Show us your ham radio installations

My installation has begun. I’m installing a TM-7A in my 2015 Crewmax. My goal is to drill/cut on the truck as little as possible, minimize visible wires, and have no rattles or squeaks.

I tracked down an old detach kit on QTH Classifieds and have started with mounting the chassis first. I tried a few ideas for under the driver’s seat, but I couldn’t find a way to mount it that worked for me. I decided to put it in the unused space behind the back seat. I tried and failed with a couple of homemade designs using what I have on hand. I ended up with this:




I’m going to run the wire for the external speaker and the CAT5E cable for the mic under the carpet to the center console area, under the cupholders.


I’m hoping to snake the speaker wire up behind the climate control panel and radio to the space where the center dash speaker is.

The CAT5E cable will couple to this panel mount RJ45 connector. I was hoping it would fit in the blank space between the 12V sockets, but it is the wrong shape. I’m going to have to cut a square hole between the two rectangular spaces



The backside of the panel and RJ45 connector...


Any thoughts? If this won’t work or is not a good idea, I’d sure like to know before I get the Dremel out.

 

I'm liking it, do you have the Kenwood remote head kit or an generic? My wife has a TM-V7A and I had one in my company truck, she had the Kenwood kit while I used a generic and the generic was trash.

 

I think if you get a standard Keystone style RJ connector and try it there may be one that just slides into the blank spot that yours will not?
Have you looked for any other couplers?

This one comes on a plate and looks like a close match to me

 

I cut my own keystone in, and ran cat5 for the Icom ID5100a

 

Madman, I have the Kenwood DFK-4C kit. They are as rare as hen’s teeth, but I found one for sale on an online classified ad. It was missing the mic extension cord, but I have some CAT5E laying around and I bought a coupler and the panel mount in the picture.

I didn’t even think to look for a RJ45 connector that matches the blanks on the panel, but sure enough, eBay has a few different flavors that are designed for Toyotas and appear to have the correct dimensions.

 

this seems to be the current catch all thread for all things ham related so, i've got some stuff to share.

we've kind of stepped of the grid a bit this week. been out with the mountain bike and the truck. my lovely wife has been getting anxious when i'm gone, especially in non-cell zones. there are many. so, this afternoon, i played around a little with my ftm-400 to try sending texts and emails over aprs. not super difficult but it wasn't something that i had tried in the past.

some of you may already know how to do this. some of you may not. but, here are some steps for using it. i imagine it will generally be the same on other aprs enabled radios.

on the main screen of my ftm-400, i'm going to tap the F key



which brings me to the functions. i'll scroll forward or back until i find the MSG button.



tapping that takes me to the message list. it's currently empty but will show all sent and received messages.



to create a message, tap the MSG EDIT button which brings you to this screen.



first, i need to tap EDIT CALL to put in the recipient. for a text message, enter SMSGTE. more info on smsgte can be found here.



tap ENT to go back to the main message screen, then tap EDIT TEXT



this is where you will enter in the text of your message. it starts with @phonenumber, then a space, then your message. tap ENT when done.



once back to your message, tap MSG TX to send the message.



after a bit, a text will show up on your phone. smsgte is a free service so try not to share the sending number and overload the system. i'd save it as a contact so you can send messages to the radio at any time. my wife now has it in her phone.



the radio will beep and show you a receive ack.



to send a reply back to the radio, start your reply with @callsign with SSID then your message. in my case, the truck radio under aprs is KJ6LDF-9.



the reply will pop up on the radio.



and both your sent and received messages will now be in the message list.



to send an email, create a new message just like you did for the text. enter EMAIL-2 for the call sign.



similarly to the text message, an email starts with the email address followed by your message.



tap MSG TX and your sent message appears in the list.



then it shows up in your inbox. you cannot reply to the email. it is one way only from the radio.



email received ack also appears in the message list.





hopefully, that helps a few of you. not sure how much i'll use the email since you can already track the truck using the aprs.fi site. text message for sure when there is no cell service. my wife is a bit more at ease. when we get back to denver, i'll be picking up a new yaesu ft-3dr so that i can do the same thing from a hand held unit. i still use my spot but my wife likes the aprs.fi map better than the spot one. i think this will reduce the oh-my-god-i-hope-you-don't-die-on-that-ride comments...

