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Amateur and CB Rigs

RyanZ71

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RyanZ71 Senior Enthusiast

RyanZ71

Posted
Posted

Greetings folks,

 

Recently got my Amateur Radio License and would like to install a mobile rig (simular to a large CB) into my truck, along with a small Uniden Pro510XL CB. I am thinking of removing the 3 CD holder located right below the factory CD player in my center dash and putting my Mobile rig in there, and mounting a CB into the center console. I would like to install the Antennas on the front of the truck bed, right behind the cab (on both sides) as I do not want anything attached to the roof or bumper.

 

Has anyone had any expierence doing this kind of stuff? My concern would be to run power to the rigs, as I do not want to put them on a circuit that controls anything else (power windows, lights, the such)

 

Any advice would be welcome. Sorry if this does not make much sense, fighting an eye, sinus, and ear infection here and very drowsy from meds!

HyperBuzzin Enthusiast

HyperBuzzin

Posted
Posted

My 2 cents on powering the units......

 

Run power directly from the battery (with fuses ofcourse), activated by a relay that is powered when the key is in the 'on' and 'accessory' postions.

JAF1 Enthusiast

JAF1

Posted
Posted

As far as power goes, wire them straight into the battery and fuse both leads. Check the power requirements of you radio and make sure you run large enough wire. Depending on which radio you go for, the draw is quite large. Are you getting a UHF/VHF rig or an all band HF,VHF,UHF (Icom 706 style)? You'll learn that antenna placement is critical. VHF/UHF radios need to have a good ground plane. Best place is in the center of the roof. On the rail of the truck bed is a bad spot. Especially in front. A lot of your wave pattern will be blocked out by the cab unless you can elevate it from there. An HF or CB radio might be "ok" from that spot but since they are generally longer they extend higher. And yes, bigger is better. Look at some of the antenna manufactures web sites and see the different mounting recommendations. They are a LOT of amateur web sites (eham.com) out there with lots of info.

 

Good Luck.

RyanZ71 Senior Enthusiast

RyanZ71

Posted
  • Author
Posted

My concern with on top of the roof is that there are a few parking garages that I MUST use. Guess that means I gotta remember to take off the mag mount antenna all the time and I know i'll forget :)

  • 7 months later...
04z71steve Enthusiast

04z71steve

Posted
Posted

be careful with the mag mounts... some guy in a f150 cut me off on the highway the other day and i blasted past him... forgot the wind was also blowing about 40mph at us and i lost my antenna.... thank god for the slack and the bed of my truck... it landed softly in the bed!!! I've been looking for something sleek and easy to mount that wont mess up my paint but haven't decided yet... Good Luck!!

 

steve :confused:

Slider_4x4 Enthusiast

Slider_4x4

Posted
Posted

I use a Wilson 1000 mag mount antenna with my CB setup. It has a VERY strong magnet. I've been in bad storms, speeding excessively and various other situations that I thought for sure would break that thing free (or at least cause it to slide), but it hasn't budged once. Shoot, I've even had the antenna slapping low hanging trees on back roads that I thought would move it around a little bit, but it never did.

 

As far as having to remove the antenna to use parking garages, that is going to be a real pain in the ace. You can either pull the whole thing off the roof (lay it down in the back of the truck) or use an allen wrench to loosen the antenna wire and pull it out of the magnetic section. I do this when I take my truck into the shop and don't want to deal with cleaning the roof etc (to prevent scraches) before putting the thing back on. I always picture my truck being raised on a lift with the antenna getting all jacked up as it is jammed into the ceiling!

 

I used to keep my CB in my truck most of the time (years ago), but now I really only use it on road trips. It's just not worth dealing with most of the time.

 

John

topdj Enthusiast

topdj

Posted
Posted

I tried both my Icon 756 pro2 and my kenwood in my Ts480 02 tahoe had a little trouble with Onstar picking up my transmissions. I hope I dont have the same problem with my 07 NBS

I bought a large tri magnet mount to hold a tarheel power antenna

TheBrokenMarine Enthusiast

TheBrokenMarine

Posted
Posted

I went with permanent mounts and it is a pain because i always have to park on the street, carefully choose which fast food drive through I visit, and make my bank deposits by getting out. I mounted the units right under the HVAC control where the remote CD is.imgp6334uj4.jpg

Truckin2003 Enthusiast

Truckin2003

Posted
Posted

how about some closeups of the radio mounted in the center console. ive been thinking about doing this myself but havent gotten around to it yet.

 

thanks

  • 1 year later...
kg4pts New Member

kg4pts

Posted
Posted
Greetings folks,

 

Recently got my Amateur Radio License and would like to install a mobile rig (simular to a large CB) into my truck, along with a small Uniden Pro510XL CB. I am thinking of removing the 3 CD holder located right below the factory CD player in my center dash and putting my Mobile rig in there, and mounting a CB into the center console. I would like to install the Antennas on the front of the truck bed, right behind the cab (on both sides) as I do not want anything attached to the roof or bumper.

 

Has anyone had any expierence doing this kind of stuff? My concern would be to run power to the rigs, as I do not want to put them on a circuit that controls anything else (power windows, lights, the such)

 

Any advice would be welcome. Sorry if this does not make much sense, fighting an eye, sinus, and ear infection here and very drowsy from meds!

 

Hopefully by now Ryan has his radio hooked up and has done all the trouble shooting.

 

I was looking for some hints on how to run the power in my 2004 GMC Sierra for an amateur radio (YAESU FT-7100). In the past I have just used a handi-talki in this vehicle with a small magnetic mount antenna, which works pretty well. Finally I am getting around to taking the unit out of the house and putting it in the vehicle. So... today I drilled a hole in the bulkhead, got a grommet from Tractor Supply, and attached the power leads; positive to the connection going into the main fuse/distribution block near the battery, negative went to the ground strap which runs from the engine block to the bulckhead at the bulkhead end. Both positive and negative are fused. This should work fine but I would like it much better if it were on a switched relay circuit.

 

I would like some hints on:

A. a good way to either hook this to accessory circuit so that it won't inadvertantly run the battery down or to install a switched relay. There is an open plug receptacle on the fire wall block for SEO wiring circuit. Is there a plug in available and would it support enough amperage to support this application?

 

B. some ideas for mounting it in the center hump in one of those spaces under the environmental control. How do you get the plastic inserts out and what is behind the console; nothing or not much hopefully.

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

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