Let's see your HAM radio installs!

Windrac

Windrac

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Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2021
Messages
49
Location
USA
Hey all,

One of my favorite activities in amateur radio is installing mobile setups. Many of my friends and I are a part of local clubs, SKYWARN, search and rescue teams, and the like so we trade secrets about our mobile installations to keep improving them.

I haven't seen a thread on this forum for radio installs, so post yours below!

Here's mine - I have the following loadout:
- Kenwood D710 w/ GPS/APRS
- 4G LTE cellular modem with local WiFi network and ethernet access
- Toughbook with dock, used for WX RADAR, APRS mapping, programming, and HF logging
- Comet SBB-5 VHF/UHF antenna
- 3/8 spring mount on front bumper for HF. No antenna yet.
- Wired for HF but still looking for a transceiver (if you have one for sale - DM me!)

Looking forward to see what clever solutions you all have come up with!

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Cool! And AT LAST somebody with the brains to use something with a decent sized screen instead of a fucking smartphone!

I'm just getting started:

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Left to right: PA amp (from CB), Midland GMRS, Retevis RT-95 2M/70cm.

I'd like to add an HF of some sort, but they're PRICEY!
 
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Windrac said:
Hey all,

One of my favorite activities in amateur radio is installing mobile setups. Many of my friends and I are a part of local clubs, SKYWARN, search and rescue teams, and the like so we trade secrets about our mobile installations to keep improving them.

I haven't seen a thread on this forum for radio installs, so post yours below!

Here's mine - I have the following loadout:
- Kenwood D710 w/ GPS/APRS
- 4G LTE cellular modem with local WiFi network and ethernet access
- Toughbook with dock, used for WX RADAR, APRS mapping, programming, and HF logging
- Comet SBB-5 VHF/UHF antenna
- 3/8 spring mount on front bumper for HF. No antenna yet.
- Wired for HF but still looking for a transceiver (if you have one for sale - DM me!)

Looking forward to see what clever solutions you all have come up with!
Click to expand...

Wow, I am inspired. I see your location is USA, but now I want to know where exactly, in case there's a chance of meeting up.

My setup pales in comparison, but I do like how minimal and sleek it is. Pics can be found here.
 
Windrac said:
Hey all,

One of my favorite activities in amateur radio is installing mobile setups. Many of my friends and I are a part of local clubs, SKYWARN, search and rescue teams, and the like so we trade secrets about our mobile installations to keep improving them.

I haven't seen a thread on this forum for radio installs, so post yours below!

Here's mine - I have the following loadout:
- Kenwood D710 w/ GPS/APRS
- 4G LTE cellular modem with local WiFi network and ethernet access
- Toughbook with dock, used for WX RADAR, APRS mapping, programming, and HF logging
- Comet SBB-5 VHF/UHF antenna
- 3/8 spring mount on front bumper for HF. No antenna yet.
- Wired for HF but still looking for a transceiver (if you have one for sale - DM me!)

Looking forward to see what clever solutions you all have come up with!

View attachment 285060
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View attachment 285063
Click to expand...

So in that last pic, where does the antenna coax go? That looks like a lightbar mount, so does the coax jump from it to a hole in your top or something?
 
tworley said:
Nothing to show here, just wanted to comment on the flannel top liner. I really like that.
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Thanks! I got some 3/4" polystyrene insulation board and upholstered it with fabric from Joann. If I can find the exact stuff I used I'll post it here for you. It's not terribly hard to do and it reduces cab noise a TON on the road.
 
SSTJ said:
So in that last pic, where does the antenna coax go? That looks like a lightbar mount, so does the coax jump from it to a hole in your top or something?
Click to expand...
So my location is central Indiana. The repeater you see on the D710 is N9EOC which is the repeater I usually hang out on. Then the other VFO is always used for APRS.

Yeah the light bar is actually four flood lights, and the wire that goes into the light bar is power only. I have two can antennas for the 4G LTE modem up there too.

The VHF/UHF coax goes from the SBB5 mount rough the door seal then up through the padding on the roll bar to the center overhead rack where the radio is mounted. The coax runs through the door right at the corner (as seen in pic) since that's where its least likely to get pinched. Does that make sense?
 
I like the Toughbook. I picked one up a few years ago for similar purposes. Our Ham club works closely with our local fire department when there are fires in our area. How does the screen work mounted upside down?
 
Windrac said:
So my location is central Indiana. The repeater you see on the D710 is N9EOC which is the repeater I usually hang out on. Then the other VFO is always used for APRS.

Yeah the light bar is actually four flood lights, and the wire that goes into the light bar is power only. I have two can antennas for the 4G LTE modem up there too.

The VHF/UHF coax goes from the SBB5 mount rough the door seal then up through the padding on the roll bar to the center overhead rack where the radio is mounted. The coax runs through the door right at the corner (as seen in pic) since that's where its least likely to get pinched. Does that make sense?
Click to expand...

Nice. Well, maybe someday I'll know what all those acronyms mean, but for now I understand enough to be impressed.
 
