Previously: 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013.
I traded up my 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee for a 2016 Ford F-150 this fall. I liked the Jeep, but lately I've been finding myself in some situations where a truck would have been more useful. So far, I haven't regretted the trade one bit, it's by far my favorite vehicle I've owned. I can't wait for the snow to start flying.
So there were some new challenges I had to work around going from the Jeep to the truck in terms of the radio install. The number one challenge was clearance. I park in a ramp daily and I wanted to fit into my garage at home. On the Jeep, I used the Sti-Co nitinol Flexi-Whip antennas (guaranteed to bend but not break) and those worked fine, but on the truck these would scrape the drywall ceiling in my garage and they were so loud when I tested them in the parking ramp at work:
https://vimeo.com/191378594
Another challenge was roof real estate. It's a SuperCrew, so maybe it wasn't that bad of a challenge, but I wanted to make sure antennas were spaced apart per manufacturer's specifications and wanted to reduce the risk of desensitizing the scanner, so that antenna had to be somewhere else.
Here's the parts list:
https://vimeo.com/185874759
and the UHF antenna:
https://vimeo.com/185874772
So... yeah, not that great, especially around the band edges. With these Phantom Elite antennas, you really are trading off performance for the low-profile design. The UHF antenna performs better than the VHF antenna. This is OK for me on most days, since a) I hardly ever pick up the radio, b) when I do, I don't talk long, c) I prefer UHF, and d) I can always swap for a regular 1/4-wave when I need better performance. My APRS beacons are a good indicator of performance -- I can rarely hit any digipeaters reliably near my house but always at a certain point on my daily commute, my beacons start to get picked up. Right now, the radio is hooked up to the front/center UHF antenna while the UHF Phantom Elite is just a placeholder and to balance out the antennas on the roof.
To resolve the desensitization issues between the radio and the scanner, the 800 MHz antenna was mounted upside-down in the grille. It works pretty well. It's right between the grille and the active louvers. The antenna fits perfectly length-wise. Any longer and it wouldn't have fit.
To get power into the cabin, a hole was poked in the rubber boot on the passenger's side and ran under the doorjambs to behind the back bench. Everything is mounted on plywood behind the bench. This works well, except the scanner bracket is just tall enough that I can't raise the bench seat up and have it close all the way which is mildly infuriating at times. The bench back is still able to latch to the back of the cab. Everything is grounded to the same ground bolt the rest of the truck uses on the back of the cab interior. The cables to the control heads and the mic are routed under the doorjambs, under the driver's seat, and up to the tranny hump. The RAM Mounts are attached to the hump with three sheet metal screws and is surprisingly sturdy.
I traded up my 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee for a 2016 Ford F-150 this fall. I liked the Jeep, but lately I've been finding myself in some situations where a truck would have been more useful. So far, I haven't regretted the trade one bit, it's by far my favorite vehicle I've owned. I can't wait for the snow to start flying.
So there were some new challenges I had to work around going from the Jeep to the truck in terms of the radio install. The number one challenge was clearance. I park in a ramp daily and I wanted to fit into my garage at home. On the Jeep, I used the Sti-Co nitinol Flexi-Whip antennas (guaranteed to bend but not break) and those worked fine, but on the truck these would scrape the drywall ceiling in my garage and they were so loud when I tested them in the parking ramp at work:
https://vimeo.com/191378594
Another challenge was roof real estate. It's a SuperCrew, so maybe it wasn't that bad of a challenge, but I wanted to make sure antennas were spaced apart per manufacturer's specifications and wanted to reduce the risk of desensitizing the scanner, so that antenna had to be somewhere else.
Here's the parts list:
- Whistler TRX-2 scanner
- Yaesu FTM-400XDR dual-band radio
- RAM Mount 1" Ball Short Length Double Socket Arm with Diamond Base (RAM-B-103-A-238U) plus a 1" Ball Mount with 6.25" X 2" Rectangle Base & 2.5" Round Base AMPs Hole Pattern (RAM-B-111U)
- Havis ChargeGuard CG-X-100 on automatic detection mode. The ChargeGuard senses the AC ripple voltage produced by the alternator and then turns the equipment on when the voltage has stabilized. It also turns the equipment off after a specified amount of time after the AC ripple voltage has stopped. The length of time is determined by dip switches, which I have set to 15 minutes so there's enough time to squeeze out another APRS packet or listen to the radios without needing to idle.
- Comet 4160J duplexer that separates VHF from UHF between the radio and the two antennas
- Laird ETRAB1440 Phantom Elite antenna for 144-148 MHz mounted on the rear driver's side
- Laird ETRAB4303 Phantom Elite antenna for 430-450 MHz mounted on the rear passenger's side
- Laird QWB8063 open coil antenna for 806-866 MHz, 3 dB gain, mounted upside-down in the grille
- Sti-Co nitinol Flexi-Whip antenna cut for 430-450 MHz (leftover from the Jeep) mounted front and center
- Two Motorola HSN4039 speakers mounted under the rear bench
https://vimeo.com/185874759
and the UHF antenna:
https://vimeo.com/185874772
So... yeah, not that great, especially around the band edges. With these Phantom Elite antennas, you really are trading off performance for the low-profile design. The UHF antenna performs better than the VHF antenna. This is OK for me on most days, since a) I hardly ever pick up the radio, b) when I do, I don't talk long, c) I prefer UHF, and d) I can always swap for a regular 1/4-wave when I need better performance. My APRS beacons are a good indicator of performance -- I can rarely hit any digipeaters reliably near my house but always at a certain point on my daily commute, my beacons start to get picked up. Right now, the radio is hooked up to the front/center UHF antenna while the UHF Phantom Elite is just a placeholder and to balance out the antennas on the roof.
To resolve the desensitization issues between the radio and the scanner, the 800 MHz antenna was mounted upside-down in the grille. It works pretty well. It's right between the grille and the active louvers. The antenna fits perfectly length-wise. Any longer and it wouldn't have fit.
To get power into the cabin, a hole was poked in the rubber boot on the passenger's side and ran under the doorjambs to behind the back bench. Everything is mounted on plywood behind the bench. This works well, except the scanner bracket is just tall enough that I can't raise the bench seat up and have it close all the way which is mildly infuriating at times. The bench back is still able to latch to the back of the cab. Everything is grounded to the same ground bolt the rest of the truck uses on the back of the cab interior. The cables to the control heads and the mic are routed under the doorjambs, under the driver's seat, and up to the tranny hump. The RAM Mounts are attached to the hump with three sheet metal screws and is surprisingly sturdy.