Jeeps & Radios

[DanW]

I've got 2 Jeeps, a JK and a JL, and 2 different radios, although the antenna setups are exactly the same.

The JK just got a new Radioddity DB-25G and I'm really pleased with it, so far.  It is mounted front and center so the speaker is nice and loud. I've got a mic hanger for it to the right. I just need to swap the CB mic mount to the type that came with the radio.  I've got what I believe is a Rugged Radios mount for a Midland 6db GMRS antenna.  Both Jeeps have that antenna and mount in the same location.  It keeps the A-pillar auxillary lighting from reflecting off the antennas.  I can't see the antenna at all in either Jeep from a normal driving position, which is perfect.  

 

The JL currently has a Midland MXT275, which I've really loved, but I'm switching to a new Wouxun KG1000G for more power and wideband.  I'm just figuring out where/how to mount it.

The CB, btw, is a Uniden and it has a Cooltech mount on the tailgate tire carrier.  It works really well. The only downside is that the mic speaker isn't as loud as I'd like it.  But it lets me communicate with the many Jeepers who still only run CB, as well as truckers on the highway to and from the trail.

[Landshark]

10 hours ago, DanW said:

How loud is the mic speaker?  I've got a similar setup in my JL, including the Garmin Overlander!  (I have a Garmin camera I mounted on the front bumper, too. The Overlander lets you correct the image (reverse it) and the tire lines can be adjusted to help with placment when off-roading).

Did you mont a RAM ball on the back of the faceplate of the KG1000-G?

Nice setup, btw!

Thanks,

The mic speaker is loud enough that I can turn it down and be fine, I got a ball mount form I am not ure where at the moment that replaces one of the screws for the passenger grab rail, then a 67 Design CF arm, then the face plate is mount to a 67 Design SwitchPro SP9100 Switch Panel that I modified with some new holes and bolts

[Drumbic]

96 ZJ with the MXT115 and a 3db (and 6db) antenna mounted off the sunroof. Radio mounted overhead.

 

 

2000 TJ MXT115 Mounted overhead with the 6db antenna off the rear passenger brake light.

 

 

[Extreme]

Picked up a new to me 2006 TJ Unlimited recently.  It has a Rock Hard aftermarket rollcage so lots of space for radio mounting (Kenwood 8180).  After yanking the CB I pulled the CB antenna cable back to find where it went - I'll keep that in place for a snake.  The Currie bumper on the back has the high mounted 3rd brake light (steel) and a hole where the CB antenna was.  I'm going to take an 8" x 8" x 3/16 aluminum plate, mount it to the top of the light bracket and run the cable along with the brake light wiring.  Good ground plane, not totally exposed to overhang and enough above the fiberglass roof (when it's on there) for decent propagation 1/4 wave, 6" antenna.  Yup, I ran the formula for proximity to RF.. no problem

Yup, I'll post photos as it progresses.  For now, I tore out the high-tech, but dated stereo (NAV, BU Cam, DVD, CD, amps, 2 subs and box in the cargo area and will replace with a decent Bluetooth/USB stereo while keeping the quality speakers that came with the conglomeration.  It was a nice install but it's a Jeep and I'm busy on the trail, know where I'm going and have phone/tablet apps for all the other junk, and I rarely listen to music at my ripe old age anyway.

My son-in-law, the stereo guru will put some or all of this in his 90-something boat for family outings.  Win-win.

[Extreme]

Antenna mount is done. Thank you rivnuts. Will terminate with PL259 and mount Kenwood TK8180 tomorrow.

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[Drumbic]

4 hours ago, Extreme said:

Antenna mount is done. Thank you rivnuts. Will terminate with PL259 and mount Kenwood TK8180 tomorrow.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk
 

Is it ridged enough the plate isnt going to smack your rear glass?

[Extreme]

36 minutes ago, Drumbic said:

Is it ridged enough the plate isnt going to smack your rear glass?

Oh yeah.  The bumper/taillight tower is pretty stout steel and the distance from the window is a few inches.  I can shake the jeep with the tower.  3/16" thick x 8 x 8" aluminum plate for the ground plane base.  I dunno what the 'modern' 3rd light towers are made of.  This bumper is Currie, which isn't even made anymore so probably '08 vintage or so. Tested for the rear wiper and it clears by 1/2" or more.  And the antenna is low enough it won't catch branches unless I hit the roll cage, or very close and 8"sq. is plenty of ground plane for 1/4 wave antenna, which allows me to keep it short instead of the 1/2 or 5/8 wave 'no ground plane' whips.  Been there done that with the same setup on my SxS kayak rack; cost me a radio keying the mic with no antenna.

