Power for a ham radio.

[N6WT]

I am looking for a way to connect a ham radio directly to the battery. How have you routed your wire through the firewall?? and how have you routed the coax to the antenna.

I am looking to mount the radio under the rear seat with a detachable front face kit. I will be mounting the antenna on a trunk lid lip mount to the hood.

Thanks
73
Kent
N6WT

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[Mr._Bill]

I am looking for a way to connect a ham radio directly to the battery. How have you routed your wire through the firewall?? and how have you routed the coax to the antenna.

I am looking to mount the radio under the rear seat with a detachable front face kit. I will be mounting the antenna on a trunk lid lip mount to the hood.

Thanks
73
Kent
N6WT

If you have the factory installed AUX switches, there is a hot 12v line in the bundle under the dash on the passenger side. The easiest place to pass wires through the firewall is a plug near where the clutch pedal would be located.

 

[N6WT]

If you have the factory installed AUX switches, there is a hot 12v line in the bundle under the dash on the passenger side. The easiest place to pass wires through the firewall is a plug near where the clutch pedal would be located.

You wouldn't happen to know what size wire it is??

Yes, I see the knockout for the clutch pedal!

Thanks!!

 

[Mr._Bill]

You wouldn't happen to know what size wire it is??

Yes, I see the knockout for the clutch pedal!

Thanks!!

I don't know without looking, but it should be more than adequate for the radio.

There is a constant hot, and one that is switched with the ignition.

 

[Skyler7381]

The factory aux switches give you 4 wires, a set inside in the passenger footwell and a set by the battery. Two switches are good for 40 amps and the other two are good for 15 amps, probably good enough even for HF. See the video of you want to know more.


I am also a ham (general) and I am going to be putting in a dual band in my gladiator, I really wanted to find a no drill bolt on NMO mount and I found one that is driver or passenger hood area, I'll link it below.
https://topsyproducts.com/products/jl-fender-mount-nmo-antenna-bracket?variant=19401808576569

 

[Moabite]

I hooked my 100-watt VHF radio used for Search and Rescue up to one of the 40-amp factory aux switch connections inside the cab. It works perfectly. I've installed radios in a lot of vehicles through the years and the Gladiator install was, by far, the easiest since it was not necessary to run anything through the firewall. The antenna was a different story...had to get one that did not require a ground plane and built a mount for it at the front corner of the bed.

 

[Skyler7381]

I hooked my 100-watt VHF radio used for Search and Rescue up to one of the 40-amp factory aux switch connections inside the cab. It works perfectly. I've installed radios in a lot of vehicles through the years and the Gladiator install was, by far, the easiest since it was not necessary to run anything through the firewall. The antenna was a different story...had to get one that did not require a ground plane and built a mount for it at the front corner of the bed.

What radio did you install? Pics?

 

[Moabite]

What radio did you install? Pics?

Sorry, I should have been more clear.. It is not a ham radio. It's a county-issued Vertex. But here are some photos. The sizeable main body of the 100-watt radio is under the passenger seat and wired to one of the 40-amp factory aux switches which is programmed to be hot all the time. I leave the switch on so I still operate the radio from its on/off button. The head unit is mounted with all RAM Mount components. I fabricated an antenna mount behind the cab with the cable run out the rear door and between the body and top, which will never be completely removed.

 

[Skyler7381]

Sorry, I should have been more clear.. It is not a ham radio. It's a county-issued Vertex. But here are some photos. The sizeable main body of the 100-watt radio is under the passenger seat and wired to one of the 40-amp factory aux switches which is programmed to be hot all the time. I leave the switch on so I still operate the radio from its on/off button. The head unit is mounted with all RAM Mount components. I fabricated an antenna mount behind the cab with the cable run out the rear door and between the body and top, which will never be completely removed.

That is pretty awesome, I'm jealous, although I'll have my ham in soon enough!

 

[sarguy1941]

I installed mine using the factory wiring also. As others have mentioned it was pretty easy.

 

[scotticus]

I really wanted to find a no drill bolt on NMO mount and I found one that is driver or passenger hood area, I'll link it below.
https://topsyproducts.com/products/jl-fender-mount-nmo-antenna-bracket?variant=19401808576569

I’ve got this one, took out the NMO antenna mount from my diamond mount. Works pretty good. I put a bit of 3M body tape down before I put it on the fender to help buffer any scratching.

