My Jeep JKU Install

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aschenavar

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Recently purchased a Wrangler JKU and have never came across a radio install speed bump such as these things. I wanted something nice and clean for my install and the few radios I did have laying around were just too big. I also wanted something I could get to without having to hide it in the center console..so after some trading around I landed on a Maratrac..for the remote head mainly.

Then came the antenna mounting aspect of it...again I am very particular and wanted this antenna to be mounted to the top of the third brake light (I only use a 1/4 wave) to make it clean and less noticeable.

Here are my photos of what I have:


The speaker pic is blurry but its mounted up under the steering column behind the dash, and the base unit is mounted in the very back up against the inner wheel well.

For the Antenna I picked up a piece of metal strap from Lowes that I bent into a 90 degree and mounted it directly to the body of the tailgate for a good ground, then secure the rest of the strap to the back side of the 3rd brake light housing.
 

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aschenavar

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antenna mount
 

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mmckenna

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Looks good. Jeeps have always been difficult vehicles to install radios in (and keep it looking nice), and you've done a great job.

Antenna mounting on Jeeps has always been a difficult task. Your's looks good. I have a co-worker that has an old 50's era Jeep. He's a pretty active ham. He finally drilled a hole in the dead center of his hood to mount a 2 meter antenna.
 

b7spectra

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A little off topic, but - mmckenna - you ever work for the phone company? Your location looks the the CLLI for Santa Cruz, CA office. If, so, I was ATLNGATLT07!
 

mmckenna

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A little off topic, but - mmckenna - you ever work for the phone company? Your location looks the the CLLI for Santa Cruz, CA office. If, so, I was ATLNGATLT07!

I worked for Pacific Bell for a while, then was hired on as a switch engineer for the university. SNCZCA01 is the CO we are served by, and our MPOE is SNCZCA51 for all our SONET stuff. I've got a lot of ex-Bell guys working here with me.
 

wcu02mpa

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Maratrac looks good

Nice to see a maratrac. I have one that is 30-36 I have on 10 meters. Rock solid radio. These are also great on six meters. Excellent work
 

aschenavar

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Nice to see a maratrac. I have one that is 30-36 I have on 10 meters. Rock solid radio. These are also great on six meters. Excellent work

thanks, I really like it so far..seems strong...glad to see you rocking the NOLES man! Scalp'em!
 

03msc

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Great looking install here! How difficult are those radios to program? Is it a dos program or does it run programming software on Windows?
 

KG4INW

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They can only be programmed with the DOS-based RSS. There's a great write-up about them on the Repeater Builder's website.

I'll echo everyone's remarks by agreeing you did a great job with the installation!
 

aschenavar

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and here is the rear ..finally got it buttoned up to take a pic
 

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