FWIW fiberglass has no affect on RF.  I'll check reception with a pal in front and again behind.  Some nay-sayers out there in 4x4 land about GMRS (ham fans - and yes, ham is better at a lot of things) but for our trail usage they're great.  And we have access to 2 repeaters nearby, one of which I hit from 50 miles with a 30w 8180.  Considering putting one up on an existing tower on the edge of a nearby wilderness area we frequent off-road.

See my post about recovering a stranded hunter, only because he had his HT GMRS on scan and heard us going by.

 

 

[DanW]

I settled on a mounting configuration for the Wouxun KG-1000G.  I bought a tiny stainless steel cooling rack off Amazon and zip tied the head unit to it, then mounted it on top of the seat latch handle under the driver seat.  The rack was orignially intended to keep it up off the carpet to let air get to the underside to aid in cooling, but it made it easy to secure the radio to the handle.  I then wired it up and tucked the wires away and installed the faceplate on the center RAM ball on the dash tray.  It works great!  I like having the face plate be somewhat a part of the center stack in the dash.  It makes it easy to manipulate the radio controls without looking too far down into the cockpit.  I think I'm going to add an external speaker and put it somehwere close to my ear. The mic and head unit speakers are ok, but I'd like them to be a little louder, especiall in the summer when the doors are off.

When not in use, the mic goes where the cb mic is and the cb mic moves over.  I haven't driven around using it much yet, but with what little I've done, I really like it, so far.

[H8SPVMT]

Placed the Midland MXT400 on the dash and the antenna is mounted on the driverside fender/hood.

[serrasalmus]

this is how i did the install on my 07 jkur. i installed the base under the factory infinity amp and remote mounted the head above the mirror, im using the  5\8 over 5\8 shorty. 

[Josh00333]

Just set my MXT-275 up in my Gladiator. 

Antenna run was super easy, on the JT there is a fire wall plug right on the diver side fire wall, popped that out dripped a hole in it ran the coax and done. 

There is a empty space to the right of the glove box I was able to mount the head out of the way. Power from the aux switch and a ground right there as well. Except for the left hand contortions working under the dash it was fairly easy. 

I don't have a swr meter for gmrs, but quick range check to my hg-905 sitting on the kitchen counter 2.5 mile down the road was clear coms. 

 

Need to get a meter and see what it's putting out and how well tuned the antenna was from the factory. Probably have to adj it some, that will be my next question to you all ! LOL

 

[BoxCar]

Nice

[AdmiralCochrane]

Pretty install.  SWR meter is OK, but the nanonva is the real tuning tool these days 

The anylizer will let you tune to whatever center frequency you think is best and estimate the fall off both ways from your center tuning point.

Not saying the SWR meter has no use, it gives different info, so in some particular troubleshooting cases its better.  A real gadget guy will have both. 

[bobthetj03]

Rather than start a new thread, I'll post my question here since it's Jeep related. 

I need to move my antenna from the driver's tail light mount to another location. Has anyone mounted their antenna in another location? I'm considering the driver side cowl using this mount,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089TB6CJJ/?coliid=I6FHKZYBNPP85&colid=4NDGBZMTU9SZ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

and a Tram 1174 antenna. 

[gortex2]

What Jeep do you have ? On my JK I run the rugged ridge mount on the front left cowl. On my JT I used the Mopar Pillar light mount.

 

[DanW]

12 hours ago, bobthetj03 said:

Rather than start a new thread, I'll post my question here since it's Jeep related. 

I need to move my antenna from the driver's tail light mount to another location. Has anyone mounted their antenna in another location? I'm considering the driver side cowl using this mount,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089TB6CJJ/?coliid=I6FHKZYBNPP85&colid=4NDGBZMTU9SZ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

and a Tram 1174 antenna. 

That is the mount I use on both my JK and JL.  (Pic below)  The one on my JL lasted about 9 months and broke.  It weakened at the bend from just moving in the wind.  I don't recall hitting it more than a little on branches while off-roading.  The antenna is springy enough that this should not have happened.  So at some point I'm going to see if I can get someone with a welder to try and strengthen it at the bend.  Other than that, I love the mount and it puts the antenna where I can't see it and where cowling lights don't shine on it and bother my night vision.  

 

[DanW]

12 hours ago, bobthetj03 said:

Rather than start a new thread, I'll post my question here since it's Jeep related. 