 

[AggieJeep]

Generally, it is best to go straight to the battery for interference reasons. That aside, the AUX power will work. AUX 1 & 2 are 40 amp while 3 & 4 are 15 amp circuits. There are also two more wires with 10 amp circuits. One is battery and the other is ignition/accessory.

if the truck sits for a while and the battery gets a little low, it will power off the AUX circuits. This may be of concern if you want to leave the truck in relay mode and unattended. A more programmable power disconnect may yield better function for you. My ham install is still on my to-do list.

I did use AUX 1 to drive my Rock Slide Engineering power steps. The AUX switches get disabled more frequently than I expected after sitting for a few days. A few minutes of engine running brings the battery back up enough to enable the AUX switches.

 

[Moabite]

if the truck sits for a while and the battery gets a little low, it will power off the AUX circuits. This may be of concern if you want to leave the truck in relay mode and unattended. A more programmable power disconnect may yield better function for you. My ham install is still on my to-do list.

I did use AUX 1 to drive my Rock Slide Engineering power steps. The AUX switches get disabled more frequently than I expected after sitting for a few days. A few minutes of engine running brings the battery back up enough to enable the AUX switches.

I guess I'm not familiar with "relay mode". Is that just another name for accessory mode? Are your Rock Slide steps or radio using power all the time? I powered my radio (not a HAM) through one of the 40-amp AUX circuits and leave the switch on all the time, with the radio turned off when the vehicle is parked for any length of time (AUX switch left on). I've left it parked for as much as 2 weeks and have never had any issues with the switches being disabled because of a low battery.

By the way, I've had interference issues with the radio in 2 different vehicles when wired direct to the battery. I had to install an inline filter in each vehicle. I've had no interference issues with the Gladiator wired to the AUX switch. I wondered about that before the install, but have had no problems.

 

[Oscar Indy]

Drop the windshield makes it super easy to route the wires to the battery and behind the dash.

 

[AggieJeep]

I guess I'm not familiar with "relay mode". Is that just another name for accessory mode? Are your Rock Slide steps or radio using power all the time? I powered my radio (not a HAM) through one of the 40-amp AUX circuits and leave the switch on all the time, with the radio turned off when the vehicle is parked for any length of time (AUX switch left on). I've left it parked for as much as 2 weeks and have never had any issues with the switches being disabled because of a low battery.

By the way, I've had interference issues with the radio in 2 different vehicles when wired direct to the battery. I had to install an inline filter in each vehicle. I've had no interference issues with the Gladiator wired to the AUX switch. I wondered about that before the install, but have had no problems.

Preventing and/or isolating RF interference with radios can be tricky business. Using factory power wiring introduces unknowns that make troubleshooting more difficult if problems arise. Running dedicated radio power means you know the exact route and components involved should your issues stem from RF coupling into power feeds. It is just the best thing to do. The root cause of interference is bad antenna / transmission line, not getting the RF signal cleanly propagated into the line and out of the antenna. How the coax gets routed and proper antenna setup are always custom for our rigs. Did the coax get pinched or kinked, did excess coax get coiled up ... it all matters. No one wants to get too deep in RF transmission theory, so we stick to a few common rules that usually yield acceptable results.

Regarding RSE drawing power all the time, yes they do. It isn’t much, but the system must be alive to recognize the doors being opened. It is no different than the onboard systems that monitor my key proximity and hand detection at my door handle where it lets me unlock and open the door with my key fob in my pocket. All those systems will drain a battery over time even though the current is very small. The AUX switch system will stop power to these loads before the battery is too low to start the truck. I don’t recall how long my truck sat unused when the steps did not deploy when the door was opened. The truck started fine but I got the message on the dash saying AUX switches were disabled. This makes sense, get the battery recharged ASAP and then aux functions can resume. The timespan for the key-off parasitic power drain to reach the AUX disable point would depend on the total drain by all the subsystems and overall battery condition. Fewer features, like not having keyless entry, would decrease the drain.

Regarding radio relay mode, this is where your truck radio acts as a sort of mobile repeater. You venture away using a handheld on one band that talks to your truck, and your truck relays you on to a fixed repeater on another band. This is useful when your handheld can’t “hit” a fixed repeater due to the handheld’s limited power.

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