 

I used that before I found the plugs on the bottom of the cab. There is no access to the cab from that grommet and you will have to drill.

 

I can see the grommets in the bottom of the cab from under the truck. What’s the best way to use them? Do I need to pull the seats and carpet and feed from the radio to the outside?? Or do you pull the grommets out from the outside and feed from the antenna to the radio? In other words, where do I start from? Also, will I have to go through the styrofoam?

 

I started from under the truck and fed the cable through. Not saying that is the best way, but it made the most sense to me. I've been successful with that method 5 times now.
If you are using the grommet that is sort of inline with the back of the driver's seat, there is no Styrofoam and no need to remove the seat. Once you push enough of the cable in, go inside the truck and reach your hand under the carpet and grab it.

 

Okay thanks, Pro. That’s really helpful.

 

I ran the mic and detach wires earlier this week. From behind the rear seat, under the rocker panel trim to the carpet overlap under the driver seat.


From there I connected the coupler (I had two CAT5 cables laying around, but neither are long enough to stretch from the back to the front) and ran the wires under the center console.



I ran the CAT5 cable down the left side of the transmission tunnel, around the screw that holds on the trim piece and back to the power bank area with the 12V outlets.



As soon as the blanking plate with the RJ45 connector arrives, I’ll plug this in and snap in the blank and hopefully it will look like a factory option


I finished up the power wiring this morning. At the battery, I spliced in a waterproof 15A fuse holder to 10AWG wire and ran that to the driver’s side grommet in the fire wall. This may be obvious to everyone else, but I found out the hard way that pushing the wire from the cab to the engine bay is a million times easier than the reverse... I am going to secure that power wire to the fuse box later, just to keep it tidy.





I popped off the kick panel and the rocker panel trim and used 1/2" split loom conduit to run the power to the back of the cab behind the rear seat. I had to leave out the conduit at the space between the front and rear doors because I couldn’t make it fit through the space there.

I got a LIDO 801EXP cupholder mount for the head unit, and I will probably drill a hole here, install a 5/8" grommet and feed the detach wire through.


I have a borrowed mag mount antenna I used to test the rig so far. It all works.

My next decision is antenna and mount type and location.

 

I'm loving this thread. I'm just a Tech, but I'm coming from a Challenger TA 392 so I can finally put an antenna on the Tundra!

I've only been using my FT-991a on my desk and that'll stay. I think I may go with the FTM-400 in the truck.

 

been kicking around the idea of a 991a for the house. have you tried wiresx with it at all? what are you using for an antenna? been looking into the possibility of a buddipole with it or a chameleon emcomm. i just want to try and do something simple.

 

I mainly use the local fusion repeater. I have messed with the PC software side but really don’t see the point.

Ive taken it down for now but I was doing a ton of 10m FT8 using a Super Antenna MP1.
http://newsuperantenna.com/MP1-SuperStick-Portable-Vertical-Antenna-Deluxe/

I live in an HOA so outside antennas are basically verboten. My 2/70 antenna is a mag mount on the corner of my front posrch that has a metal roof.

 

I have 2 Buddipole' that I have used all over the place for various stuff and they are pretty sweet I think!
The little clips are fidgety for sure but as long as you dont go too crazy trying to get them too tight the possibilities are really endless with them.
We used one of mine to check in from Joplin every day on several bands and always got good reports,I usually just use a Pro Speaker Stand to slide a pole into for a mount.
They are pretty easy to tune right down and do not flop around at all once dialed in.

 

Can you get to your attic and put up a J-Pole, they're great for 2/70 and pretty simple to make. I've seen several designs online using common balanced line. A friend of mine got one from Arrow and loves it, total length is around 5'.

 

The house is just now 5 years old and has all the reflective barrier stuff up there...

I've got tons of antennas the I've gone through finding a low profile but functional option. I had my HF vertical hidden in a tree that wasn't tall enough yet. I've tried wire antennas strung in inconspicuous places.

