Mounting Ham Radio

[chap79]

So for the past month I've had my amateur radio mounted under a single DIN radio with some spacers to make it fit. It stuck out quite a bit and just didn't really look right to me. Being that there's not a lot of dash space and my radio has a detachable face, I mounted the radio under the driver seat and fab'd up a mount out of a galvanized brace that I had. I wanted to use the dash blank from my old 80 series that I turned into a microphone port, finished off with some Rustoleum spray can bed-liner to give it some texture.

Tools used to make this: 8" square, tape measure, vise, drill, jig saw, file, thread tap, and patience.

 

[hrt4me]

nice job!

 

[98OzarksRunner]

Yes very nice. What speaker is that? I have a big Radio Shack speaker mounted on the left side of the console. I tried a smaller one but it sounded terrible.

 

[chap79]

The speaker is a MFJ-281, I think it's around $12 at HRO, including the cable. Its not hifi but it is a huge improvement over the built in speaker. I would definitely purchase one again.

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

Nice install!

 

[txbonds]

Awesome job. I need to make a similar bracket for my dash. Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[kernel.panik]

that is AWESOME!

I am applying for my ticket in the next month or so and I have a useless pocket under my head unit just crying for a mobile radio.

Biggest problem I am going to have is finding an antenna that will fit in the garage...

 

[chap79]

I don't park in the garage, but I do put a wide variety of crap on the roof from time to time (kayaks, lumber, plywood). So a roof mount antenna is out for my uses. I use a Gamiviti fender mount with a Diamond NR-770HBNMO antenna.

Gamiviti Antenna Mounts
Diamond Antennas

Not my rig, just an illustration.