Ham Radio Clean Install - Yaesu FTM6000

After looking around and not seeing any ham radio installs I liked, I decided to take on this project. I think it turned out decent. Hopefully this gives someone else a spark or an idea. My goal was to install a ham radio under the seat with minimal mess around the seats or taking up more room than necessary in the already small Tacoma cabin. I also didn't want a lot of extra wires hanging around. Having a ham radio in the Utah area allows me to get on the Intermountain Intertie system. It’s a system of linked Ham Radio repeaters that run from Idaho all the way down to Arizona. It’s pretty dope. If you ever get on it, call for KK7TGK.


This project started by disconnecting the battery and power seat harness, and removed the driver’s seat. I then placed an amplifier mount I bought from Taco Tunes under the seat. This amplifier mount is secured by the same bolts used for securing the seat to the frame. This was used to mount the Yaesu FTM6000. Using an amplifier mount seemed nice because it gives the radio a flat surface to mount to and raises it above the air vent that needs to blow on the rear passenger (behind the driver).





The FTM6000 comes with a nice mounting bracket. Positioning it on the amplifier mount is a little tricky. You gotta place it in a location where the seat’s wire harness won’t snag on it as you move the seat up/down/forward/back. With a little trial and error, I found the position where my ideal seat position and some additional adjustment would keep the radio clear of the wire harness and allow for the antenna, microphone, and control cables could bend around things properly. Another reason for the FTM600 is that it has a removable control until and can be mounted "remotely" and controlled with extended cables.







I also bought seat jackers from Desert Does It. Lifting the Tacoma seats gives the radio some extra clearance. This is good for air circulation for an electric device that sucks a decent amount of power and it provides space to clearly hear the radio, which has a top-mounted speaker. I also added seat jackers for the back of the drivers seat (2 rear mounting bolts). Raising the seat has also come in handy when programming the radio. The FTM6000 has a data port to program the radio and it’s kind of in a weird place. Because the seat is raised, you can get to it a bit easier. I also found some PS/2 port dust covers for the data port in case anyone is interested.





To extend the controls of the radio, I bought 2 extension cables off of Amazon. One is a slim

$6 Monoprice Cat6 Ethernet Patch Cable - Snagless, 550MHz, UTP, 32AWG, 10 Feet, White - Micro SlimRun Series

Cat6 cable to control the radio’s head unit remotely. The other is an

$7 Volcora 5 Feet RJ11 / RJ12 Data Cable - Heavy Duty 6-Pins High-Speed Extension for Cash Register Drawer, Telephone, Modem, Fax, Printers, and More - Drawer Cable for Voice and Data

RJ12 cable to extend the radio’s microphone control. I decided to use some of the blank buttons spaces below the temperature controls as the connection points. I ran with a slim Cat6 cable because I was worried about the thickness creating a problem. It’s quite thin - maybe too thin, but it is nice for positioning and moving around all the electronics in the dashboard. Picture below are the standard control cables for the radio, not the extension cables off of Amazon.



After getting the radio base positioned, I ran the control cable and mic cable under the door sill trim and kick plate. I then carefully ran these cables over the steering column and behind the dashboard tubing and electronics. Removing the head unit trim to install Expedition Essential’s Accessory Mount made things easy (and was part of this build). I used a wire fishing rod to pull them through the mess of electronics behind vents and heating components. Because some of the car parts under the dash can have sharp edges, I wrapped the cables in

$14 Alex Tech 25ft - 1/4" Cord Protector Wire Loom Tubing Cable Sleeve Split Sleeving For USB Cable Power Cord Audio Video Cable – Protect Cat From Chewing Cords - Black

wire loom. I also zip tied the cables where I could so they wouldn’t interfere with things under the dashboard or move around / rub.





The next problem to solve was a way to plug the mic that came with the radio to my dashboard somewhere. So I had a friend of mine find and 3D model of a blank Tacoma button designed for a keystone mount. With this blank button, I found some

$10 RiteAV Black RJ11/RJ12 Phone Keystone Jack Female to Female (5 Pack)

RJ12 keystone jacks (female to female) to connect my mic extension cable to the radio’s mic (male RJ45 to female jack / female jack to male mic cable). I think Yaesu sells a mic extension cable, but it’s just a phone cable, so I bought one off Amazon.







