Completed ham radio installation, 2025 XL

I finished installing my VHF/UHF rig, and I think it turned out pretty clean looking overall. I'll post a list of what I used down below.

Equipment:

• Rig is a Yaesu FTM-500
• Mount is the Lido 2.75" Yaesu drill mount. I decided not to wait for the Rubigrid; they don't ship to Canada and also I wanted to store my microphone in the tray
• I fabricated the steeel plate that acts as an adapter between the factory subwoofer mount and the radio. The holes were not tapped; I tapped them to 5mm.
• The small box below the transceiver body is a Powerwerx ITS-12 ignition timer/low voltage cutoff module. Don't want to end up in deep sleep if I forget to turn off the radio
• Antenna mount is the third brake light single NMO mount from Bulletproof Diesel. It was about the same price as the transceiver. Incredibly expensive but the result speaks for itself
• Antenna is a Comet SBB-5NMO ground plane independent dual-bander.

Here are my pics:

Nice installation! I think that I would have used a 90 degree RF connector though. Just my $.02

I always thought CB and Ham radios were cool to have on trucks and the like. When i was a kid my cousin had one in the garage and was talking to someone in Spain.
Whether it was true or not, still cool.
Also just clicked on here cuz it said ham,
Mmmmmm

Spotterjoe said:

Nice installation! I think that I would have used a 90 degree RF connector though. Just my $.02

Click to expand...

This is the connector that comes on the cable. It’s really not worth it to me to buy, solder, and crimp on a new connector… but you do you!

nice install! now you're ready for the Zombie Apocalypse

How did you do your battery tap?
I still have yet to finish putting my radio in my truck. Need to work out the radio mounting details.

486hawk said:

How did you do your battery tap?
I still have yet to finish putting my radio in my truck. Need to work out the radio mounting details.

Click to expand...

Great question!

I put the negative to the ground point that’s above and to the left of the transceiver body, just out of the shot.

The positive went to the under-seat 12V battery in my hybrid. On mine, the stock positive bar has an unused 8mm stud, so I was able to just use an 8mm flange nut and not cut off power to the rest of the truck.

I used the bolt on top of the Positive Bar for 12V and used one of the 6mm bolts that were sticking up near the jack as a ground. Adding the power tap was one of the first things I did to mine back in November. I am thinking about adding another 40A tap so i could potentially run an inverter.

Great work.

I did not mount anything inside the cab where it would be seen. I stuffed my Yaesu FT7800 in the middle box between the seats, pulled the coax and power cord out the top between the seats, down under the seats, slipped them under the plastic rails where your feet go when you get into the back seat, and pushed the power cord under the back seat and into the battery tray where it is connected with two small alligator clips to the respective posts. The coax wound around both of the seats, being careful not to make a tight coil to restrict the RF and under those plastic rails to the door and then under the rubber stuff that is between the door and frame, out between the door and the engine compartment (big opening there!) and up to a edge mount on the front drivers side of the hood. Edge mount is capable of either laying back the antenna to swiveling it to remain in the upright position, like vehicles of yesteryear that had a radio mount in that position. Using a dual band 2 meter/440 antenna. When I need to transmit, I just open the top of the box and grab the mic and key up, or listen to the radio scan and stop on any freq.

Greetings de KF6PHV (Perpendicular Horizontal Vertical)

You need to upgrade to the FTX-1...

That radio would cost a little more than 10% of what I paid for the whole damn truck.

breaker breaker 19 this here is the Rubber-Duck

Amateur radio is an expensive hobby. The transceivers I want are 2k +.. Amps are even crazier fetching up to 7k...

What I really want https://www.flexradio.com/products/flex-8600m-signature-series-sdr-transceiver/ what I can afford https://a.co/d/c3ehSrV

Very nice install. If only I had the skills to fabricate something like that -it's an ideal place for the body of a radio.

Here's a few of mine (it's a constant work-in-progress)



I am running an Alinco DR-735T dual bander, hooked up to a Comet SBB5. The difference is I chose to (for now) mount the antenna on the tailgate using a mount I found on Amazon.



The Alinco head is mounted on a block of 2x4, which I spray painted black. It's like Ford intended a block of 2x4 to sit in there. I chose to attach the head using velcro rather than screws - the Alinco separation kits are a bit different to Yaesu and Icom, it seems, requiring a screwdriver to remove the head from whatever it's mounted to.



The radio itself is under the rear seat. This is a somewhat out of date photo, it's since been tidied up a bit. For now it's screwed down onto a block of MDF I had laying around. I dont' have a picture of it but I ran audio up to a speaker (some cheap DX Engineering one) that's velcroed next to one of the rear head-rests. I have a little passive mixer that I'll use to mix audio from multiple radios onto that one speaker. But, since it's passive it's not loud enough. So it'll need a little amplifier as well.



The next step is to run power from the engine bay rather than through the accessory port.

My ultimate plan is to mount a couple of more radios. 1 for APRS beaconing, 1 for 220 MHz and a small HF (probably a Xiegu G90). My intention is to move the VHF/UHF antennas up above the roof using one of these:

Larson Electronics - Vehicle Mounting Plates

And then mount HF antennas on the tailgate. I'm not sure what I will use yet but probably a couple of Ham Sticks to begin with - or I'll build something custom. Need to figure out grounding and bonding first.

73 N3AJF