Midland GMRS Radio Decision and Installs

[sarguy1941]

Unless its factory installed it wont have the power wires so id use the above cable.

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[Minty JL]

I bought the t harness from Quadratec the wiring was all plug and play for me.

I went with the 275 and the 6db gain antenna.....great set up and budget friendly. I mounted my antenna on the top of my rack to maximize line of sight.

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

I bought the t harness from Quadratec the wiring was all plug and play for me.

I went with the 275 and the 6db gain antenna.....great set up and budget friendly. I mounted my antenna on the top of my rack to maximize line of sight.

I’m leaning toward doing the 275 and 6db antenna. With my bed setup though (Alu-Cab), I’ll need to go with a fender mounted antenna bracket. Leaning toward doing the CoolTech all in one kit.

 

[JTPatriot]

I used the quadratec extension on mine. After removing my 12v acc socket from the dash, I ended up needing a 12v socket, so i used the extension to get power to the 12v socket and GMRS that I mounted under the front passenger seat. Works great

 

[mx5red]

Yes, that’s what I get for not prioritizing the aux panel. At the time (hadn’t used a CB in 10+ years), I couldn’t think of a reason why I’d need that.

Looks like it’s ~$400 for the factory switch kit. Wonder how much of a production it would be to install that. That or I guess I could see how much my dealer would want to gangster my wallet to install that.

Edit: Looks like it’s 12v plug or single inline plug for me.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/aux-switches-can-a-dealer-install.28844/

I don’t think adding OEM aux is worth it. For the work and cost, I’d add in an s-pod or voswitch or something, more options and power.
Like others said if you’re only adding one thing then the quadratec-type 12v harness is easy to install and cheap!

If you go 575, I think people were debating if that would draw too much power for the harness/fuse or aux wires. Maybe @Radioguy or people who have installed it can confirm. There is an in-line 10A fuse with the harness, I think the manual says 13A max for the stock outlet, and the fuse under hood for that circuit is 20A… that was confusing to me, I’m not sure if other things share that circuit, but at least for the harness it’s limited by the 10A fuse.
Same for the AUX wires you don’t have, btw, those are 10A.

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

I don’t think adding OEM aux is worth it. For the work and cost, I’d add in an s-pod or voswitch or something, more options and power.
Like others said if you’re only adding one thing then the quadratec-type 12v harness is easy to install and cheap!

If you go 575, I think people were debating if that would draw too much power for the harness/fuse or aux wires. Maybe @Radioguy or people who have installed it can confirm. There is an in-line 10A fuse with the harness, I think the manual says 13A max for the stock outlet, and the fuse under hood for that circuit is 20A… that was confusing to me, I’m not sure if other things share that circuit, but at least for the harness it’s limited by the 10A fuse.
Same for the AUX wires you don’t have, btw, those are 10A.

That’s the same conclusion that I reached on the power harness and radio. I just ordered the MXT275 bundle w/32”/6db antenna and the Quadratec plug.

I went back and forth on 275 vs. 575, but that’s going to be overkill for what I need. That and I really just want something I can plug in and not have to mess with.

I appreciate the feedback.

 

[BearFootSam]

Consensus in the amateur radio field is direct battery wiring is best. I've used a battery isolator that has adjustable time off and voltage cut off to protect your battery. Negative lead always to a frame ground. Then I add a DC filter inline to isolate vehicle rf from the radio and vice versa. I would be apprehensive wiring into the vehicle electrics without a filter as any rf feedback through the power leads will do spooky things. Not every radio will have an issue it depends on how robust the engineering is. My 50w Kenwood 2m/70cm hasn't been an issue but lower cost Chinese radios may be.

If you're antenna needs a ground plane, make sure you give it one. Not doing so is asking for rf issues or poor signal.

I'm still working out the best way to run an antenna on my rig.

 

[Radio Guy]

Consensus in the amateur radio field is direct battery wiring is best. I've used a battery isolator that has adjustable time off and voltage cut off to protect your battery. Negative lead always to a frame ground. Then I add a DC filter inline to isolate vehicle rf from the radio and vice versa. I would be apprehensive wiring into the vehicle electrics without a filter as any rf feedback through the power leads will do spooky things. Not every radio will have an issue it depends on how robust the engineering is. My 50w Kenwood 2m/70cm hasn't been an issue but lower cost Chinese radios may be.

