Ham radio install

[KHam]

Nice Setup! Getting ready to start studying for my general license an HF rig in the gladiator would be awesome. I do have D-Star on my ICOM 5100a but HF would be way better.

That's awesome! I have talked all over the world from my Jeep. My wife, who is also a General class holder talks on it when we're driving up in the mountains if she gets bored. Great reception there... she's talked to South America and Australia. I've talked to people in Ukraine, Japan, and Scotland as my longest contacts from my Jeep. And locally our weather spotters are all hams and work with NOAA during bad weather. We have a linked repeater system that changes to WX in bad weather that NOAA conducts and all the local news gets their ground reports from the HAM spotters. It's pretty cool stuff.

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[prerunner1982]

That is a nice setup. So much that can be done with the diamondback, though the thought of drilling into that thing scares the crap out of me, lol

The first hole hurts the worst.

 

[Artsifrtsi]

How do radios, like the Midland NT-1 fit into all this? They say VHF Nautical...

Channels 57 US, 61 CAN, 57 INT
10 NOAA Weather (WX) Band Channels
Operating Frequency VHF 156.025 ~ 162.550 MHz

 

[Recalcitrant270]

How do radios, like the Midland NT-1 fit into all this? They say VHF Nautical...

Channels 57 US, 61 CAN, 57 INT
10 NOAA Weather (WX) Band Channels
Operating Frequency VHF 156.025 ~ 162.550 MHz

Those are Nautical radios and operate in the frequencies from 156 Mhz to 174 Mhz and is broken into channels, it is designed for Maritime use. These type of radios are mainly designed for recreational boaters. I believe when not communicating to another boater they are supposed to be set to specific channels (9 and 16) to monitor for calling and distress calls. If you are looking to get into radio for trail comms. or overall emergency preparedness, or just as a hobby you could start with a Baofeng UV5R they are cheap ($25.00) however you will not be able to legally transmit until you get your ham license. You can monitor however, you would also be able to transmit during an emergency that threatens life or property.

 

[Artsifrtsi]

I guess I’ll just use these until I get the Midland MXT275 for both Jeeps. I don’t need or want too fancy, just enough to have comms for riding with groups.

 

[Recalcitrant270]

I guess I’ll just use these until I get the Midland MXT275 for both Jeeps. I don’t need or want too fancy, just enough to have comms for riding with groups.

Those are GMRS radios and also require a FCC license but there is no test, the license will cover your family so you will be able to communicate with your family. If you ride with a club or a group you should see what they are using and go that route. If your club is trying to decide on a comms platform you should consider the capabilities of the various systems. If you are doing far out overlanding you may want to consider something that can reach out farther and to more people. but for close in where you still have cell service for emergencies GMRS should work well as long as everybody adopts the same system.

 

[sarguy1941]

You can't just use marine radios to talk between yourselfs. They are for marine applications. Sell them annd pick up some cheap FRS radios if you need to talk to eachother.

 

[wannajeep]

Trail run comms are already pretty limited audience as is. Even on club runs, how often are clubs really running? Selecting a marine radio category puts you into an even smaller group.

CB may be old school, and there are certainly higher fidelity, higher powered technologies available, but given the number of trail group runs one actually runs, and given the fact that good trail etiquette says don't lose sight of the jeep behind you (keep the group tight), CB still seems like a quick, easy and cheap option, at least for the weekend warrior.

If you introduce ham, FRS, marine etc. radios, unless everyone in the group has those radios, now you've got to run multiple comms at the same time, which introduces comms confusion, on top of navigating potentially difficult terrain. I ran ham and CB simultaneously once because the group was split between the two (mostly CB), and the first problem I noticed was I wasn't sure which radio the audio came from. Do I respond on the ham or the CB mike? All while trying to navigate a trail....

This may not apply to smaller, dedicated, hard core clubs. Different story.

 

[KHam]

Quick update on using the Diamondback cover for my antennas. Right now I'm loving it. Where the clamps for the tonneau cover clamp down under the lip of the bed, I used a wire wheel to clean away the bed liner so I have bare metal contact for all 4 of the clamps. This has given me a really good grounding for this cover. I wish I had done that on my Raptor. Never even occured to me. I have outstanding SWR with this setup. For HF on 20 meters I'm pretty much dead flat, maybe 1.1 to 1.2 at the absolutely highest at 100 watts. I'm able to get 1.2 on 40 meters. I'm thrilled with this HF setup.

This is 3 antennas. The short stubby is a 3 dB antenna for GMRS, then a UHF/VHF antenna on the far side, and a Tarheel screwdriver closest. The screwdriver will go down to just barely above cab height and I can pull the stinger off it so I can park in the garage. Easy to remove. Antennas flip back when the cover opens, and I have quick disconnects on all feeds if I want to pull the lid off. Easy peasy. Very solid. Still not done yet.

 

[eaglerugby04]

Quick update on using the Diamondback cover for my antennas. Right now I'm loving it. Where the clamps for the tonneau cover clamp down under the lip of the bed, I used a wire wheel to clean away the bed liner so I have bare metal contact for all 4 of the clamps. This has given me a really good grounding for this cover. I wish I had done that on my Raptor. Never even occured to me. I have outstanding SWR with this setup. For HF on 20 meters I'm pretty much dead flat, maybe 1.1 to 1.2 at the absolutely highest at 100 watts. I'm able to get 1.2 on 40 meters. I'm thrilled with this HF setup.

