[RyanD1966]

 

[RyanD1966]

 

[Colo.Frontier]

I hope you are not powering that radio via the cig lighter? It really needs a dedicated power source, when you take your tests, there are questions on the general side, and i think on the tech side about that specifically.

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[RyanD1966]

That's a temporary power connection, I have a BlueSea fuse block to mount in the cabin that is switched off my main fuse / relay centre that I custom built and mounted under the hood. See my YouTube channel next Friday for the video detailing the fuse / relay centre build if interested. YouTube Channel Frontier Geek.

 

[Wheel]

Since we’re showing off ham installs

That’s three Motorola XTL5000 radios. One 35 watt 7/800, one 45 watt UHF, and a 110 watt VHF. I have two O3 hhch, and one impress mic hooked to an O5, mounted under the console in front of the shifter. The kids are all secured using magnetic mic holders. Since taking these pics I’ve relocated one mic just behind the coin slot on the center console near the shifter.

Everything is powered straight to the hot post of the optima yellow battery, using #8 wire through a busman breaker mounted on the firewall. Ground is a short run from the fuse block to one of the seat bolts under the rear seat.

The three radios are all mounted under the rear seat in place of the cargo tray.

The pic shows some laird pepper shaker antennas, though I generally run 1/4w laird whips. I switch for the phantom antennas when I have materials on my rack.

While I had everything apart I installed dynamat on the ceiling. What a huge difference that made! With the big roof rack installed, I get some buffeting on the roof, so loud I couldn’t use Bluetooth and talk on the phone driving much past 50. Now, it’s pretty quiet.

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[RyanD1966]

Since we’re showing off ham installs

That’s three Motorola XTL5000 radios. One 35 watt 7/800, one 45 watt UHF, and a 110 watt VHF. I have two O3 hhch, and one impress mic hooked to an O5, mounted under the console in front of the shifter. The kids are all secured using magnetic mic holders. Since taking these pics I’ve relocated one mic just behind the coin slot on the center console near the shifter.

Everything is powered straight to the hot post of the optima yellow battery, using #8 wire through a busman breaker mounted on the firewall. Ground is a short run from the fuse block to one of the seat bolts under the rear seat.

The three radios are all mounted under the rear seat in place of the cargo tray.

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Okay, since I'm sure that someone's going to go there, its gonna be me. Other than being able to turn all the neighbor's eggs from soft-boiled to hard-boiled and cook the turkey before they remove it from the freezer, why do you need 4 chassis? My Yaesu 8900 is a 4-band with band-band forwarding and dual transceivers, are you actually working multiple stations simultaneously? If you actually are, my hat's off to ya, you win the radio contest, a medal and a chest to pin it on.

 

[Wheel]

The three Motorola radios are public-safety grade high-end radios that sold for about $5k each when new.

They are single-band radios.

So, if you want super reliable high-end electronics, commercial/public safety grade radios are where it’s at.

If you want the ability to transmit on more than just one band, you need a radio for each.

They are all P25 capable radios, as well.

No, I don’t need any of it, just the same as you don’t need your 8900. None of this is about need.

I guess I should add, there are times when I do work multiple stations on multiple bands at the same time. It’s a hobby, and it’s fun!!


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[RyanD1966]

Okay, I can respect that answer, its a good one.
I didnt NEED a Yaesu either, could have gone cheaper, but with many of these out in the field 10 to 15 yrs, I went with owner's opinion and stepped up a few grades, to leave China and head for Japan instead. Higher than that would have been Kenwood. When I ordered mine the stores were just beginning to close down and nobody knew how far this thing would end up going, possibly martial law, control of public broadcasts, etc, so having pretty much finished my HAM radio license studies already anyhow, I pulled the trigger while I could still get Amazon to bring me stuff. I have no regrets, its a good system.

 

[Wheel]

My first Mobile was a Kenwood v71. I still have it, and it will be going back into the frontier soon. The nice thing about ham-grade equipment is frequency agility. The Motorola radios have to be programmed via laptop. I have one, and I’ve become rather adept at programming them, but I can’t scan an entire band, and jump easily into repeaters when I’m on the road.

The Kenwood will be used for that.

Good job staying away from the cheap Chinese radios. They work, sorta, sometimes. They might not work at all when you really need them if you end up in a situation.

I have one CCR, and it failed me several times. Hence the overkill former police radios


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[Colo.Frontier]

That's a temporary power connection, I have a BlueSea fuse block to mount in the cabin that is switched off my main fuse / relay centre that I custom built and mounted under the hood. See my YouTube channel next Friday for the video detailing the fuse / relay centre build if interested. YouTube Channel Frontier Geek.

I'm also curious to see what your antenna setup looks like for this

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[whistler]

One nice thing about our race car and the Frontier is the intercom system.
Hands free but you have to wear your helmet.
Communication is so important!
We have the vhf, a handheld vhf, American and Mexican cell phones, sat phones.
And we still have problems!

 

[Colo.Frontier]

The switch for the antenna motor is mounted in the center console behind the parking brake handle. The front switch (left) kills power to a radar detector mounted above the rear-view mirror. The push button in the middle mutes the radar detector (Escort X50). The back switch (right) raises and lowers the ham radio antenna, Very quick access and mostly out of direct view.

View attachment 315994

I'd like to know more about your switch setup, for the escort and the antenna, I saw part of the write.

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