I finally got around to taking pictures of my new truck. I drilled a hole in the roof last Wednesday (it took me awhile to drill my old truck, but I figured I'd have this one for awhile so I bit the bullet early).
To see my '05 check out this thread. In my '09 I have essentially the same setup. I've drilled the firewall to run power to my Yaesu FT-7900R and an amplified speaker. I have placed the transceiver body and amplified speaker behind the center console. When I get a console built to hold the unit (and speaker, mag-light, notebook, security system) I'll post those pics as well. But here they are without all my scanners:
The first picture is the firewall portion I drilled through. I removed the kick panel fuse door in the passenger floorboard. From there it is easy to peel back the flooring (I have vinyl), and the heat shield blanket lifts right up to expose the firewall.
The second picture is of the FT-7900R's remote head, mounted on a Mount Guys snake arm. I used two of these in the '05 for my 7900R and my PSR-500 (now I rest the 500 in the cup holder). The mic sits nicely in the cubby hole of the truck.
The third picture is of a rear view of my roof showing the Diamond NR72BNMO dual band antenna. Read eHam reviews on this antenna here. I absolutely love this antenna. My fiance (yeah, yeah, I don't wanna hear about it) even commented to me yesterday that "that antenna almost looks stock." I almost shed a tear at those words (I prefer a stock look, and really don't care for people to know what's in my vehicle).
The fourth picture shows how tough finding a place for this antenna was. There isn't a flat spot wide enough in the center of the roof, for the NMO mount. I also had a different metal roof framework to deal with once I got behind the bed light (which prevented me from going too far forward for a better ground plane). All in all, I was worried about the reception of this mount compared to my '05, where it was at least in a vertical position (whereas, as you can see on the '09, the antenna leans back in a swept look). But I have not noticed one bit of difference in reception. I can still hit all the same repeaters I could in the '05.
My last comment might make some of you cry: I still have my paper plates- I've had this vehicle exactly 15 days now.
To see my '05 check out this thread. In my '09 I have essentially the same setup. I've drilled the firewall to run power to my Yaesu FT-7900R and an amplified speaker. I have placed the transceiver body and amplified speaker behind the center console. When I get a console built to hold the unit (and speaker, mag-light, notebook, security system) I'll post those pics as well. But here they are without all my scanners:
The first picture is the firewall portion I drilled through. I removed the kick panel fuse door in the passenger floorboard. From there it is easy to peel back the flooring (I have vinyl), and the heat shield blanket lifts right up to expose the firewall.
The second picture is of the FT-7900R's remote head, mounted on a Mount Guys snake arm. I used two of these in the '05 for my 7900R and my PSR-500 (now I rest the 500 in the cup holder). The mic sits nicely in the cubby hole of the truck.
The third picture is of a rear view of my roof showing the Diamond NR72BNMO dual band antenna. Read eHam reviews on this antenna here. I absolutely love this antenna. My fiance (yeah, yeah, I don't wanna hear about it) even commented to me yesterday that "that antenna almost looks stock." I almost shed a tear at those words (I prefer a stock look, and really don't care for people to know what's in my vehicle).
The fourth picture shows how tough finding a place for this antenna was. There isn't a flat spot wide enough in the center of the roof, for the NMO mount. I also had a different metal roof framework to deal with once I got behind the bed light (which prevented me from going too far forward for a better ground plane). All in all, I was worried about the reception of this mount compared to my '05, where it was at least in a vertical position (whereas, as you can see on the '09, the antenna leans back in a swept look). But I have not noticed one bit of difference in reception. I can still hit all the same repeaters I could in the '05.
My last comment might make some of you cry: I still have my paper plates- I've had this vehicle exactly 15 days now.
