mounted remote radio unit under driver seat .. faceplate on front of console armrest..xxx

 

What make/model radio? I have been considering this, but just haven't nailed down what I want. KD8IOU

 

yaesu ft-7900 ..

 

ft-400 had made my shortlist. antenna placement was something I was also not too sure of. If I were to consider Icom, I would likely go with ic7100.

 

I mounted a Serio mobile antenna on the drivers side hood, near the windshield. That placement keeps it completely out of view while driving due to the windshield pillar. I made my own mount and color matched it to the truck.

 

I use a all steel tool box behind cab ... tool box grounded to frame with heavy ground braid.. I run mag mounts off of steel tool box that are grounded via quick connects connected to tool box..makes for speedy swapouts and good swr readings.. I also do a lot with 10 and 12 meter and everything in between... xxx

 

xxx, I wasn't sure if I wanted to mag mount or consider stake hole type of mount. I do not have the metal toolbox or anything with that kind of ground plane and am not sure if the stake hole mounting will have signal issues or other disadvantages.

Sorry Oldcolonel, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

 

xxx, I wasn't sure if I wanted to mag mount or consider stake hole type of mount. I do not have the metal toolbox or anything with that kind of ground plane and am not sure if the stake hole mounting will have signal issues or other disadvantages.

Sorry Oldcolonel, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

I mounted a Serio mobile antenna on the drivers side hood, near the windshield. That placement keeps it completely out of view while driving due to the windshield pillar. I made my own mount and color matched it to the truck.

 

I have had no issues with uhf/vhf mag mounts with either signal propagation on swr readings without external grounds.. I ground everything because I am a ground junky..i have a uhf/vhf mag mount on my wifes sooby and it works very well without adding a ground.. xxx

 

I use a sirio performer 5000 with the sirio magmount on my wifes outback when we travel in that vehicle ... it is a great 10-11 meter antenna that will take lots of watts.. receive is excellant...it is a bargain for about $100.00 with mag mount and looks great also..xxx

 

In my 2010 Titan, Crew Cab, which I had to work out of, I dealt with the same basic physical parameters as the XD and this is how we went about mounting the equipment (I'm not able to provide exact models of equipment but the mounting would pretty much be the same for any set of radios).

Mounted the control head inside the center console/storage area, added two air vents on the passenger side of that storage area to protect against heat buildup when the lid was closed. Power supply wires ran from firewall through inside of console along transmission tunnel to control head and then along trans tunnel to under rear seat. The radio was mounted on a square platform that we bolted to the floor which also allowed us to mount a ground there. I had the factory storage bins so we simply cut out the space for the mounting area and left the rest intake, we did add venting and it should be noted that we used some basic shock isolating feet for the mounting plate. I also made sure the plate kept the radio up off the floor to guard against spills and moisture. Antenna coaxial was run along bottom of the inside rear of the cabin (under liner/headliner), up the side and back across to the exit hole for the brake/bed light wiring. We did have to replace some of the clips we broke when removing and replacing the liner. Removed the light mount on outside of truck, using dremel tool we fashion space for the cable to run out the front of the light assembly and also a relief for a antenna mount. The antenna was a portable unit. We used a quick disconnect on the coaxial which when unconnected was covered by a waterproof rubber cap. The antenna sat on top of a short Z shaped mount that was bolted to the cab inside the light housing. Silicone used to seal around all the access points. Stock light assembly was retained and reinstalled.

When not needed the antenna was removed and the only thing you might see up there was the top of the Z bracket, and you had to climb up on the siderails to even spot it.

This arrangement lasted 4 years before I traded the truck. Only issues I ever had was once the mounting bolt for the Z bracket loosened up and started rattling and once I forgot how tall the assembly made the whole truck and smacked the antenna right off the top of the truck in a parking garage. Oooops.

So the whole mounting was a little more complex than usual portable radio and a magnet mount antenna but it was solid and radio operation was excellent. In looking at my XD this same install would work, just a little more space available.



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The ftm 400 has a mount for the head that fits in the cd player.

 

No problem, the more information the better. XXX has a lot of good information. One thing I will do is use the utilitrac to mount my antenna Someone makes a neat bracket that attached directly to it. I used it on a 2011 frontier.

 

Mounted a Stryker SR-447HPC2 to the center console right near my right calf. Had to fabricate a mount and bolt it through the console, but it is close enough to make adjustments and the sound is good too. But, because it is mounted to plastic, I did run a ground wire from the radio chassis to a good ground point under the dash. Sirio Turbo 800 Blue antenna mounted on a custom hood mount near windshield on drivers side. From 1.0 to 1.2 SWR from lowest to highest channels...

 

Here's my TM-D710A installation. I posted a thread about it but it got deleted for some reason:

NMO Antenna on roof:

Control head mounted in center console between butt-warmer switches:

I mounted the antenna right above the rear seat overhead light assembly and fished the coax to the driver's side A-pillar and followed the XM antenna cable down to the floor. Then over to the center console and through the cavern underneath the butt-warmer switch assembly to the RF unit under the passenger's seat.