Ham Radio & Antenna Install

A couple weeks ago I permanently installed my Yaesu 857D with HF mono-band and VHF/UHF antennas in my 2012 Tacoma Access Cab. My goal was to make the install as clean & hidden as possible while also minimizing the amount of cutting/drilling. Overall I'm very happy with how the install went. Hopefully this post is helpful to anyone else considering installing a radio in their truck. It should work for any radio with a remote-able front control panel like the 857.

I started by placing the radio itself under the driver seat, and mounting the front panel on an 18" gooseneck anchored to the left passenger seat bolt. I zip tied the cords to the gooseneck on the way down. I wedged a generic speaker inside the dash pocket in front of the shifter. The speaker is wedged very tightly and only takes up about half the pocket, so the pocket is still usable as storage space as well. I ran the power wires for the radio through a grommet in the firewall in the driver foot well and straight to the battery with inline fuses. Inside the cabin it runs under the plastic door jamb panels and under the carpet to the radio.





Next, I got to work on the antenna mounts. I found a U-shaped lumber framing bracket at the hardware store. When cut in half, it resulted in two L-shaped brackets with parallel holes for mounting in bed the bed rails and a nice big hole for the antenna stud. I used 1" washers and some locking nuts to mount the brackets into the bed rails.




I then drilled holes in the side of the (rather useless) bed pockets to run the coax. I did try to drill up far enough so that small items wouldn't fall through, but honestly I wouldn't really store small, loose items in them anyway. I used a dremmel to make the holes big enough to pass through the rather large SO-239 UHF connectors. I screwed one end into the antenna stud and dropped the other end down through the hole. I used 18' RG-8X cables. Be careful when drilling the driver's side that you don't allow the bit to travel too far through the hole. The gas tank fill tube is rather close.





Once the coax was all fed down through the hole, I popped off the grommet under the driver side of the cabin to feed the coax up to the radio. I also popped off the two trim pieces covering the edge of the carpet where the doors close so that I could squeeze my arm under the carpet to aid in the fishing process.



I then cut a slit right behind the radio's resting place to feed the cables through to the radio. My goal was to keep it easy to disguise if I ever remove the radio in the future, and to keep the thick coax hidden from view. I fed up the coax from the grommet about 16" under the carpet to the slit. I wanted to avoid feeding the passenger side coax near the exhaust/rear drive shaft, but after wrestling with my arm under the carpet and getting scraped to hell just to get the first one 16", I decided not to feed the other one any further under the carpet than I had to. I ran from the passenger side up over a frame rail & above the exhaust heat shield and then in the same hole as the driver side cable.




Crappy image of the cable crossing under the cabin. You can see it tucked under the heat shield in the upper half of the photo.



I then cut a slot in the grommet so it would seal back in place and not easily allow water up into the cabin. I also made several large, messy coils with the cable and zip tied them up above the frame. I was unsure if coiling the cable too neatly/tightly might cause some feed-line issues when transmitting, so I intentionally made them sloppy. I ensured all of the coax was secured up at least higher than the brake lines so it wouldn't snag off road.



It was then time to install the antennas and tune them to the proper length. I wasn't really sure how well the HF in particular would work because of the lack of a good ground plane, especially with the plastic bed. I was able to get SWR on my crappy, used hamfest tuner down to about 2:1 on both ends of the 20 meter band after trimming about 4" off the hamstick stinger, which is good enough for now. 2 meters is under 1.5:1 which I'm very happy about. 70 cm is too high to use, but I never use it anyway so it's not a priority at the moment.




All done.



Bonus image of my hack to shut off that damn door chime and listen to music while working



Final thoughts:

• The lack of a good ground plane is certainly an issue, especially on HF, however the antenna is still usable. I've been able to successfully chat with people out to about 600 miles at 85 watts so far, so the signal is still getting out.
• 2 meter FM is awesome. At about 35 watts, I can hit any repeater in a 15-20 mile radius and receive signal is very good as well.
  
• The lumber framing bracket is a little too thin. It flexes quite a bit at highway speed with the HF antenna. I've done a few 300 mile interstate trips with it and it's held just fine, but I'm worried that long term it will fatigue and break. I plan on replacing them with thicker, inflexible angle brackets.

73s! K0MLO

 

Looks good! As far as the brackets though, I do believe there are a few fabricators on the forum that make antenna brackets out of a thicker gauge steel...might wanna take a look around. IIRC, Relentless Fab makes one and I think BAMF is the other.