Ironman said:
I like the Toughbook. I picked one up a few years ago for similar purposes. Our Ham club works closely with our local fire department when there are fires in our area. How does the screen work mounted upside down?
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It works just fine - only annoying thing is that whenever you take it out of the dock you have to flip the screen in Windows settings.

I use a bluetooth USB keyboard with a built-in trackpad when the toughbook is in the dock. That solution is pretty slick.
 
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Windrac said:
It works just fine - only annoying thing is that whenever you take it out of the dock you have to flip the screen in Windows settings.

I use a bluetooth USB keyboard with a built-in trackpad when the toughbook is in the dock. That solution is pretty slick.
Click to expand...
You *may* be able to fix that with a script of some sort. Then an icon on the desktop would beat having to dig into "settings" or whatever they're calling the control panel these days.
 
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I'll post mine because I'm probably going to change it as part of my winter projects. I go topless and doorless for about 7 months out of the year. I don't worry much about theft, but I wanted things to be non-visible to casual thieves, and somewhere dry. I do put the top up when it rains so I stay 95% dry, but with no windows or doors, water tends to come off the rear of the top and spray in the back and splash the dash.

So I got a double din kit, stuck an Icom 2730 below the stereo and put a panel over it. The controller is on the dash on a mag mount. I have a GMRS behind the glovebox, it's the one from Midland with all the controls on the mic. I put mic and aux ports in the panel for both radios so I can listen to them through the Jeep's speakers. I can unplug the mics and Icom controller and throw them in the glovebox for security or to keep them dry. In this pic, I have the ham mic plugged in and hanging there, the GMRS mic is not plugged in, a waterproof cap is over the jack. The aux cable for ham is going to the stereo. The other aux port is below the first, hidden by the aux cord.

I'm using an old Larsen 2/70 antenna for ham, and a Laird UHF 5/8 over 5/8 for GMRS, both on an Arizona Rocky Road double mount. I also have an old handheld Grecom trunking scanner that the belt clip fits perfectly in the windshield loop above the rear view mirror, so it usually stays up there. I had an NMO fender mount left over from my old configuration so I put a tri-band antenna on it and ran it to the scanner. I don't use the scanner very often, it was one of those 'I have stuff laying around I might as well use' kind of things, but it's occasionally handy, and if someone with a handheld is riding with me, I can unplug the scanner and let them use the "guest antenna."


dash2.png
 
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Rattler6 said:
I'll post mine because I'm probably going to change it as part of my winter projects. I go topless and doorless for about 7 months out of the year. I don't worry much about theft, but I wanted things to be non-visible to casual thieves, and somewhere dry. I do put the top up when it rains so I stay 95% dry, but with no windows or doors, water tends to come off the rear of the top and spray in the back and splash the dash.

So I got a double din kit, stuck an Icom 2730 below the stereo and put a panel over it. The controller is on the dash on a mag mount. I have a GMRS behind the glovebox, it's the one from Midland with all the controls on the mic. I put mic and aux ports in the panel for both radios so I can listen to them through the Jeep's speakers. I can unplug the mics and Icom controller and throw them in the glovebox for security or to keep them dry. In this pic, I have the ham mic plugged in and hanging there, the GMRS mic is not plugged in, a waterproof cap is over the jack. The aux cable for ham is going to the stereo. The other aux port is below the first, hidden by the aux cord.

I'm using an old Larsen 2/70 antenna for ham, and a Laird UHF 5/8 over 5/8 for GMRS, both on an Arizona Rocky Road double mount. I also have an old handheld Grecom trunking scanner that the belt clip fits perfectly in the windshield loop above the rear view mirror, so it usually stays up there. I had an NMO fender mount left over from my old configuration so I put a tri-band antenna on it and ran it to the scanner. I don't use the scanner very often, it was one of those 'I have stuff laying around I might as well use' kind of things, but it's occasionally handy, and if someone with a handheld is riding with me, I can unplug the scanner and let them use the "guest antenna."


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Nice to see somebody else using a double DIN for multiple radios rather than silly touch screens. Very well done!
 
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Windrac said:
Hey all,

One of my favorite activities in amateur radio is installing mobile setups. Many of my friends and I are a part of local clubs, SKYWARN, search and rescue teams, and the like so we trade secrets about our mobile installations to keep improving them.

I haven't seen a thread on this forum for radio installs, so post yours below!

Here's mine - I have the following loadout:
- Kenwood D710 w/ GPS/APRS
- 4G LTE cellular modem with local WiFi network and ethernet access
- Toughbook with dock, used for WX RADAR, APRS mapping, programming, and HF logging
- Comet SBB-5 VHF/UHF antenna
- 3/8 spring mount on front bumper for HF. No antenna yet.
- Wired for HF but still looking for a transceiver (if you have one for sale - DM me!)

Looking forward to see what clever solutions you all have come up with!

View attachment 285060
View attachment 285061
View attachment 285062
View attachment 285063
Click to expand...
Awesome setup. I had given up finding a place to mount my dualbander. I never thought of looking up amongst the roll bars. I was concerned about head injuries, although between the bars is perfect. I guess a TM-D710 is in my future. N8OPB, and recently WRPG579
 
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