This is 3 antennas. The short stubby is a 3 dB antenna for GMRS, then a UHF/VHF antenna on the far side, and a Tarheel screwdriver closest. The screwdriver will go down to just barely above cab height and I can pull the stinger off it so I can park in the garage. Easy to remove. Antennas flip back when the cover opens, and I have quick disconnects on all feeds if I want to pull the lid off. Easy peasy. Very solid. Still not done yet.

That setup looks awesome. Especially on the new non-diamondplate cover. Looks so clear. You did a really good job with this.

I just got my general license study book in the mail the other day. This setup really makes me want to jump in and start studying tonight!

 

[Artsifrtsi]

So after the trip this weekend with the NT-1, only used between our TJ and JT, they are nearing death anyway... on fresh batteries they would barely reach 1/4 mile on a road looking at the other Jeep. (fully unobstructed line of sight) At least my wife got to experience this firsthand, and now understands the need for new radios. (always the key to new toys... let wife see how awful the current is, so you are told to order new)

So on that, what are the thoughts and opinions on the Midland MXT275? I like that it is a remote mount, and I can just install a RJ-45 connector on the dash to connect the hand held part when needed. I think I'll just get one or a couple handheld radios for the TJ and base camp /buddy, as these wouldn't be used as often as the JT.

Edit: Oh, and yes, I'll get the licence...

 

[Tall Mike]

Quick update on using the Diamondback cover for my antennas. Right now I'm loving it. Where the clamps for the tonneau cover clamp down under the lip of the bed, I used a wire wheel to clean away the bed liner so I have bare metal contact for all 4 of the clamps. This has given me a really good grounding for this cover. I wish I had done that on my Raptor. Never even occured to me. I have outstanding SWR with this setup. For HF on 20 meters I'm pretty much dead flat, maybe 1.1 to 1.2 at the absolutely highest at 100 watts. I'm able to get 1.2 on 40 meters. I'm thrilled with this HF setup.

This is 3 antennas. The short stubby is a 3 dB antenna for GMRS, then a UHF/VHF antenna on the far side, and a Tarheel screwdriver closest. The screwdriver will go down to just barely above cab height and I can pull the stinger off it so I can park in the garage. Easy to remove. Antennas flip back when the cover opens, and I have quick disconnects on all feeds if I want to pull the lid off. Easy peasy. Very solid. Still not done yet.

nice work !

73
Mike N2MWL

 

[KHam]

So on that, what are the thoughts and opinions on the Midland MXT275?

That's the one that I installed. The radio is under the rear seat, and the mic is mounted overhead on a JCROffroad molle panel, along with a speaker. The mic attaches to the radio with a standard RJ45 so I just used a regular CAT6 Network cable to extend the mic to my desired location. Seems to all work well.

 

[periopnurse]

So I got a magnetic antenna for my other cars yesterday. Decided to test on the JT just to see. There was absolutly nowhere it would work, lol. With no roof, and the hood and my diamondback HD being aluminum there was no usable surface at all. Getting one mounted on here is going to be interesting, that is for sure

I know this is a bit of an older thread but just wanted to let folks know that I was able to get magnetic antenna to stick on the top of the bed right behind the rear window. Not the most ideal spot, but everything in HAM radio seems to be a compromise of some sort.

Just got my Gladiator JT a week ago and learning about all of its abilities. Traded my JL Sahara and it's night & day difference. Excited and starting the mods to make it "mine" soon.

Leon
KG7PMS

 

[KHam]

Just a couple more pics as an update. My radio is an ICOM 7000 which I absolutely love. Best detached display on any radio I've ever seen. I'm really going to be sad when that one quits working.

Inside front lid where I've mounted NMO (closest) and the HF at the farthest. That's a choke on the control wire for the screwdriver antenna to eliminate RF feedback down to the controller.

When I mounted the Diamondback tonneau cover, where the clamps are for the center piece I removed a patch of the linex to make a bare metal contact. This makes the center part of the tonneau well grounded to the bed. I added a couple ground straps from the front cover to the center piece to ensure solid RF grounding.

All the connectors to the antennas are coupled at the edge so if I need to remove the cover, I can just quickly disconnect everything. I ran an extra 12 AWG red/black zip wire to this location in case I might want to connect something to DC here. It wires back to a fuse box under the rear seat where all the radio chassis are located.

The head unit for the radio and the radar detector remote for my Valentine One are located on a bar bracket in the center console.

On a molle panel overhead, I have the mic/controller for the Motorla GMRS radio so all I need is the Mic here. The screwdriver antenna controller and two speakers, one for each of the radio. I plan on re-doing this and just use one speaker and a couple diodes to connect them both without feeding back one radio to another.

And finally, to reduce any clutter for having crap up in my windshield other than the Dashcam, I've mounted my V1 radar body on the center bar between the seats where it's not very visible or obvious. Seems to work without any issues here and seems to be every bit as sensitive as when it's in the windshield.

When the Diamondback lids are open, the antennas just flip back so it's not in any way impeding my use of the lids.

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