Recently my wife and I took the 4R and my 92 Pickup up to Silver Lake,
and I wanted a way to talk to her while on the dunes. I looked at different CB mounts people had done and they all looked too aftermarket. I like more of an OEM look, so this is what I came up with;
I spent too much time deciding on a radio. Ended up going with the AnyTone Apollo 1. The reviews were meh, but the price was fair and I liked how the display was on the handset.
Amazon.com: AnyTone APOLLO I 10 Meter Amateur Radio for truck, LCD display and function key in microphone, AM PEP power over 17W: Sports & Outdoors
Another perk of this was that the headset plugs into an RJ45 jack, which allowed me to keep the radio remote, and plug the handset into my dash.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I didn't want to do any exterior drilling so I decided on the Lip mount Comet RS-720 (if I was to do it again I'd probably go with the RS-840 so it holds position better. It seems to move a lot when bumped on things). Also decided on the firestick FL3-B for no reason other than it was the only 3ft on 2 day prime at the time
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I purchased an 18ft pre-terminated coax cable and inorder to get it ran through the loom on the hatch, I had to cut off one of the connectors and use a fishtape to pull it through. A couple of cable tie mounts I stole from work, and it turned out pretty well.
I decided on the center console for the radio's location. Ran the anteanna cable along the headliner, down the B-Piller, and into the bottom of the center console (power is soldered in line to the supply for the cigarette lighters in the back).
Since the handset is just an RJ45 plug, I ran some CAT6 and terminated it at the switch blank where I wanted it. The cable just plugs into the back of adapter (Be aware that it's not a perfect fit. I had to dremel off some of the top to get it to fit in).
Crimped a PL-259 connector back onto the coax and done!!
Pretty happy with the results! I havent tuned it in an open field yet (just quickly in my back yard) but the reception seemed great on the dunes! Only thing I would change is that antenna mount. It's great for DD, but any tree branch, or catching it on the carwash sprayer hose moves it out of position.