- First Name
- Kyle
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2020
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 190
- Reaction score
- 632
- Location
- Madison, MS
- Vehicle(s)
- 2006 Nissan Titan
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
- Thread starter
- #1
I've been working on my mobile amateur radio install for a few weeks now. Its been slowly evolving as I've been collecting pieces and trying a few different things. I am pretty happy with what I have as of today. Here is what I've come up with.
50 watt Mobile Dual Band Radio install - FTM-400XDR.
Comet SS680SB NMO dual band antenna with lip mount on hood. (mount and cable "borrowed") from my Motorola GMRS kit. The antenna is halve wave on the 2meter band so less dependent on a ground plane. Also this antenna includes a spring so a bit more trail friendly.
Power:
10 gauge cable with inline 40amp fuses connected directly to battery terminals on both positive and negative. Left a little slack in case I decide to add a breaker or relay to control off a switch or anything.
Power cable comes in through firewall grommet on driver side then runs behind infotainment system to the passenger side.
Tucked behind glovebox and infotainment system I mounted a small fuse box that the incoming power cable is connected to.
I used Anderson power pole connectors to to connect the incoming power cable and a pigtail on the fuse box. This will allow for the fuse box to be somewhat easily removed if additional connections are needed to be added to it.
In addition there are 2 pig tails coming off 15amp fuses from the box for radio use. This FTM-400XDR install and a midland GMRS mobile coming soon.
Ram Ball mount (C size ball with M6 bolt end) fits in the bronco bolt holes from the removed center console grip. Aram arm that goes from C size to B size tucks the radio out of the way.
Before I put the glove box back on I ran the control cable that connects the base unit to the screen unit. It runs behind the glove box up the A pillar then across the dash to the center accessory mount point.
With the glove box back in place the radio could be installed and extra cables cleaned up a bit.
Not too bad once the floormat covers up the extras.
This install does block quick access to the glove box, but the ram arm can be easily loosened and rotated to allow access to the glove box.
It does eat up some leg room on the passenger side, but not horrible for a quick trip around town. Here is my big 6' 1" ~300lb self sitting in the passenger seat for reference. Seat not all the way back.
Here are some other shots, you will notice another ram ball is available for mounting a midland GMRS radio. This will probably be more of an occasional use radio for out on the trail and will most likely be with an ram arm holding the radio up. as opposed to tucked away as the controls are on the base unit of that radio.
As for APRS, the pickup truck icon isn't accurate, and neither is the jeep icon obviously. So I went with horse "/e" icon.
This is my first real mobile radio install, just been using an HT with an external antenna up until now on my old truck. Let me know if I missed something or you have any suggestions. Hope this helps some people out planning their comm installs.
73 de KI5JCL
50 watt Mobile Dual Band Radio install - FTM-400XDR.
Comet SS680SB NMO dual band antenna with lip mount on hood. (mount and cable "borrowed") from my Motorola GMRS kit. The antenna is halve wave on the 2meter band so less dependent on a ground plane. Also this antenna includes a spring so a bit more trail friendly.
Power:
10 gauge cable with inline 40amp fuses connected directly to battery terminals on both positive and negative. Left a little slack in case I decide to add a breaker or relay to control off a switch or anything.
Power cable comes in through firewall grommet on driver side then runs behind infotainment system to the passenger side.
Tucked behind glovebox and infotainment system I mounted a small fuse box that the incoming power cable is connected to.
I used Anderson power pole connectors to to connect the incoming power cable and a pigtail on the fuse box. This will allow for the fuse box to be somewhat easily removed if additional connections are needed to be added to it.
In addition there are 2 pig tails coming off 15amp fuses from the box for radio use. This FTM-400XDR install and a midland GMRS mobile coming soon.
Ram Ball mount (C size ball with M6 bolt end) fits in the bronco bolt holes from the removed center console grip. Aram arm that goes from C size to B size tucks the radio out of the way.
Before I put the glove box back on I ran the control cable that connects the base unit to the screen unit. It runs behind the glove box up the A pillar then across the dash to the center accessory mount point.
With the glove box back in place the radio could be installed and extra cables cleaned up a bit.
Not too bad once the floormat covers up the extras.
This install does block quick access to the glove box, but the ram arm can be easily loosened and rotated to allow access to the glove box.
It does eat up some leg room on the passenger side, but not horrible for a quick trip around town. Here is my big 6' 1" ~300lb self sitting in the passenger seat for reference. Seat not all the way back.
Here are some other shots, you will notice another ram ball is available for mounting a midland GMRS radio. This will probably be more of an occasional use radio for out on the trail and will most likely be with an ram arm holding the radio up. as opposed to tucked away as the controls are on the base unit of that radio.
As for APRS, the pickup truck icon isn't accurate, and neither is the jeep icon obviously. So I went with horse "/e" icon.
This is my first real mobile radio install, just been using an HT with an external antenna up until now on my old truck. Let me know if I missed something or you have any suggestions. Hope this helps some people out planning their comm installs.
73 de KI5JCL
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