If you're antenna needs a ground plane, make sure you give it one. Not doing so is asking for rf issues or poor signal.

I'm still working out the best way to run an antenna on my rig.

Yes on all the above and I also use a timer relay wired direct to the battery as there are enough things in these trucks to kill the battery prematurely. I also find the DC voltage is very clean and there is no spark plug noise at any frequency I can find. I've run considerable power on many bands and the truck doesn't seem to care. A Gladiator is a great platform for radios except for no space to mount them. And lousy ground plane options. Ok maybe its not all that great.

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

Yes, that’s just it…I don’t think it’s really an ideal radio platform. There’s a couple half-assed spots for me to mount the antenna due to previous equipment choices (Alu-Cab). It’s got to go forward of the passenger compartment.

I’ve got the plastic front bumper, so I don’t even have the “remove a bolt and stick the antenna in the bumper” option.

I don’t think it’s really a question of “what’s best?” It’s a question of where can I put it and have the setup be somewhat functional for off-road trips.

From reviews…it sounds like this will work for the intended purpose. That’s all I’m worried about.

 

[Radio Guy]

Yes, that’s just it…I don’t think it’s really an ideal radio platform. There’s a couple half-assed spots for me to mount the antenna due to previous equipment choices (Alu-Cab). It’s got to go forward of the passenger compartment.

I’ve got the plastic front bumper, so I don’t even have the “remove a bolt and stick the antenna in the bumper” option.

I don’t think it’s really a question of “what’s best?” It’s a question of where can I put it and have the setup be somewhat functional for off-road trips.

From reviews…it sounds like this will work for the intended purpose. That’s all I’m worried about.

I have a bunch of pictures of my Mojave sprinkled around this forum and so far I have three NMO mounts, one on each side of the hood near the hinges that I can use for CB through 900MHz, an NMO on the upper front bed rail at the back window good for VHF through 900MHz and a "universal" mount on the bed side wall just behind the rear wheel that I can swap plates for NMO, 3/8-24 for CB and amateur whips and a huge bayonet thing for the huge and ugly HF screwdriver antennas. So that's four antenna locations I can use simultaneously.

I've found the hood mounted NMOs to work better than my expectations using past knowledge of coverage on various bands with my last truck which had the same dual band 2m/440 antenna mounted on its roof. The upper front bed rail is down some in performance due to the lack of ground plane and I have not range tested the rear bed rail NMO for range on VHF/UHF but its an ideal place for HF and all my HF antennas tune up and radiate very well there.

The excellent HF antenna performance plus the lack of any ignition noise makes this truck a winner for Hamsters IF you can find a good place to mount the radio. All my permanent radios in this truck have removable front panels which mount on the front of the center console on a RAM swivel mount and the radio guts are all under the rear seat fed direct from the battery via I think 4ga wire to a distribution box with aircraft type circuit breakers for each feed and a timer relay that turns off all the radios after about 30min.

Within a few minutes I can outfit the truck to transmit and receive 1.5 to 512MHz continuous with no gaps, plus 762 to 870MHz and 896 to 941MHz with appropriate antennas to cover all those bands.

 

[Beemer533]

There really are no good mounting options with regard to ground planes, unless you want to cut a hole in the middle of your hood..

So I decided since I didn't feel like cutting a hole in my hood I liked the Australian esthetic of mounting the antennas up front near the bumper with a bracket I fabricated.

It also gets the antenna away from me and the cab.

So far it has worked well for me. Driving across country to UT I didn't really have any issues picking up the weather broadcasts, and I had no issues talking with my buddy in his truck several miles away (on a relatively flat road) and he was using a Baofeng handheld.

For some reason I only have a picture of the bracket with the hood up, but you get the idea I think..

 

[Dougstdig]

It may depend on the power requirements of your radios. I’m running a tuned Ranger RCI X9 putting out about 240 watts and my GMRS radio is a 50 watt unit. Both of which are meant to be run straight to the battery.

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

Question for folks that bought the Cool Tech kit…did your kit include the microphone holder clip?

Edit: Gotta read way down in the fine print “(Note: The chrome mic bracket is not pat of our kit but will come with your CB Radio.)”

 

[ecidiego]

Does the fiberglass Jeep top even reflected the radio signal like a metal top or hood does?

Fiberglass is mostly transparent to RF. That's why it's used in radomes.

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