I need to move my antenna from the driver's tail light mount to another location. Has anyone mounted their antenna in another location? I'm considering the driver side cowl using this mount,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089TB6CJJ/?coliid=I6FHKZYBNPP85&colid=4NDGBZMTU9SZ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

and a Tram 1174 antenna. 

Correction!  Upon closer inspection, this one is different than mine.  Mine is the Rugged Radios mount. This one, from the pictures, looks like it should be stronger. The bend has more length of metal, so it should be more rigid.  It also looks like it could possibly be thicker.  I'm going to order one and compare them side by side.

This one may even be better....

Even wider at the bend

[bobthetj03]

22 hours ago, kb2ztx said:

What Jeep do you have ? On my JK I run the rugged ridge mount on the front left cowl. On my JT I used the Mopar Pillar light mount.

 

It's a 2003 TJ.

[Josh00333]

Little follow up to my install above. 

Got the SWR meter in and tested

Ch05 1.01
Ch16 1.06
Ch22 1.04

Can not complain at all abought that! Just a simple factory tuned midland ant. 

[DanW]

On 12/6/2021 at 5:48 PM, Josh00333 said:

Little follow up to my install above. 

Got the SWR meter in and tested

Ch05 1.01
Ch16 1.06
Ch22 1.04

Can not complain at all abought that! Just a simple factory tuned midland ant. 

Nice!  I run that same antenna and I've heard others say it has good SWR, too.

[Extreme]

On 11/29/2021 at 9:33 AM, bobthetj03 said:

Rather than start a new thread, I'll post my question here since it's Jeep related. 

I need to move my antenna from the driver's tail light mount to another location. Has anyone mounted their antenna in another location? I'm considering the driver side cowl using this mount,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089TB6CJJ/?coliid=I6FHKZYBNPP85&colid=4NDGBZMTU9SZ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

and a Tram 1174 antenna. 

@bobthetj03I cruised through the TJ forum to find a picture of your TJ to see if you have a 3rd brake light.  Check out my antenna mount on my LJ earlier in this thread, maybe it will interest you.  Works very well.

[bobthetj03]

On 11/29/2021 at 8:56 PM, DanW said:

That is the mount I use on both my JK and JL.  (Pic below)  The one on my JL lasted about 9 months and broke.  It weakened at the bend from just moving in the wind.  I don't recall hitting it more than a little on branches while off-roading.  The antenna is springy enough that this should not have happened.  So at some point I'm going to see if I can get someone with a welder to try and strengthen it at the bend.  Other than that, I love the mount and it puts the antenna where I can't see it and where cowling lights don't shine on it and bother my night vision.  

 

Noticed you ran the coax into the cowl. Where did you route it from there to get it inside the dash? 

[bobthetj03]

31 minutes ago, Extreme said:

@bobthetj03I cruised through the TJ forum to find a picture of your TJ to see if you have a 3rd brake light.  Check out my antenna mount on my LJ earlier in this thread, maybe it will interest you.  Works very well.

Just checked your setup. I considered mounting it there, but couldn't come up with an elegant way to route the coax. How did you run it so that you don't have to mess with the coax every time you open and close the back?

[Extreme]

54 minutes ago, bobthetj03 said:

Just checked your setup. I considered mounting it there, but couldn't come up with an elegant way to route the coax. How did you run it so that you don't have to mess with the coax every time you open and close the back?

Ran the coax down the vertical tower that holds the 3rd brake light, across the bottom of the swing out tire carrier to the passenger side corner, then above the bumper to the vacant area under the tub, above the rubber flap that's behind the rear wheel, then a small hole in the inner fender/tub next to the rear most rollbar mount, along the top of the tub lip and along the rollbar (under the wrap) up to radio mount.  I did make my own 239 connection on the radio side so I could thread bare coax through the body while minimizing the hole diameter.  Wrapped everything outside the tub in split or flex tubing and it's all secured with either stick on zip tie mounts or aluminum rubber insulated hold downs.

With a small bit of slack at the swing out tire carrier hinge it flexes enough to not bind.  It limits my carrier to only open 90* but I have no need to open it further.  It clear the raised window.

IMO a 1/4 wave antenna with a decent ground plane is superior to nearly any mag mount or lip mount.  Someone questioned whether the brake light tower would flex.. emphatic 'No'.  Also, the 8 x 8" x 1/4" thick plate clears the wiper by 1/2" or more when operated.

Ran my aux reverse light wiring along the same route and mounted them on the bottom of the tire carrier.

Pictures to follow.

[Extreme]

FWIW

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