2012 Polaris Ranger RZR

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timkilbride

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This is just a start. It seems the UTV riders that have radio's, don't stick to one band. I am going to do a dual radio setup with a VHF Orion and a UHF Orion. Here is a pictures of some progress

Tim
 

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mmckenna

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Nice. I have a 2010 Ranger with a Motorola CDM750. We are also running several others in the family, 2010 Rzr, 2011 Rzr, 2013 Ranger mid-size and a 2007 Yamaha Rhino. All of them have Motorola or Icom VHF radios in them. Having good communications on the trail really makes life easier.
We used UHF mobiles and portables for a while, on GMRS, and had good results. I was finally able to get everyone to get their amateur radio licenses and we moved to the 2 meter VHF band.

Half wave antennas perform well when mounted on the roll cage, although we have a few with 1/4 wave and one with a 5/8ths wave.

I wouldn't ever ride again without a radio. Many years ago when we were riding ATV's, I wiped out and broke my pelvis. I was at the back of the "pack" and without the radio I would have been stuck for quite a while. Having the radio allowed me to call for help and speed up the process quite a bit.
Not sure how it is in Iowa, but most of the places we ride in California and Nevada have zero cell phone coverage. It's easy for us to get spread out over several miles on the trails, and thus pretty easy to get lost. Good radios are a must.
 

timkilbride

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Did some more work today. Still need to purchase some antenna mounts and antenna's. Add some split loom to some of the wiring and change out the white zip ties for black ones.

Tim
 

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timkilbride

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Installed two NGP antenna's today. I am not liking the VHF antenna due to its height above the machine. I did try a VHF 1/4 wave with good SWR and OK impedance across the band.

Tim
 

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mmckenna

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Yeah, the length can be an issue. I ordered mine with the spring base. That and a hefty self fabricated mount has allowed me to hit some tree branches at speed without any issues.

Nice looking machine. Looks like some nice riding country there.

Kind of hard to see it in this photo, but it's mounted on the rear of the roll cage. I used a flag mount clamp and a piece of aluminum. Mounted next to it is a rear LED flood light.
 
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PACNWDude

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Very nice install. Had something like this on a John Deere Gator, CDM1250's a number of years back.

Need another off road rig so I can put them back in.

Up my way it is usually VHF or UHF, and lots of surplus Motorola gear. But have noticed the nearby Off Road park uses DTR 900 MHz Motorola's mostly now. Those are good little radios too, but handheld only.
 

Jay911

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2012 Polaris Ranger you say?

Here's a 2012 Ranger 6x6 with one each of TK-7180 and TK-8180. This is Redwood Meadows Emergency Services' "120 UTV" unit, used for both backcountry rescues and brush fire fighting.

Location of the radios & mics on the dash. Also added switches for siren (simple single-pole wail siren unit), emergency strobes, and front mount high-powered LED headlamp.



Closer view of the radios.



External speakers in the roof above/between the riders.



Antenna mounts behind the riders.



Radio bodies are inside the glove compartment.



Here's the unit in full view.

rcAdvGj.jpg
 

mmckenna

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Nice. I mounted my RF deck in the same place. That way if it really gets wet and sloppy, I only need to replace the control head. I've got an external speaker mounted under the dash on the left side of the steering wheel. The external speakers really are a necessity, especially since we all wear full face helmets when riding.

The new LED lights really make a huge difference. I did an HID conversion on the weak stock headlights on my 2010, and it made a substantial difference. However, when I installed a pair of LED spots on the front, it was a bigger difference. The LED's are way brighter than the HID conversion.

Any concerns about where you have the antennas located? I'd be nervous about having a radiating antenna right behind the drivers head. I assume this sits in an enclosed trailer and that was done for clearance?
 

Jay911

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Any concerns about where you have the antennas located? I'd be nervous about having a radiating antenna right behind the drivers head. I assume this sits in an enclosed trailer and that was done for clearance?

Yup, it rides in a box trailer (you can see it behind the ambulance in the last picture). I may eventually move them if I can come up with a better solution.
 

mmckenna

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Yup, it rides in a box trailer (you can see it behind the ambulance in the last picture). I may eventually move them if I can come up with a better solution.

That's what I figured. A few of the people I ride with have toy hauler trailers, so the antennas just get unscrewed.
I did try a Panorama brand antenna on one of the Rzr's a while back. It was a flexible 1/4 wave whip that was similar to the Stico whips. It would fold right over no issues pulling into the trailer. Odd mount though, not an NMO, something proprietary.

I'm a big fan of the quarter wave antenna, however I've discovered the half waves work really well mounted off center on a roll cage. A bit big, but it seems to work pretty well, maybe slightly better than the 1/4's.
 

TennFordTN

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I'm still working on a plan for my 2008 Ranger and 2015 Crew. Really nervous about water around components.


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mmckenna

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Most of the quality (non-Chinese) commercial radios have pretty good water resistance. Still, getting as much of the radio as possible out of the elements is important.
I've got a few Motorola's that have been doused pretty well, and no issues.
Remote head radios work well, you put the expensive RF deck in the glove box and remote the control head. The remote head is cheaper to replace, but most of them are pretty well protected.
 

Project25_MASTR

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I'm actually in the middle of setting up my quads. Only running Jedi series HTs on battery eliminators with the waterproof (I'll say weather resistant) speaker mics that I've modified for using a traditional microphone hanger button. Got to do some weather proofing on the battery eliminators and figure out how I want to mount the antennas.
 

mmckenna

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The Jedi's will work quite well. Back when we had quads, we all had either HT600 on GMRS frequencies or MTS-2000's. Having the speaker mic up close to the ear helps, however wind noise on the mic can be pretty bad. In helmet speaker/microphone setups solved most of that.

I don't have any recommendations about where to mount an antenna on the quads. One thing I can tell you is that there is some real benefit to having the radio attached to the rider, rather than the quad. I got "separated" from my quad once. Cracked my pelvis in 3 places and broke my hip socket. I was at the back of the pack and I was very glad I had the radio with me, and not attached to the quad. Not sure I could have made it to the quad if I'd had to.

If you ride with backpacks or chest radio harnesses, it actually works pretty well. Getting the antenna up a bit higher, as you know, helps. Cabling between the rider and the ATV requires some sort of quick separation connection, though.
 

Project25_MASTR

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They are more ranch quads than anything. Occasionally they go on trails in Colorado but other than that their usage is more in place of full blown mobiles. If they get rained or snowed on its not a big deal. I've got a good dozen of them so if I accidentally muzzle blast one like I did a seat cover using the bike as a shooting rest it's not a big deal. Grab another and swap it out.


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mmckenna

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if I accidentally muzzle blast one like I did a seat cover using the bike as a shooting rest it's not a big deal.

Thank you for sharing that little tidbit of information. That makes me feel so much better knowing I'm not the only one who has "accidents" like that. I've never shot an ATV, but some other things have had unintentional holes placed in them at high velocity.
 
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