Turns out a mag mount on a metal porch roof is perfect for 2/70. I still need to work on my HF situation.

 

That's perfect. Like the man said, J-pole right on top of it. you will have a good reflector if you can attach the coax shield to the reflective barrier aluminum foil. Just hang the j-pole from the rafters vertically. And, if you have a hankering to go on to the HF bands in the future, the aluminum barrier on the top of the insulation is a good point to attach the one side of the di-pole and the rain gutters the other (as long as the gutters aren't attached to any ground point). You may have to staple the insulation barriers together to make good electrical contact.

 

I've hooked into that gutter you can see in the pic I posted. I think I need to make sure my continuity is good though because it tuned but didn't work for crap.

 

Could be introducing a ground loop through the mag mount? Did you attempt to load it up with the mag mount on the roof? Is the gutter making any electrical contact with the metal part that the mag mount is on? And, is the down spout making contact with anything on the ground?

Too many questions and I bet you checked all of that already. Sorry.

Best 73
NH2BV

 

No worries, that's a good question. I don't actually recall if the mag mount was up there at the time. For now I've been using the local Fusion repeater W5DFW, and hanging out on the 2m calling frequency.

 

Any of you Kenwood guys have a mic clip like this? I don’t like this feature of my mic, and I don’t have the holder that it hooks on to.

Are there alternatives to this clip? I would prefer a button-type that slides in to the standard holder, but I don’t know if I can replace it something else...

 

Ever hear the phrase "Off the Hook"?

Any simple hook works well with that style of Mic Clip.

 

Arrow are great antennas and the way they make them is pretty interesting to say the least too!
I have spent time with the maker and he is also someone that you will remember if you ever get the chance!

They make the spec and design of the antennas public too and I have made several of the J-Pole from the plans easily with few steps and almost no effort and they work well in a lot of situations but the one downside is really the smooth response overall and lack of gain that all J-Poles offer unless you can get them up high in the air.

Regardless though the Arrow and really all J-Pole are about the toughest and most useful antenna that I have made and I have tried a lot of them.

 

Since this thread is still going, I’ll post up a few pics of my finished install. I have lots of pics and details of the process, but I’ll just attach the results here. I stole a bunch of ideas from this thread, so thanks to all who have contributed.

Still looking for a good mic hanging solution...








Side note:
I had a hard time trying to push the PL-259 connector through the small hole I drilled in the floor grommet. I tried a few things that didn’t work, but what seemed to work really well was duct taping a 1/2"-drive T50 Torx bit to the connector (I wrapped the connector in painters tape first to keep the adhesive off of it) and it squeezed through without too much trouble

 

So I take it you did not like my Hook idea?

There are almost an unlimited number of choices for a Hook unlike the 1 or 2 choices for the other style of dedicated Mic Hanger really so I would not give up too quickly.

https://www.dxengineering.com/parts...MIk-Wk6MDC6gIVi4bACh2j4wZ4EAQYAiABEgLmQ_D_BwE

https://www.mtcradio.com/roadpro-r-1-75-self-adhesive-metal-mic-handy-hook/

This one might just hold the clip directly too?

https://www.pciraceradios.com/products/magnetic-microphone-hang-up

 

I've used this for a couple of years now without any problems and (according to literature) is easily removed without leaving damage to surfaces.

$9 Command Brushed Nickel Decorative Hook with 2 Strips, Medium, ys/m, Metal

https://www.amazon.com/Command-1703...d+chrome+command+hooks&qid=1594413480&sr=8-44

 

I definitely appreciate the links and the pics, but I admit I’m not a fan of the hook. I’m sure it has its advantages and that some people prefer it, but reseating the mic while driving is a little too much like a game of ring-toss for me.

I have used various hand mics at work for most of my career, and they all had the button and slot. I’m just used to that after 30 years of sliding mics back into their slots.

 

Very nice, good luck on you button hanger find, maybe a hamfest will come up soon.

 

Looks Good!

What type of bracket did you use? Is that just a standard Ditch light bracket, or does someone actually make an antenna specific mount for this location?