connector? If it's a RJ45, you can get a connector in a switch blank that will fit in that blank right above the control head. Search "toyota tacome rj45" on EBay.

 

Just a heads up on these - they are good, they install easy. They do NOT come out. I had mine on there, needed to replace the source cable behind it, and it did not come out. Not in one piece anyway. They are cheap, there are no "OEM" ones, they are all cheap crappy sweat-shop pieces. They work, but just a heads up.

 

Yaesu Mic connectors are a smaller RJ connector

 

Thanks for the consideration, definitely considered that before, however I didn't want the cable always draping in front of switches that I regularly use. In addition, eventually I will use that slot for a front locker by using the factory locker switch and flipping it upside down. Cheers.

 

They use a 6pin RJ-11 connector that is compatible with a traditional RJ-45 plug.

 

I did not realize the R11 would work in a RJ45 socket. I always used the RJ11 sockets with my Yaesu's. Learn something new everyday. Thanks and 73's.

 

Installed a ICOM 7100 under passanger seat & controller on the center console. Works great and its at arms length. I can also put controller in my garage and run a lon cat 6 to the main unit and that worked out.

 

Looking good! Nice work.

 

watch out for all those loops in the antenna cable

 

I've got 1 loop in each before it goes out. I haven't noticed any issue yet.

 

Got a better pic showing the faceplate and mic location for my Yaesu 857D.

 

After several hundred miles of backcountry driving I came to really hate clipping my mic to the mount. Way too fiddly.

A little

$6 3M VHB 100x200mm~ (4" X8") Double Sided Foam Adhesive Sheet Tape 5952 Automotive Mounting Industrial Grade Very High Bond 5952 (1 Sheets 100x200mm)

3M VHB tape, one Scosche magnetic mount, and boom, effortless mic mounting.

 

Anyone run a Midland ghost antenna with their magnetic mount on the roof?

I just bought a

$165 MXT275 MicroMobile® GMRS Radio – 15 watts Two-Way Radio with Integrated Control Microphone – Overland Caravanning Tractors – Detachable External Magnetic Mount Antenna - 8 Repeater Channels

MXT275, and I'm waiting on my license to be processed. I was testing out signal, and was getting some pretty decent returns with just the stock antenna attached to the roof.

At some point I'm going to get a roof rack, and it will be attached to that. But in the meantime I was going to mount it to the front passenger roof and snake the wire down the windshield channel.

 

Icom IC-F6061 and IC-F121S (dedicated APRS)

 

Is the antenna mount bolted to the hood hinge?

 

The antenna mount is by Victory 4x4. Excellent mount, but it needs work out of the box. The antenna will be canted forward and outward because it's not bent to get the antenna pointed vertical. The aluminum is malleable enough that it can be bent using a crescent wrench. You can bend it upward, but not downward due to the cowl. Therefore, over-bend it downward and work your way up to vertical. You can bend it when it's mounted to the hood bracket without damage. I used a bubble level to get it right. It's a good mount for sure. I sanded and painted mine, but it's not necessary. Route your coax like I did mine or you'll be sorry. Last thing....seal the coax with silicone where it's attached to the mount.

 

I'm leery of bending aluminum because it's brittle compared to steel. One, maybe two bends and it tends to fracture. Which is why I left it the angle when I installed it back in June 2020. i used a different routing for the cable and it's worked so far. You can check #1597 in this thread for pictures.

Very nice set up you have there.

 

Nicely done, I have 2x of those mounts as I too think they are the cleanest options available. Mine also do point outboard and I've been meaning to get around to bending them, glad to see someone else did it successfully.

 

I found a pic of how much you need to bend the mount. You can see it's not much at all. Also, you can see where the silicone was used.