For the microphone “clip”, I decided to create a magnet mount. I got an OEM blank button and with some additional 3D printing, I created a magnet mount using a Neodymium magnet from Home Depot. I “glued” the ring (to hold the magnet in place), a magnet, and blank button together using J-B Weld plastic bonder and painted it red because red buttons are dope. I took a mic adapter kit from Magnetic Mic which is a metal backing you can put on radio mics. This provides a metal back to radio mics to be used in conjunction with a magnet. I tried the magnet that comes with the complete Magnetic Mic kit, but it is too powerful IMO. In one of my prototypes, I covered the magnet with a thin piece of plastic but the mic wouldn’t “stick” to it enough. Driving over bumpy roads made it jiggle loose. The thing I came up with seems to work. I can drive fast over bumpy roads in the mountains and the mic stays put. Somewhere online I saw another dude mount the Magnetic Mic magnet to his accessory mount, but I didn’t want the mic cable drooping all over my head unit or temp controls.







In order to connect the control cable (Cat6) to the radio head, I had to run the cable through the Expedition Essential accessory mount. So I took a stepped drill bit and widened one of holes on top of the EE Accessory Mount to be wide enough for the Cat6 cable to pass through. I found a rubber gasket at my local hardware store that fit the hole. This was useful because the EE Accessory Mount can get quite hot and the drilled hole had some sharp edges. I also wrapped the Cat6 cable with

$14 Alex Tech 25ft - 1/8" Cord Protector Wire Loom Tubing Cable Sleeve Split Sleeving For USB Cable Power Cord Audio Video Cable – Protect Cat From Chewing Cords - Black

wire loom to further protect it.

Once the Cat6 cable was through, I used RAM mounts and a ¼” to M5 threaded adapter to mount and position the radio control head. I didn’t want the slim Cat6 cable exposed to the sun or heat any more than it had to be so I wrapped it in ⅛” threaded wire loom.



For the radio antenna cable, I ordered a UHF Male on LMR240 Ultra Flex to Mini-UHF Male Cable Assembly 11.25 foot length (135 inches) from Field Components. They make radio cables with the right attachment and length for specific needs. I ran with LMR240 because that cable has a UV and weather-resistant jacket. It’s great for antenna feeder jumper assembly runs that require high-performance (low RF loss) and tight cable bends. I knew I had to make some sharp bends with my antenna cable and didn’t want to degrade my radio signal.

I wrapped the antenna cable with split wire loom tubing and ran it through the rubber floor drain / plug near the rear of the driver’s seat. I cut a hole big enough for the coax with tubing, and once ran through the plug, I sealed it with liquid electrical tape. I then zip tied the antenna cable to the frame and ran it up the back of the cab, securing it to the cab with the

$30 KC 6300 Universal Wire Hider (3 Feet)

KC Universal wire hider. Placed next to the rear window, it blends in well. I included the floor plug / part number in case you ruin one trying to get the antenna wire through it.







I decided to run with the compact antenna from Compactenna. This tri-band, NMO mounted antenna likes to be installed in the back corners of vehicle roofs. It Tx/Rx better when it’s placed in a corner. Because of my roof rack, I designed a custom mount and had it made at SendCutSend. If anyone wants my .dxf file, I’m happy to share it. This allowed me to mount the antenna and connect my cable with the right orientation (bed-side of the roof rack). After installing the antenna, I realized I didn’t need the right angle NMO mount, but it was too late. You could probably do this with just a bottom threaded mount so the cable goes straight up into the antenna. I used some extra parts from TNutz to mount the antenna bracket to the roof rack. If you’re looking for affordable nuts and hardware for your 10 series extrusions, TNutz is great. They are quite affordable. Many roof rack bars made of extruded aluminum are 1020 series.







After testing the radio to make sure the control unit, mic, and antenna worked, I put everything back together. Because I had removed the dashboard trim and head unit to install the Expedition Essential Powered Accessory Mount, I wired up the USB power at the same time. After properly installing the accessory mount, I put the dashboard trim and head unit back in place. I put the sill trim back in place. I put the driver’s seat back.

After a few months, I realized how hot the control unit would get sitting in the sun so I designed a protective trim piece to cover up the back of the control unit so it wasn’t exposed to the sunlight as much. Again, if anyone wants the .dxf file for this control cover I can share that. So far so good. It also shades the face of the controller from the sun and keeps the display bright.

Anyways, the radio runs great. The radio controls are exactly within reach. I don't have a bunch of clutter in the cabin. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Great pictures. Be sure to check out this thread if you have not seem]n it yet.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/amateur-ham-radio-bs-and-callsign-thread.260643/

 

Thanks! I'll check it out. Should I have posted my thread in hobbies? Or is it Ok that I posted it here?

 

Either place is fine. Here is a Ham thread also in the 3rd Gen forum.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ham-radio.828151/

 

Well done

 

I think I will try to put a UHF-VHF rig under the back seat with a remote head. Don' want to start taking apart a new truck yet, give me a couple years