 

True, there are definitely better & more convenient options out there. I went this route because it cost me a total of about $5 from the hardware store and was pre-drilled. I like DIY projects, so I'll fab up a better bracket myself when I have time.

 

S4oak,
I dont know much about HAM radio or culture around it but why install it in a vehicle? People I know who are into it have it set up in their house usually a room designated to HAM.
Just curious.

 

Nice clean install!

I have a 2m unit in my car which will be moving to my truck when it arrives. I know I use mine a lot as I drive all day for work and it give me someone to talk to or just something to listen to in the background other then the radio. I actually belong to a local club that covers all of Long Island so usually have the same groups of people on at the same times (morning rush, evening rush and other people who drive for work throughout the day).

 

Great install . I got 2m,70cm and 10 m , mounted mine inside center console. Mag mount ants .

 

Like xcentrk mentioned, it's a good way to pass time if you get stuck in traffic. Also, I live in an apartment so I don't really have any good options for putting up antennas other than something awkwardly sticking out of a window. My signal probably gets out better on the truck than it would from my apartment. And finally, I like having it with me when I go out places. I spend a decent amount of time outdoors where it can be fun to see who you can make contact with.

 

I wont speak for s4oak, but as a ham guy myself (KG5CGG), with one installed, a few reasons i like it:
1) Reliable emergency communications - Unlike my cell phone, i stand a reasonable chance to reaching either a repeater or another operator at times where my phone will get nothing. With HF, even if i cat get somebody in the same state, it is helpful to be able to reach a person and get a message out.
2)Great for camping/outdoor activities - Again.. go camping, and get out of cell range, your only hope is a radio. FRS is far too weak to be useful, so HAM is where it's at. Truck set as basecamp (and my family all has at least Tech license) and everyone can reach everyone, no matter what.

Its not a be-all, end-all, but for the straight forward setup, its really easy to justify having.

 

Copy that guys, its something I never ventured in. Thanks for the responses.

 

Here's another antenna mounting option:

I had very good luck with this on my '07 but will be installing one of the BAMF mounts on my '11.

 

glad I looked here for possible ways to mount my antennas , never thought about using the rails .I'll see what I can come up with and post a pic when I get it done . I will be mounting a little tarheel ll for hf and a dual band for vhf/uhf . One thing to consider is grounding is paramount for good hf mobile operation .

 

When you redo the steel angle plate I strongly suggest using stainless flat stock. It will hold up better in the long run. I found mine at a local fabrication shop in their scrap pile they let me have it gratis. One 3/4" hole for the NMO mount, hole for the fender bolt and a couple of bends and I had a hood seam mount.

73
KJ4OBR

 

I’ve been considering going GMRS over a high powered CB. My biggest hurdle has been figuring out how where to mount the antenna. I keep my truck garaged so I’m trying to figure out how to not damage it. I like the idea of mounting it upfront using the hood. Also considering the tailgate mount that goes between the rear light and tailgate. Any thoughts on what area will give the best reception? I’m looking at the Wouxon KG 1000 GMRS.

 

At the frequencies that GMRS use, it doesn't really matter. You don't need much of a ground plane. I've got a $15 dual band UHF and VHF antenna on that hood seam mount, and it does just fine. I hit repeaters 30 to 40 miles away full quieting. Seriously, study for your ham radio tech license, get a dual band Chinese radio and hop on the local repeaters. You're going to find more people to talk to and it will be much more robust than GMRS.

But of course if you are off roading with buddies that have GMRS, get the equipment that is compatible. Now that the FCC is going to allow FM modulation on the CB frequencies I'm curious to see how that evolves. It opens up the possibility for DX work when the band is open since the CB frequencies are really close to the 10 m ham band.

I would suggest putting it on the hood because as I use the bed of the truck I find it's too easy to snag stuff that's hanging out back there. Also, there's a big grommet in the firewall that you can work the coax and power through very easily. You're looking at an antenna that's probably 15- 30 inches tall max at those frequencies so it's not like it's going to whip around and be in the way.

 

you may look into dual band antennas for ham radio , they make fold over mounts and the 70cm band is where gmrs operates . Just do a search for dual band antennas , Comet and Diamond brands are some of the best .

 

thanks so much

 

I had no idea

 

@Naveronski OP here shows running stuff through those cab mount caps.

 

Might have your solution listed in my sig

 

Nice, OP!

Thanks for the tag!