Ham radio installation

[Adieu]

I have seen the face plate mounted as part of the overhead console, wires run down inside the passenger A pillar trim and the radio mounted in the dash next to the glove box. There is actually a pretty good amount of room back there.

Also seen it mounted where you initially held it with the radio mounted under the rear cup holder in the center console. A pretty good sized hole under those cup holders.

Important thing to me is subtlety. The more factory appearing the less chance of it inviting thieves. I used to always pull the mic out and toss it in the glove box or center console.

N1RIC since 1995.

Maybe just mount it in the driver door pocket then?? Its pretty huge

 

[N9JIG]

I have several radios in my 2016 Expedition. Two heads are mounted on a piece of 2x4 painted black and set in the tray forward of the gear shifter. The other head is mounted on a piece of cut wood compression fitted into the hole to the right of the sound system.

The radios themselves are in a wooden box in the cargo area that is firmly attached to the floor-door covering the tire tools. If I need to get in there the door will come up with no difficulty.

 

[fuzzmanmatt]

Antenna placement was easy, just make sure you go the difference between inside and outside measurements... I was 1/4 inch off and nipped the crossbar inside the roof. The radio head is mounted to a stick on mount for a satellite radio on the dash, and the satellite radio is mounted to a magnetic mount in the cd slot. 2007, so not exactly the same, but pretty close. There's tons of space to mount the radio behind the dash, too. I've got a 20 amp power port tapped into the GEM that'll handle all 100 watts of power I could pull from this radio. The fold over antenna was totally worth the $75, I can fit into my garage with it down, though I've scraped a few parking garages with it. Comet 2x4SAR or something like that.



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[msturtz]

Hi lbv150, thank you very much for the reply.

View attachment 22396 View attachment 22397
Motorola APX7500 110w dual band vhf/uhf with the control head center console mounted, just remove and save the plastic cover plate. There is metal to mount to.

That's *exactly* what I have in mind. How did you remove that plastic cover? How is your mic hanger attached?

My radio(s) will be, initially, a Yaesu 8800, possibly moved from my prior vehicle (99% sure I'm going to sell it), and probably adding a CS800D (dual band DMR). Both have removable heads (but I don't know what the CS looks like yet), but the bracket isn't like what you have there, so some fabrication will be involved.

At the moment my plan is an aluminum assembly painted to look nice that takes the place of the pen tray (the liner comes out), that holds the two control heads plus maybe some aux switches for lights, diagonally between the bottom of the dash panel below the environmental buttons and the rear edge of that pen tray.

All antennas NMO roof mounts plus the modem antenna. A Motorola XPR5550 uhf has a handheld control head, another APX7500 uhf/7/800 also has a handheld control head. The main radio vhf/uhf with a mobile repeater is under the right rear passenger seat. The other APX & XPR stack is under the center rear seat. The cell/wifi modem is under the left rear passenger seat. The Micom HF radio when used just sits in the cargo bay behind the rear passenger seat.

Unfortunately my day job involves a parking garage, no real choice. I really truly would prefer a roof mount, but this truck is tall enough it isn't an option. I'm planning for two hood mounts. Not ideal, I'm well aware.

I'll have a look at putting the radios under the rear seats (do you mean second row, or third row?), I expected there wouldn't be room if they were folded down though.

ExpeditionAndy suggested there's space on the right side near the glovebox, not sure how to access that, but has a huge advantage of cabling, as he points out.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

ExpeditionAndy suggested there's space on the right side near the glovebox, not sure how to access that, but has a huge advantage of cabling, as he points out.

You can pop the glove box out to see the space you can also access it from underneath the glove box and you can remove the side panel in the footwell to what space is available by the fuse boxes. I guess it depends on how much space you need for the transceiver.

 

[Adieu]

Antenna placement was easy, just make sure you go the difference between inside and outside measurements... I was 1/4 inch off and nipped the crossbar inside the roof. The radio head is mounted to a stick on mount for a satellite radio on the dash, and the satellite radio is mounted to a magnetic mount in the cd slot. 2007, so not exactly the same, but pretty close. There's tons of space to mount the radio behind the dash, too. I've got a 20 amp power port tapped into the GEM that'll handle all 100 watts of power I could pull from this radio. The fold over antenna was totally worth the $75, I can fit into my garage with it down, though I've scraped a few parking garages with it. Comet 2x4SAR or something like that.



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Is that the original faux wood trim around the radio and climate, or a wrap?

 

[fuzzmanmatt]

Is that the original faux wood trim around the radio and climate, or a wrap?

That's that sexy factory Eddie Bauer look right there!

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[lbv150]

Hi lbv150, thank you very much for the reply.



That's *exactly* what I have in mind. How did you remove that plastic cover? How is your mic hanger attached?

My radio(s) will be, initially, a Yaesu 8800, possibly moved from my prior vehicle (99% sure I'm going to sell it), and probably adding a CS800D (dual band DMR). Both have removable heads (but I don't know what the CS looks like yet), but the bracket isn't like what you have there, so some fabrication will be involved.

At the moment my plan is an aluminum assembly painted to look nice that takes the place of the pen tray (the liner comes out), that holds the two control heads plus maybe some aux switches for lights, diagonally between the bottom of the dash panel below the environmental buttons and the rear edge of that pen tray.



Unfortunately my day job involves a parking garage, no real choice. I really truly would prefer a roof mount, but this truck is tall enough it isn't an option. I'm planning for two hood mounts. Not ideal, I'm well aware.

I'll have a look at putting the radios under the rear seats (do you mean second row, or third row?), I expected there wouldn't be room if they were folded down though.

ExpeditionAndy suggested there's space on the right side near the glovebox, not sure how to access that, but has a huge advantage of cabling, as he points out.

You are welcome! The plastic cover just unsnaps has 4 clips holding it. The mic holder is a Panavise dash mount for cell phones. it mounts behind the bezel. For antennas in your low clearance situation I would recommend the 3/4" NMO roof mount with dual shield coax and a 1/4 wave flexible whip antenna from Stico. They are wide band and can be cut to the frequency range. Be sure to route the cable behind the airbags in the roof. If you want more information or pictures of my installation just ask.

 

[Bmaguire36]

Hand made an angle bracket from some spare sheet metal. Painted it black and added some double stick tape. Slid it in the space. Works great and in true Ham fashion it was free. 2005 Eddie Bauer

 

[msturtz]

For antenna mounts... I ran across NGC Mounts -- they are solidly made steel brackets with a hole for an NMO mount, vehicle specific, and uses an existing fender bolt so NO HOLES DRILLED (if you're not into that). They have one for 09-14 Expedition, and the 15-16 bracket is coming soon (they needed somebody with this truck to donate photos, I did that). The only downside is they don't sell direct, but HRO has them for about $20, sold under Comet-NGC. Much better than the Larsen generic mount.